# AI voice edit checklist

- Source: https://simeoncreatives.com/resources/ai-voice-edit-checklist
- Hub: Branding & Creative Strategy

Five passes to turn a smooth, generic draft into copy only your company could have written. Banned patterns, specificity checks, and human texture.

Run the passes in order. Facts first, style second. Polishing an empty sentence only shines it.
Keep your own banned-phrase list below. Add a phrase each time a new tell shows up.
Finish with the competitor-swap test. If the paragraph still reads true with their name on it, it is not yours yet.

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    D["Draft"] --> P1["Facts"]
    P1 --> P2["Patterns"]
    P2 --> P3["Rhythm"]
    P3 --> P4["Texture"]
    P4 --> P5["Read aloud"]
```
*Five passes, in order. Facts go in before style comes out.*

## Pass 1: Facts in

- [ ] Every paragraph names an object (the screen, report, or file) instead of “our platform”
- [ ] Every audience is a real person with a role, not “teams” or “businesses”
- [ ] Any number has a source and a date. If unmeasured, the draft says so
- [ ] At least one honest limit or cost appears on the page
- [ ] Paragraphs that cannot take a fact are cut

## Pass 2: Banned patterns

Search the draft for these. Keep a word only if you chose it on purpose.

| Pattern | Examples to search for | Repair |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sale-selling verbs | unlock, elevate, supercharge, leverage (as a verb) | Use the plain verb: use, build, fix, show |
| Throat-clearing | in today’s fast-paced world, it is important to note, let’s dive in | Delete. Start at the point |
| Empty adjectives | seamless, robust, cutting-edge, game-changing, holistic | Replace with a checkable detail |
| Self-announcement | this article will explore, in this guide we will cover | Do the thing instead of announcing it |
| Faux-profound closers | at the end of the day, the future is bright | End on the last fact or the next step |
| Contrast setup | not just X, but Y | State Y |
| Long dashes as rhythm | em dashes in every other sentence | Use a period or a comma |

- [ ] Draft searched for every phrase on our banned list
- [ ] No lines of three matching adjectives. Keep the one you can prove
- [ ] Abstract nouns (solutions, experiences, journeys) replaced with objects or steps
- [ ] Stacked hedges removed. Either say it or label it a guess

## Pass 3: Rhythm

- [ ] Longest sentence in each paragraph split at its first natural stop
- [ ] One short fragment where it lands the point (not every paragraph)
- [ ] Tidy summary sentences deleted from paragraph ends
- [ ] Three paragraphs in a row do not share the same sentence length

## Pass 4: Human texture

| Texture | Prompt | Your detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Mistake | What did we get wrong the first time? |  |
| Reader phrase | What do buyers actually say? |  |
| Constraint | What could we not do, and why? |  |
| Surprise | What did we not expect? |  |
| Preference | What would we pick, and why? |  |

- [ ] At least one detail only someone who did the work would know
- [ ] Examples are labeled hypothetical or dated observed. No invented anecdotes
- [ ] Any client detail has permission and a stated scope

## Pass 5: Read aloud and cut

- [ ] Read aloud. Every stumble rewritten how you would say it to a customer
- [ ] Cut about ten percent of the words
- [ ] Competitor-swap test: replace our name with theirs. If it still reads true, return to pass 1
- [ ] One named editor signed off, not a committee

## Related guides

- [The edit pass that kills AI voice](https://simeoncreatives.com/blog/edit-pass-that-kills-ai-voice)
- [Architecting brand voice and messaging](https://simeoncreatives.com/blog/architecting-brand-voice-messaging)
- [Claims, proof, and risk checklist](https://simeoncreatives.com/resources/claims-proof-risk-ladder)
- [Feature-to-value messaging map](https://simeoncreatives.com/resources/feature-to-value-messaging-map)