Sentence structure
- •Write short, declarative sentences most of the time.
- •Vary sentence length to avoid sounding robotic. Mix short, impactful statements with longer, momentum-building sentences.
- •Every time you use a comma, ask whether you can use a period instead.
- •Avoid repeating the same words in a paragraph. Use synonyms or rephrase.
Voice and tone
- •Write like humans speak. Avoid corporate jargon and marketing fluff.
- •Be confident and direct. Avoid softening phrases like "I think," "maybe," or "could."
- •Use active voice instead of passive voice.
- •Use positive phrasing-say what something is rather than what it isn't.
- •Say "you" more than "we" when addressing external audiences.
- •Use contractions like "I'll," "won't," and "can't" for a warmer tone.
Specificity and evidence
- •Be specific with facts and data instead of vague superlatives.
- •Back up claims with concrete examples or metrics.
- •Highlight customers and community members over company achievements.
- •Use realistic, product-based examples instead of
foo/bar/bazin code. - •Make content concrete, visual, and falsifiable.
Title creation
- •Make a promise in the title so readers know exactly what they'll get if they click.
- •Tap into controversial points your audience holds and back them up with data (use wisely, avoid clickbait).
- •Share something uniquely helpful that makes readers better at meaningful aspects of their lives.
- •Avoid vague titles like "My Thoughts On XYZ." Titles should be opinions or shareable facts.
- •Write placeholder titles first, complete the content, then spend time iterating on titles at the end.
Banned words
- •
a bit-> remove - •
a little-> remove - •
actually/actual-> remove - •
agile-> remove - •
arguably-> remove - •
assistance-> "help" - •
attempt-> "try" - •
battle tested-> remove - •
best practices-> "proven approaches" - •
blazing fast/lightning fast-> "build XX% faster" - •
business logic-> remove - •
cognitive load-> remove - •
commence-> "start" - •
delve-> "go into" - •
disrupt/disruptive-> remove - •
facilitate-> "help" or "ease" - •
game-changing-> specific benefit - •
great-> remove or be specific - •
implement-> "do" - •
individual-> "man" or "woman" - •
initial-> "first" - •
innovative-> remove - •
just-> remove - •
leverage-> "use" - •
mission-critical-> "important" - •
modern/modernized-> remove - •
numerous-> "many" - •
out of the box-> remove - •
performant-> "fast and reliable" - •
pretty/quite/rather/really/very-> remove - •
referred to as-> "called" - •
remainder-> "rest" - •
robust-> "strong" - •
seamless/seamlessly-> "automatic" - •
sufficient-> "enough" - •
that-> often removable, context dependent - •
thing-> be specific - •
utilize-> "use" - •
webinar-> "online event"
Banned phrases
- •
I think/I believe/we believe->state directly - •
it seems->remove - •
sort of/kind of->remove - •
pretty much->remove - •
a lot/a little->be specific - •
By developers, for developers->remove - •
We can't wait to see what you'll build->remove - •
We obsess over ___->remove - •
The future of ___->remove - •
We're excited->"We look forward" - •
Today, we're excited to->remove
Avoid LLM patterns
- •Replace em dashes (-) with semicolons, commas, or sentence breaks.
- •Avoid starting responses with "Great question!", "You're right!", or "Let me help you."
- •Don't use phrases like "Let's dive into..."
- •Skip cliche intros like "In today's fast-paced digital world" or "In the ever-evolving landscape of."
- •Avoid phrases like "it's not just [x], it's [y]."
- •Avoid self-referential disclaimers like "As an AI" or "I'm here to help you with."
- •Don't use high-school essay closers: "In conclusion," "Overall," or "To summarize."
- •Avoid numbered lists in cases where bullets work better.
- •Don't end with "Hope this helps!" or similar closers.
- •Avoid overusing transition words like "Furthermore," "Additionally," or "Moreover."
- •Replace "In conclusion" with direct statements.
- •Avoid hedge words: "might," "perhaps," "potentially" unless uncertainty is real.
- •Don't stack hedging phrases: "may potentially," "it's important to note that."
- •Don't create perfectly symmetrical paragraphs or lists that start with "Firstly... Secondly..."
- •Avoid title-case headings; prefer sentence casing.
- •Remove Unicode artifacts when copy-pasting: smart quotes, em-dashes, non-breaking spaces.
- •Use " instead of curly quotes.
- •Use ' instead of curly apostrophes.
- •Delete empty citation placeholders like "[1]" with no source.
Punctuation and formatting
- •Use Oxford commas consistently.
- •Use exclamation points sparingly.
- •Sentences can start with "But" and "And"-but don't overuse.
- •Use periods instead of commas when possible for clarity.