tone-consistency-checker

Tone Consistency Checker

What This Skill Does

Identifies passages where the tone or register shifts unexpectedly within a piece of writing, and explains how to bring the text back to a consistent voice.

When To Use This Skill

• After a draft has been written across multiple sessions and the voice may have drifted
• When multiple writers collaborated on a single article, script, or report and their individual styles are in conflict
• Before publishing a branded publication (newsletter, institutional report, podcast script) that must maintain a specific register throughout
• When an editor suspects a piece feels uneven but cannot pinpoint exactly where the problem lies

What You Need To Provide

Required: The full text to be checked. Optional: A description of the intended tone (e.g., "authoritative but accessible, like a quality broadsheet feature"; "warm and conversational, like a podcast host talking to a friend"; "neutral and precise, broadcast news style"); the publication or format this is written for; any passages the writer considers the tonal benchmark — the parts they are happiest with.

How the Assistant Approaches This

1. Reads the entire text first to establish what the dominant tone appears to be — or, if a target tone description was provided, uses that as the reference standard. Notes vocabulary level, sentence rhythm, use of contractions, formality of address, emotional temperature, and use of first or second person.
2. Re-reads paragraph by paragraph, flagging any passage where one or more of those dimensions shifts sharply relative to the established baseline — a sudden use of jargon in a plain-language piece, an informal aside in a formal investigation, a shift from third-person reporting voice to first-person opinion.
3. Produces a structured report: each flagged passage is quoted in full, the tonal problem is named clearly in plain language, and a rewrite suggestion is provided so the editor can either adopt it or use it to prompt their own revision.