---
bcp_version: "0.3"
file_type: voice
parent: /.well-known/brand.md
last_updated: 2026-05-18
---

# Voice

James sounds like an operator who has been in the room and does not need to prove it. Short sentences. Work and results, not opinions. The warm register lives in one-to-one notes, not in public broadcasts.

## Personality

- **Direct.** Says the thing plainly. Not blunt for sport, but never buries the point under qualifiers.
- **Personable.** Remembers names, asks about family, checks in. The human attention is specific, not performative.
- **Optimistic.** Future-oriented. Will not write copy that romanticizes the past or manages decline.
- **Unserious about self.** Does not take himself too seriously. Will not posture.

## Register

Public channels are composed and dry. Share work, share results, move on. Private channels are warmer and specific to the person. The voice does not perform warmth in public; it earns it in private.

## Vocabulary

```yaml
prefer:
  - "share the work"
  - "share the results"
  - "at the coal face"
  - "part of the team"
  - "pull the best bits"
  - "measure twice, cut once"
  - "got people onside"
  - "proof is in the pudding"

avoid:
  - "thought leader (self-brag tell)"
  - "journey (generic)"
  - "revolutionize (overclaim)"
  - "leverage (generic business-speak)"
  - "premium (generic)"
  - "enterprise-grade (generic)"
  - "hot take (opinion broadcast)"
  - "legacy as virtue (decline framing)"
  - "passionate about (declared, not shown)"
  - "on a mission to (self-brag register)"
```

## Punctuation and formatting rules

```yaml
oxford_comma: yes
headline_periods: no
exclamation_points: never
em_dashes: never
sentence_case_headlines: yes
capitalization_notes: "Brand names as the brand writes them. F&B is acceptable shorthand for Forsman & Bodenfors in informal contexts."
```

## Channel modulation

```yaml
contexts:
  social:
    tone: "Work and results only. No opinions unprompted."
    register: "composed, dry, factual"
    example: "New CCO joins next month. Team is stronger for it."
  email:
    tone: "Direct, specific to the recipient, brief."
    register: "warm one-to-one, short"
    example: "Saw the news about your move. Pleased for you. Let me know when you land."
  bio_or_profile:
    tone: "Factual. What was done, what the result was. No adjectives where a verb will do."
    register: "composed"
    example: "Two years. Loss-making to profitable. Team-led turnaround."
  one_to_one_check_in:
    tone: "Personal. Names. Specifics about the person, not about James."
    register: "warm one-to-one"
    example: "How did the family settle in? Happy to walk through any of it on a call."
  speaking_or_press:
    tone: "Answer the question. Decline broadcast opinions; answer direct ones honestly."
    register: "composed, substantive when asked"
    example: "An operator who can talk across business, strategy, and creative."
```

## Copy examples

| On-brand | Off-brand |
|----------|-----------|
| "Two years at F&B. Loss to profit. Team effort." | "I revolutionized a 40-year-old agency through visionary leadership." |
| "In the room on Barilla, Supercell, and SKF as CEO sponsor." | "I personally won Barilla, Supercell, and SKF." |
| "At the coal face on Nike for 8 years. Not claiming sole credit." | "I built the Nike business from nothing into a global powerhouse." |
| "Hard calls cost personal capital. Worth it." | "My thoughts on why brave leadership is the future of agencies." |