Your Voice Charter says who you are. The Tone & Mood Matrix says how that shows up in an actual sentence, and how it flexes when the situation changes. A brand that sounds identical on launch day and in an apology email has a template, not a voice. This is the deliverable behind the Affinity pillar.
Build this once, then paste the finished matrix into your AI prompts alongside your charter.
Part 1: Personality sliders (5 minutes)
Mark where your brand sits on each slider, 1 to 10. Do not park everything at 5. A voice with no strong positions is beige.
| Slider | 1 | 10 | Your score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bold vs. Reserved | Reserved: understated, lets work speak | Bold: strong claims, takes positions | ___ |
| Casual vs. Professional | Casual: contractions, slang, jokes | Professional: precise, formal, measured | ___ |
| Warm vs. Direct | Warm: leads with empathy, softens edges | Direct: leads with the point, trims padding | ___ |
| Playful vs. Polished | Playful: wordplay, surprises, personality first | Polished: clean, consistent, craft first | ___ |
Then write one sentence explaining your most extreme score. Example: "We're an 8 on Bold because our clients hire us to have opinions they can't say internally."
Part 2: Adjective lists (10 minutes)
Approved adjectives (pick 5 to 7). These describe how your content should feel. Circle from this starter list or add your own:
confident, plainspoken, curious, generous, wry, calm, punchy, precise, encouraging, blunt, sunny, grounded, sharp, unhurried, practical
Banned adjectives (pick 5 to 7). These are feelings your content must never give off, even by accident:
salesy, breathless, corporate, preachy, cutesy, vague, apologetic, hype-y, robotic, smug, desperate, generic
My approved list: _______, _______, _______, _______, _______
My banned list: _______, _______, _______, _______, _______
The banned list matters more than you think. When AI output feels off, it is almost always because it landed on a banned feeling, not because it missed an approved one.
Part 3: Sample phrase pairs (10 minutes)
Write three pairs showing the same idea on-voice and off-voice. These teach AI faster than any adjective list. Example set for a direct, warm SaaS brand:
| Situation | Off-voice | On-voice |
|---|---|---|
| Announcing a feature | "We're thrilled to unveil our revolutionary new dashboard experience!" | "New dashboard. Your reports now load in one click instead of four." |
| Pricing objection | "We understand budget constraints can be challenging in today's environment." | "Fair question. Here's exactly what the $49 covers, line by line." |
| Saying no | "Unfortunately, at this time we are unable to accommodate that request." | "We can't do that one, and here's why. What we can do instead:" |
Now write yours:
| Situation | Off-voice | On-voice |
|---|---|---|
| _____________ | _____________ | _____________ |
| _____________ | _____________ | _____________ |
| _____________ | _____________ | _____________ |
Part 4: Per-mood adjustments (5 minutes)
Your sliders are your resting position. Moods shift them temporarily. Fill in the shift column for each situation:
| Mood | What shifts | Example rule |
|---|---|---|
| Launch day | Bold +2, Playful +1 | "Shorter sentences. One confident claim per paragraph. Excitement through pace, not exclamation points." |
| Apology or outage | Direct +2, Playful drops to 1 | "Lead with what happened and what we're doing. No jokes, no softening, no 'we take this seriously.'" |
| Support reply | Warm +2 | "Acknowledge the frustration in one line, then get them to the fix fast." |
| Sales page | Bold +1, keep Warm steady | "Concrete outcomes, named prices, no pressure phrases." |
| Bad news (price increase, sunset) | Direct +1, Warm +1 | "Say the change in the first sentence. Explain the why in plain terms. Give a date and a next step." |
Your rules:
- Launch day: _________________________________
- Apology: _________________________________
- Support: _________________________________
- Sales: _________________________________
- Bad news: _________________________________
Assemble the matrix
Copy this block, fill it in, and save it where your team and your AI prompts can reach it:
Tone & Mood Matrix for [brand] Sliders: Bold [x]/10, Casual [x]/10, Warm [x]/10, Playful [x]/10 Sounds like: [approved adjectives] Never sounds: [banned adjectives] Phrase pairs: [paste your three pairs] Mood shifts: [paste your five rules]
Paste it under your Voice Charter in any prompt and ask the AI to name which mood applies before it writes. That one instruction does more for consistency than a page of guidelines.