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

tone-calibration