Find My Voice

---
name: find-my-voice
description: Capture the user's writing voice for their portfolio by extracting it from things they actually wrote, or a short interview if they have nothing. Use for "find my voice" (often with posts or samples they wrote), "what's my voice", "make my portfolio sound like me", setting up a voice profile, or before writing portfolio content. Not for general editing or matching a style outside the portfolio.
argument-hint: "[writing samples or 'I have nothing written']"
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit
---

# Find My Voice

Capture a rich, specific voice profile by analyzing what the user has actually written. A real voice cannot be picked from a list of five archetypes — it has to be observed. This profile becomes the target every other skill writes toward.

## Core principle

**Extract, don't ask.** If you ask someone "what's your voice?", they answer in generic LinkedIn-speak ("clear, strategic, a little warm") — the exact thing this kit exists to kill. People can't describe their voice; they can only demonstrate it. So work from samples.

## Process

### 1. Get samples (the default path)

If `CLAUDE.md` has no `# Portfolio Profile`, run `setup` first. Then read `CLAUDE.md` → **Source Material**. If writing samples are saved (e.g. `source/writing-samples.md`), use them and ask for more only if there are fewer than 2 — and never if the user already said that's all they have. If it says "none", go straight to the fallback (unless they just gave you samples).

Otherwise ask for 2–3 things the user has written: LinkedIn posts, a newsletter, a talk transcript, a blog, even a few real emails. Read whatever they give (file, paste, or link), save pasted samples to `source/writing-samples.md`, and record that path in Source Material.

If they truly have nothing written, use the **fallback** below. With only one short sample, also run the fallback interview.

### 2. Analyze for a specific fingerprint

Read the samples and extract concrete, observable patterns — not adjectives:
- **Openings** — how do they start? (hook, question, blunt statement, story)
- **Sentence rhythm** — short and punchy? long and winding? mixed?
- **Signature vocabulary** — words and phrases they reach for repeatedly
- **Tone markers** — where they go warm, dry, funny, direct, contrarian
- **Structure habits** — lists, one-liners, build-ups, how they land a point
- **What they avoid** — jargon? adjectives? hedging? exclamation marks?

### 3. Reflect it back, specifically

Show the user their own fingerprint with evidence, e.g.:
> "Here's how you actually write: you open with a contrarian one-liner, keep sentences short, lean on 'the real story is' and 'basically', and you almost never use adjectives. Dry, confident, a little blunt. Sound right?"

Quote real patterns from their samples. Let them confirm or nudge.

### 4. Adjust for register

Name the one real gap: their casual voice (newsletter, posts) may not be their *portfolio* voice. Ask if they want it tuned up a notch (more polished) or kept exactly as-is. Capture the raw voice, then note the target register.

### 5. Store a rich profile

Write a detailed `## Voice Profile` into `CLAUDE.md` — not one word, a usable spec. Keep client names, codenames, people, and figures out of it: pick sample lines and signature phrases that show the voice without them.

```
## Voice Profile

**One-line:** [e.g. "Dry, blunt, confident — short sentences, no fluff"]
**Register:** [casual / polished-casual / formal]
**Opens with:** [pattern]
**Sentence style:** [pattern]
**Signature phrases:** [list]
**Leans into:** [warm / dry / contrarian / etc.]
**Avoids:** [jargon / adjectives / hedging / etc.]
**Sample lines (real):**
- "[a real sentence they wrote]"
- "[another]"
```

This rich profile is what `story-adapter`, `refresh`, and any content step check against — and what keeps the output from sounding like everyone else.

## Fallback (no writing samples)

First run a short **voice interview** — extract from how they *speak*, since spoken answers reveal voice just as well. Ask 3–4 questions and let them talk freely:
- "Tell me about a project you're proud of — what was broken, and what did you do?"
- "How would you explain what you do to someone at a dinner party?"
- "What's a take in your field you'd defend when others push back?"
- "What kind of writing makes you cringe?" (reveals what they avoid)

Extract the same specific fingerprint from their answers — openings, rhythm, signature phrases, tone, what they avoid — reflect it back, and write the rich profile.

Save their answers to `source/voice-interview.md` and list it under Source Material → Notes, so `story-adapter` can reuse any story they told. Anything they say is private or under NDA goes under Privacy → **Never name**.

Use the archetypes below only as a last-resort nudge if they freeze, never as the answer:
- **Builder** — "I noticed X was broken, so I built Y"
- **Strategist** — "I saw the gap between X and Y, so I reframed it"
- **Operator** — "The process was a mess; I redesigned it and we shipped"
- **Narrator / Marketer** — "Here's why this matters and who it's for"
- **Technical** — "The system couldn't handle X, so I changed the architecture"

Even if you use an archetype as a nudge, still extract the real fingerprint from how they talk — never leave them as just a label.

## Handoff

> "Voice captured. From here, everything I write — case studies, updates — gets checked against this so it stays unmistakably you. Next: **story-adapter** to turn your work into case studies."