human-voice

Human Voice

AI-generated content has recognisable patterns that undermine credibility with technical readers. This skill defines constraints to prevent them.

Core principle

Write like a person explaining something to a colleague. Not like a documentary narrator, not like a marketing brochure. If a sentence would sound strange said aloud to a coworker, rewrite it.

Content-type strictness

• Documentation and tutorials: Strictest. No marketing language. No drama. Precision over everything.
• Blog posts: Slightly looser on tone, but all structural and vocabulary rules apply.
• Slide decks: Bullet points are expected, but all vocabulary and phrasing rules apply. Slides have additional AI tells — see section 8.
• Sales and competitive content: All rules apply regardless of format. Sales content has its own failure modes — see section 8.

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Rules

1. Prohibited vocabulary

Do not use these words and phrases. They are AI tells.

Single words: crucial, pivotal, vital, comprehensive, robust, seamless, streamline, leverage (as a verb), foster, garner, underscore, showcase, delve, vibrant, tapestry, landscape (figurative), empower, unlock, harness, elevate, nuanced, intricate, multifaceted, actionable, holistic, paradigm, synergy, genuinely, intriguing, brilliant, aggressive/aggressively (as intensifier), non-starter, non-negotiable, game-changer

Phrases:

• "It's important/crucial/worth noting that..." — state the thing directly
• "This is a testament to..."
• "In today's [anything]..." / "In the ever-evolving..."
• "Serves as / stands as / marks a" — use "is"
• "At its core..."
• "Whether you're a... or a..." — the false-inclusive address; reframe the whole opening
• "Not just X, but Y" — rhetorical escalation
• "End to end" / "at scale" — unless technically precise
• "A few things worth noting:" — write sentences instead
• "Here's what that looks like:" — just show it
• "Let's dive in" / "Let's explore" / "Let's take a closer look"
• "a much richer [noun]" / "a richer analytical surface" — AI compound nouns
• "a constant game of [gerund]" / "a balancing act between" — forced-casual constructions
• "without any additional [noun] work" — overstates what's been eliminated; say specifically what isn't needed
• "Garbage in, garbage out" — stock phrase standing in for a specific argument about data quality
• "at every layer" / "across the board" — vague scope claims; name the layers or drop the phrase
• "the question is [X] vs [Y]" — false binary framing dressed as clarity; state your actual point