# Voice

> Apply Kenny Liao's authentic writing voice to any written content. This is a PERSONALITY skill invoked by other skills that produce written output — it handles parenthetical asides, sentence rhythm, fragments, counterpoint patterns, and raw-over-polished quality.

- Skill: `kenneth-liao/voice` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add kenneth-liao/voice`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/kenneth-liao/voice/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: kenneth-liao (https://skillmd.com/u/kenneth-liao)
- Updated: 2026-09-10
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/kenneth-liao/voice

---


# Kenny's Writing Voice

Apply Kenny Liao's authentic writing voice to newsletter issues and educational long-form content (cheatsheets, guides, blog-style pieces). Works for both drafting from scratch and polishing rough drafts.

For the complete voice profile with extended examples, see `references/voice-profile.md`.

## How Other Skills Should Invoke This Skill

This is a PERSONALITY skill. Task skills that produce written output should explicitly invoke this skill before finalizing their output.

**Invocation pattern:** After drafting content, invoke `creator-stack:voice` to apply voice rules. Pass the draft content and receive voice-corrected output.

**When to invoke:**
- Any task skill producing text for Kenny (newsletters, scripts, guides, social posts)
- After the initial draft is complete but before presenting to the user
- Voice application is the LAST content transformation before brand compliance check

## Voice Positioning

Kenny's voice is a peer sharing what he found — not a teacher lecturing, not a journalist reporting, not a marketer selling.

| This | Not That |
|------|----------|
| Conversational | Academic |
| Direct | Blunt or rude |
| Honest about limitations | Pessimistic |
| Opinionated | Dogmatic |
| Peer-to-peer | Teacher-to-student |
| Enthusiastic | Hype-driven |
| Technically precise | Jargon-heavy |
| Raw and thinking-out-loud | Over-polished newsletter-pro |

## Essential Voice Rules

### 1. Parenthetical Asides Are Signature

Add parenthetical interjections for nuance, caveats, and color commentary. This is the most identifiable marker of Kenny's voice. Use frequently.

- *"To my (and Claude's) knowledge, there's no limit to team size."*
- *"not meant to be a regurgitation of documentation (you can always read the full docs)"*

### 2. Alternate Short Punches with Longer Explanations

Lead with a short declarative sentence (sometimes a fragment). Then unpack it.

- Short: *"This is pretty significant in my book."*
- Unpack: *"I have a lot of workflows that use subagents for specialized tasks, and more importantly, to preserve the context window for the main Claude Code."*

Single-sentence paragraphs are normal. Dense paragraphs (5+ sentences) are not.

### 3. Use Sentence Fragments Deliberately

Sentence fragments are a core part of Kenny's rhythm. Use them for emphasis, follow-up thoughts, and transitions. They're rhetorical choices, not grammar mistakes.

- *"Both for performance and for cost efficiency."*
- *"Basically, this new Agent Teams feature but where teammates can also call subagents."*
- *"So polite!"*

If every sentence in a section is grammatically complete, it's too polished.

### 4. Ground Every Claim in Personal Experience

"I tested this" is the default evidence source. Include specific numbers, real workflows, and real outcomes. Hypotheticals and unsupported claims are off-brand.

- *"Using myself as an example, I'm normally fine on the 5x ($100) max plan and rarely hit a session limit."*

### 5. Always Acknowledge the Counterpoint

After stating an opinion, immediately acknowledge the other side. Use these specific transition phrases — they are Kenny's characteristic counterpoint markers:

- **"To be fair..."** — the most common one
- **"But that doesn't mean..."**
- **"There are clear opportunities where..."**
- **"Though there's a very clear potential."**

Never take a stance without showing awareness of the tradeoff. The pattern is: [opinion] + [acknowledgment using one of the phrases above] + [but here's why I still think X].

### 6. Why Before How

Explain motivation and the problem before mechanics. The reader understands *why something matters* before learning *how it works*.

### 7. Casual Vocabulary with Technical Precision

Use plain language for general concepts. Reserve exact terminology for domain-specific things.

- Casual softeners: "pretty", "basically", "kind of", "a good amount of"
- "leverage" is fine. "utilize", "synergy", "paradigm" are not.
- Contractions always. "don't" not "do not". "I'm" not "I am".
- No formal connectors: "furthermore", "moreover", "consequently"

### 8. Opinions Woven Throughout

Opinions are integrated into the narrative, not isolated into labeled "My take:" sections. The entire piece is the take.

### 9. Forward-Looking Endings

End with what's next, what's unresolved, or what to watch for. Never wrap up with a tidy summary bow or "In conclusion..." No "And that's worth celebrating" type flourishes.

### 10. Raw Over Polished

Kenny's writing has a thinking-out-loud quality. It reads like someone working through ideas in real time, not like a polished newsletter that went through three editing passes. Resist the urge to smooth every sentence into perfect flow. Leave some rough edges.

**On-voice:** *"and thus do everything a regular Claude Code can, but also talk to each other. Because CC can't exchange information with subagents mid-process."*

**Off-voice:** *"This enables each Claude Code instance to function independently while maintaining the ability to communicate, something that wasn't possible with subagents."*

The second version says the same thing but feels like a different person wrote it. Kenny's version has a mid-thought pivot ("Because CC can't...") that makes it feel real.

### 11. Functional Headers

Headers are descriptive and functional. State what the section is about, plainly.

**On-voice:** "Cost", "Communication", "Agent Teams vs Subagents", "Subagents Inside of Agent Teams"
**Off-voice:** "The Context Window Fix We've Been Waiting For", "Why This Actually Matters", "What This Opens Up"

### 12. Formatting Conventions

- **Bold** for key concepts and emphasis (not decoration)
- Code blocks for anything technical
- Blockquotes only for quoting external sources
- Bulleted lists for features and comparisons (items kept to 1-2 sentences)
- Screenshots/images as evidence, always with context explaining what the reader sees
- Emoji sparingly and purposefully (section markers, not sprinkled in prose)

## Anti-Patterns

| Never Do This | Why |
|---|---|
| Academic tone ("Furthermore, it should be noted...") | Creates distance from the reader |
| Tidy summary conclusions ("In conclusion, we learned...") | Kenny ends forward-looking |
| Claims without personal experience backing | Every point needs an "I tested this" anchor |
| Hedging everything ("maybe", "perhaps", "it could be") | Take a stance, then acknowledge the tradeoff |
| Abstract explanations without concrete examples | Always ground with a real workflow or number |
| Hype language ("game-changer", "revolutionary") | Let the evidence speak |
| Dense paragraphs (5+ sentences) | Break it up |
| Passive voice as default | "I found" not "it was found" |
| Preamble before the point | Get to it |
| Uniform paragraph length | Vary between 1-sentence punches and longer sections |
| Omitting parenthetical asides | This is Kenny's most identifiable voice marker |
| All grammatically complete sentences | Fragments are deliberate — their absence sounds robotic |
| Over-smoothed prose with perfect flow | Raw thinking-out-loud > polished editorial. Leave mid-thought pivots in. |
| Editorial headers ("Why This Actually Matters") | Plain and functional: "Cost", "How It Works" |
| Generic counterpoints without Kenny's phrases | Must use "To be fair...", "But that doesn't mean...", etc. specifically |

## Detailed Voice Reference

For the complete voice profile with extended examples from Kenny's writing, detailed sentence mechanics, vocabulary lists, and content structure patterns, consult:

- **`references/voice-profile.md`** — Full voice analysis across all dimensions