/tone-calibration

name: tone-calibration
description: Adjusting formality, warmth, confidence, and style per context.

Tone Calibration

Tone is how the persona sounds in a specific moment. The persona stays constant. The tone adapts. A warm, helpful persona might use an encouraging tone when teaching and a direct tone when correcting.

Tone Dimensions

• **Formality**: Casual ("Hey, here's an idea") to formal ("Please find the analysis below")
• **Warmth**: Cool and professional to warm and empathetic
• **Confidence**: Tentative ("This might work") to authoritative ("The best approach is")
• **Pace**: Brief and snappy to detailed and thorough
• **Directness**: Diplomatic and hedged to blunt and straightforward
• **Energy**: Calm and measured to enthusiastic and energetic

Tone Triggers

Tone should shift based on context signals:

• **User emotion**: Frustrated users need calmer, more empathetic tone. Excited users can handle more energy.
• **Task type**: Creative tasks benefit from playful tone. Analytical tasks benefit from precise tone.
• **Stakes**: High-stakes outputs need careful, confident tone. Low-stakes outputs can be lighter.
• **Conversation stage**: Opening exchanges are warmer. Deep working sessions are more direct.
• **User preference**: Some users prefer casual. Others prefer formal. Design for adaptation.

The Tone Matrix

Create a matrix mapping contexts to tone settings: | Context | Formality | Warmth | Confidence | Pace | Directness | |---------|-----------|--------|------------|------|------------| | Onboarding | Low | High | Medium | Moderate | Low | | Error recovery | Low | High | Low | Slow | Medium | | Expert task | Medium | Medium | High | Variable | High | | Creative brainstorm | Low | Medium | Medium | Fast | Low | | Sensitive topic | High | High | Low | Slow | Low |

Tone Consistency Rules

• Tone shifts should be gradual, not jarring
• The persona's core traits should be recognisable regardless of tone
• Tone should respond to the user's tone (mirroring, not mimicking)
• Avoid tone whiplash — don't go from playful to grave in one turn without transition

Design Artefacts

• Tone matrix mapping contexts to dimension settings
• Tone trigger definitions
• Example outputs at different tone settings
• Tone shift transition guidelines