name: bouch-voice description: | Apply BOUCH voice rules to any UK business copy: websites, emails, proposals, case studies, or LinkedIn. Covers language to use and avoid, tone, British spelling, and formatting. Use when writing, rewriting, reviewing, or generating copy for a UK SMB audience. license: Apache-2.0 compatibility: "No MCP required — standalone copywriting skill." metadata: author: bouch version: "2.0" allowed-tools:
- Read
- Write
- Edit
- Bash
BOUCH Voice & Copy
BOUCH sounds like a tradesperson's site, not a tech agency. Grounded, no-nonsense, practical. "Here's what I do, here's the evidence, let's talk." Not inspirational. Not evangelical. Not slick.
Use one of three modes depending on the task.
Three Modes
Mode 1: Rewrite. Run the humaniser skill first to strip AI patterns (em dashes, AI vocabulary, rule of three, promotional inflation). Then apply the BOUCH-specific rules in references/voice-rules.md. Return rewritten copy with a brief note on what changed.
Mode 2: New Angles. Generate 2-3 distinct copy angles for a section or topic. Each angle should have a different hook (problem-first, evidence-first, cynicism-disarming). Label them clearly. No inspirational framing. No buzzwords.
Mode 3: Voice Review. Review copy against the rules. Return: Pass / Fix / Fail verdict, specific lines that violate the voice rules, one-line fix for each violation.
Key Messages
Use these as the foundation for any new angles:
- The bottleneck is human, not technical. Most teams have the tools. The problem is nobody knows how to use them in their actual workflow.
- One workflow at a time. Not a strategy. Not a roadmap. One thing that saves time, done properly.
- Paul builds things. This is not theory. Live URLs, real clients, real outcomes.
- Practical and individual. Every person in a team needs something different. One-size training does not work.
- The audit comes first. Start by finding where time is actually lost, not where it looks like it's lost.
Before / After Examples
Before (AI-generated, generic):
"At BOUCH, we leverage cutting-edge AI solutions to transform your business workflows, driving efficiency and unlocking the potential of your team."
After (BOUCH voice):
"Most teams have the tools. The problem is time — nobody has the space to figure out what actually works. That's what the audit is for."
Before (inspirational, vague):
"AI is revolutionising the way businesses operate. Don't get left behind."
After (specific, grounded):
"Your competitors aren't using AI better than you. Most of them bought the same tools and hit the same wall. The difference is in the workflow, not the software."
Files in this skill
references/voice-rules.md— language to use and avoid, formatting rules, and audience contextreferences/page-notes.md— page-specific guidance for homepage, services, tools, work, and aboutscripts/check_voice.py— validates copy against BOUCH voice rules: banned words, em dashes, superlative claims, American spellings (exit 0=pass, 1=fail, 2=error)