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How-to guideClient work · Free templateAdded 23 Oct 2026

Write in the founder’s voice without the founder rewriting it

Collect real examples of writing that sounds like the founder and writing that does not, plus a few plain rules, so staff and AI can draft without the founder rewriting every line.

Use it when The founder still rewrites most emails, proposals or posts that staff or AI draft, and you want drafts that only need a quick check.

Download template

It is a simple text file. Open it in any text editor, or paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and ask for help filling it in.

How to use it

  1. Sit with the founder and go through the examples. For each one, write a line on what makes it sound right or wrong. Use the founder's own words where you can. Do not write rules nobody has seen the founder apply.
  2. Fill in the sheet, keeping each rule short and pairing it with an example. Then give the sheet to the people and AI tools that draft for the business. If you use ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, paste the sheet in before asking for a draft, and ask the tool to say which rule it followed for any line it is unsure about.
  3. For the next two weeks, the founder marks up drafts against the sheet instead of rewriting them. Every time the founder changes a line, add the before and after to the sheet. Check the whole sheet again on the review date.
What you will need before you start
  • Five to ten pieces of writing the founder is happy with: emails, proposals, posts, WhatsApp replies or website text
  • Three to five drafts the founder rewrote or rejected, with the founder's version next to them if you have it
  • Fifteen minutes with the founder to say what they liked, what they changed and why
  • The kinds of writing staff or AI draft most often in a normal week
  • One person who will keep the sheet up to date and collect new examples

The template

Fill in the blanks for your business. This is what you get when you download or copy it.

Sheet details

Business:

Founder whose voice this is:

Sheet keeper (collects examples and updates the sheet):

Who drafts in this voice (staff, AI tools, both):

Kinds of writing this sheet covers (for example client emails, proposals, LinkedIn posts, WhatsApp replies, website text):

Kinds of writing it does not cover (for example legal notices, contracts, anything about pay or staff):

Last checked on:

Next review date:

How the founder sounds, in plain words

Write three to five lines a new staff member could follow. Each line should be something the founder actually does, not a wish.

  • The founder usually:
  • The founder usually:
  • The founder usually:

Words and phrases the founder likes to use:

Words and phrases the founder never uses:

How the founder opens and closes a message:

How formal the founder is with new clients, regular clients and suppliers:

Languages the founder writes in, and when they switch between them:

On-voice examples

Paste the real text, then say in one line why it sounds right.

Example 1:

  • Text:
  • Kind of writing:
  • Why it sounds like the founder:

Example 2:

  • Text:
  • Kind of writing:
  • Why it sounds like the founder:

Example 3:

  • Text:
  • Kind of writing:
  • Why it sounds like the founder:

Add more examples the same way.

Off-voice examples

Paste a draft that did not sound right, the founder's version if there is one, and what changed.

Example 1:

  • Draft:
  • Founder's version:
  • What the founder changed and why:

Example 2:

  • Draft:
  • Founder's version:
  • What the founder changed and why:

Add more examples the same way.

Things a draft must never do

  • Promise a date, price, discount or result the founder has not agreed
  • Name a client, project or person without the founder's go-ahead
  • Make claims about the business that nobody can point to a source for
  • Copy another business's words or style closely
  • Add your own:

When the founder still checks before it goes out

The founder checks these drafts every time, whatever the sheet says. For everything else, the person sending the draft checks it against the sheet.

  • First message to a new client or a large prospect
  • Anything about money, a complaint or a mistake
  • Anything posted in public under the founder's name
  • Add your own:

Change log

Write one entry each time a rule or example is added, changed or removed.

Date:

  • What changed:
  • Why (the draft or comment that led to it):
  • Agreed by the founder on:

Stop rules

  • No rule goes on the sheet unless it comes from a real example the founder agreed with.
  • If a draft needs a fact, price or promise the sheet does not give, the drafter asks a person instead of guessing.
  • If the founder rewrites the same kind of line twice, add a rule and an example before the next draft.
  • If the next review date has passed, the founder reads the whole sheet before anyone relies on it again.
  • The sheet guides how things are said. It does not decide what the business promises or claims.
See an example

A made-up example, so you can see what a filled-in version looks like.

This is an illustrative scenario, not a client case study or a measured result. Do not reuse its details as facts about your work.

A sample solo-founder interior design studio in Bengaluru designs homes and small offices. The founder meets every client and signs off every design. A junior designer and an AI tool now draft client emails, project updates and Instagram captions, and the founder has been rewriting most of them late at night.

Sample inputs

Demonstration inputs only. No real clients, projects, prices or results are used. From the founder's sent folder: a project update that starts with what is done this week and ends with one question for the client; a welcome email that is warm but short; a caption that describes one material choice and why. Rewritten drafts: an AI caption calling a flat "a luxurious sanctuary of timeless elegance", which the founder changed to a plain line about the wood and the light; an update that apologised three times for a delay, which the founder cut to one clear line with the new date the contractor had confirmed. From the conversation: the founder writes to clients by first name, keeps updates to a few short paragraphs, and never posts a client's home without written permission.

Example output

How the founder sounds, in plain words

[Fact within this demonstration] Says what is done first, then what is next, then asks one question. Describes materials and light plainly instead of using praise words. Apologises once, gives the reason and the new date, and moves on.

Words and phrases the founder never uses

[Fact within this demonstration] "Luxurious", "timeless elegance", "sanctuary", "dream home", and any line that claims the studio is the best.

When the founder still checks before it goes out

[Fact within this demonstration] Any post that shows a client's home, any update about a delay or extra cost, and the first email to every new client.

Next draft checked against the sheet

[Inference] The junior designer's draft caption for a finished study room describes the cane shutters and the morning light, and names no client. It follows the sheet, so the founder only needs to confirm that the client's written permission to post is on file.

Stop rules applied

[Recommendation] For the next two weeks the founder marks up drafts against the sheet rather than rewriting them, and the junior designer adds every change to the change log. This recommendation is not the business's decision.

How to tell it is done well

Every rule comes from a real example the founder agreed with; the sheet has at least three on-voice and two off-voice examples; the never-do list covers promises, client names and unsupported claims; the founder-checks list covers new clients, money, complaints and public posts; the sheet names a keeper, a last checked date and a next review date; every change is in the change log.

Where a person should decide

The sheet helps people and AI sound like the founder; it does not make a draft accurate, and it does not decide what the business promises or claims. The person sending each draft checks its facts and its tone against the sheet, and the founder still checks the kinds of writing listed above. To decide which other work needs the founder's review and which does not, use Decide when the founder needs to review work. A filled template is not approval to send, post or make claims in the founder's name. Keep consequential actions with the named human owner.

The sheet helps people and AI sound like the founder; it does not make a draft accurate, and it does not decide what the business promises or claims.

Edit your own copy on this site
About this version

New in Kosh at version 1.1. Provider-neutral Markdown instructions; no installation or platform compatibility is implied. Runtime behaviour has not been verified across AI providers. Reuse terms have not yet been published. Background reading: The Founder’s Judgment Is a Content Standard. Turning the founder's judgment into written standards that the team and AI tools can follow, and keeping them current as the business grows, is part of Kramaniti's Complete Lifecycle Retainer.

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