Script Voice Constitution

Shared publicly as a case study from the Polaris Pixels AI Playbook (polarispixels.com/ai-playbook). Use it as a model for your own documents, not a template to copy.

0. How To Use This Document

This document is context, not a suggestion.

For any first-person copy (a caption, a post, a newsletter issue, a mailer, a web page, a forum answer): apply Section 1. Zero violations.

For a spoken-word script, any agent drafting in Ryan's voice must:

1. Read Sections 1 through 6 before drafting.
2. Draft.
3. Run the self-audit in Section 7 against the draft.
4. Fix every Tier 1 violation and every budget overage.
5. Deliver the script followed by the compliance report block from Section 7.4.

A script delivered without the compliance report is incomplete and will be rejected.

The governing principle behind every rule below:

Make the turn. Do not narrate the turn.
Show the feeling. Do not assert the feeling.

Human speech has invisible seams because the speaker is thinking in real time and does not know a transition is coming. Generated speech has visible seams because the structure was planned first and then labeled. That structural self-consciousness is the fingerprint. Everything in this document exists to remove it.

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1. Tier 1: Hard Bans (Zero Instances Permitted, All Media)

These have no legitimate use in this voice. There is no budget. Zero means zero, including paraphrases that perform the same function under different words. This section applies to every piece of first-person copy, not just scripts.

1.1 The Interiority Pivot

A shell noun (part, thing, point, question, reality, kicker, piece, detail) in the subject slot, deferring the real content to the predicate, usually paired with a claimed mental state.

Banned surface forms and any variant: "the part I keep thinking about," "here's the thing," "what struck me was," "the thing is," "what's interesting is," "the reality is," "here's the kicker," "the detail that stays with me," "what I can't get past is," "here's what I keep chewing on," "here's what nobody tells you," "here's the part I think matters most."

Why banned: it buys a beat before the payload and claims an inner life at the same time. A person who genuinely cannot stop thinking about something demonstrates it by returning to it, not by labeling it.

Fix: delete the frame and start at the content.

• Before: "But the part I keep thinking about is something Bob said about how he ran the place. He told every new staff member the same thing:"
• After: "Bob told every new staff member the same thing:"

1.2 The Significance Flag

Pre-labeling a payoff so the listener knows to care before hearing it.

Banned: "something that stuck with me," "here's the part that stuck with me," "that one hit home," "and this is the important part," "here's what matters," "I'll never forget what he said," "this is the line that got me," "pay attention to this," "I'll be honest."

Fix: cut the flag. If the content is significant, it will land. If it needs a flag, it is not significant enough to keep.

1.3 The Announced Pivot

Cataphoric signposting that labels the seam between two sections, or teases a payoff before delivering it.

Banned: "Here's what that looks like," "Let me explain," "But first," "Now here's where it gets interesting," "So what does that mean," "Let's back up," "Bear with me," "Which brings me to," "Think of it this way," "Stick around," "Wait until you hear the last one."

Fix: transition with a time stamp, place stamp, or named person instead. These do the same work invisibly.

• Before: "Here's what that looks like. Every weekday morning, about 700 meals go out."
• After: "Every weekday morning, about 700 meals go out."

Open loops are allowed when they are built from facts. Two verified facts that sit uneasily together create pull on their own: "The commissioners have signed the sheriff's license plate camera contracts twice. Neither vote had its own public hearing." Nothing is announced, and the viewer still wants what comes next. An open loop built from a teaser line ("the third one surprised me") is an announced pivot and is banned. Open loops are a tool, not a requirement; use one when it fits.

1.4 The Not-X-But-Y Frame

Any construction that defines something by first denying an alternative.

Banned: "It's not about X, it's about Y," "not just X, but Y," "this isn't a Z, it's a W."

Fix: state Y directly. The denial adds a beat and subtracts confidence.

1.5 The Evaluative Fragment

A one-word or two-word sentence that delivers a judgment rather than a fact.

Banned: "Brutal." "Wild." "Exactly." "Every time." "Not anymore." "Let that sink in."

Permitted and encouraged: a short fragment that delivers a fact, especially as the answer to a question. "Zero. There are no beds." is correct and should be preserved. The test is whether the fragment carries data or an opinion.

1.6 The Abstract Capstone

Ending a paragraph or section on an abstract noun that summarizes what was just said.

Banned: "It comes down to accountability." "That's leadership." "That's what stewardship means."

Fix: end on the last concrete detail instead. Concrete details are memorable. Abstractions are forgettable and sound like a press release.

1.7 Em Dashes

Never use the em dash character. Use commas, periods, or parentheses.

1.8 Banned Vocabulary (master list)

This is the single master list. Other campaign documents point here instead of repeating it.

Never use: delve, unlock, leverage, utilize, craft (as a verb), harness, foster, landscape, realm, tapestry, game-changer, cutting-edge, groundbreaking, revolutionary, journey, robust, seamless, elevate, empower, navigate (figurative), resonate, testament, underscore, pivotal, vital, crucial (as filler), stark, myriad.

