The same information can be delivered in many voices. Getting tone right matters as much as getting facts right.
Describe the Voice Concretely
"Professional" is vague. Describe characteristics:
- sentence length (short and direct);
- vocabulary (plain English, no jargon, or technical terms expected);
- stance (warm, neutral, authoritative);
- person (we/you);
- what to avoid (exclamation marks, hype, clichés).
Show Examples
A few paragraphs of writing in the target style teach more than any description. Include examples of what not to do if a common failure keeps appearing.
Name the Audience
"For busy executives", "for first-time users", "for engineers reviewing an incident" each implies a different tone and level of detail.
Style Guides
For consistent output across a team, write a short style guide — spelling conventions, formatting, terminology, banned phrases — and include it in system prompts.
Adjusting Existing Text
"Rewrite this to be friendlier without changing any facts or commitments" keeps content fixed while changing voice.
Watch for Tone Drift
Models may over-apply style instructions — overly casual, overly enthusiastic. Review outputs and tune instructions.
Localisation
Specify regional spelling and conventions (Australian English, US English) and date and currency formats.