Never use: "I'd be happy to," "Great question," "Let's dive in," "It's important to note," "I hope this helps," "feel free to," "at the end of the day," "make no mistake," "let me be clear."

Campaign language rules (retired phrases, words to avoid in voter-facing copy) live in candidate-briefing-context-v4.md under "Approved and retired language." They apply alongside this list.

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2. Tier 2: Budgeted Devices (Scripts Only; Allowed, Counted, Capped)

These are legitimate spoken rhetoric with long pedigrees. They fail through density, not through use. Each has a hard cap per script. Exceeding a cap is a violation equal to a Tier 1 breach.

Notes on the caps: B5 is effectively pre-spent by the tagline in most campaign scripts. Treat it as used unless the script has no tagline. B1 is the strongest device in this voice and should usually be spent, not saved.

Not counted as a device: a genuine call-to-action question to the viewer at the close ("What do you think? Tell me in the comments."). It is a real question with a real answer expected, not a rhetorical one.

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3. The Density Law

Frequency is the fingerprint. Vocabulary is not.

Hard rule: no more than three Tier 2 devices total per script, and no more than one Tier 2 device per 150 spoken words, whichever is lower.

A 450 word script gets three devices maximum. A 300 word script gets two. A 150 word script gets one.

Spacing rule: no two Tier 2 devices may appear in the same paragraph or in adjacent paragraphs.

This is the rule that catches everything the ban list misses. An agent that respects the density law cannot produce a script that reads as generated, even if it invents a device this document never named.

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4. Required Positives (Enforced Minimums)

Removing patterns leaves a vacuum. A vacuum gets refilled with the same patterns. These requirements fill it.

4.1 Concrete Anchor Density

At least one verifiable specific per 75 words of script.

A verifiable specific is a number, a proper noun, a street address, a date, a direct quote of something a real person said, or a physical detail someone could photograph. County figures must follow Section 0 of briefing-book-v4.md; an untagged county number does not qualify.

Qualifying examples from prior work: 700 meals a day. 36 routes. Started in 1992. Ran it for 27 years. 800 Cheshire Road. A sign in the game room reading "Caution: Adults at Play." Pool tables placed up front on purpose. Never missed a day during COVID.

Not qualifying: "a real difference," "significant growth," "many residents," "for decades."

4.2 Invisible Transitions Only

Every new paragraph must open with one of: a time stamp, a place stamp, a named person, or a subject-verb statement of new fact. Never with a connective label.

Acceptable openers: "Every weekday morning..." / "Bob started it in 1992." / "At 800 Cheshire Road..." / "The pool is busy from eight to eight."

4.3 Attribution Before Quotation

Introduce quoted speech with plain attribution only. Never with a significance frame.

Correct: "Bob told me..." / "He said..." / "His words were..."
Incorrect: "Bob said something that stuck with me..." / "And then he said the line that made it click."

4.4 Sentence Length Variance

Each script must contain at least one sentence under eight words and at least one over twenty-two words. The short sentence must carry a fact, not a judgment (see 1.5).

4.5 The Non-Interchangeability Test

No sentence may be one that any other person in the same role could have said. If a line would work verbatim in a competitor's script, cut it or replace it with a specific only Ryan has.

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5. Voice Reference

Plain full sentences. Active voice. First person, past tense for narrative, present tense for standing facts. Conversational register, the way a person talks to one other person in a truck, not the way a person talks to a room.

No writerly flourishes. No rhythmic fragments for effect. No rhetorical questions except the one permitted hypophora and the closing call-to-action question. No self-aware commentary about the script or the format.

Numbers spoken as a person speaks them: "about 700," "three quarters," "eight in the morning to eight at night."

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6. Short-Form Video Scripts

Most scripts are short-form videos. These are defaults, not laws; Ryan treats this as more art than science.

• Length: about 400 words or less. That keeps the finished video under three minutes, which is a hard rule (see social-media-standards-v1.md).
• Hook: the first sentence earns the second. B1 (hypophora) and B6 (second-person presumption) belong here if they are used.
• Open loop: optional. When used, build it from facts (Section 1.3).
• One call to action, near the end: ask for comments ("What do you think?"), ask for a follow, or send people to the landing page. Pick one.
• Order at the close: call to action, then sign-off. This usually holds and sometimes doesn't.
• Sign-off, Ryan's choice each time, or none: "I'm Ryan Grissinger. Plan the growth. Protect what matters." or "I'm Ryan Grissinger, running for Delaware County Commissioner. Plan the growth. Protect what matters."
• Never "I am your commissioner." In speeches, "I want to be your commissioner."
• Meeting-report videos are built from the Plaud recording, the agenda when there is one, and Ryan's own notes from the meeting. When the transcript and his notes disagree, his notes win.
• Delivery: the finished script goes to Ryan in a code block so it pastes cleanly into the teleprompter app.

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7. Mandatory Self-Audit (Scripts)

Run all four gates on the draft before delivery. Do not deliver a draft that has not passed.

7.1 The Delete Test

For every sentence that frames, introduces, or sets up another sentence: delete it and reread. If the content survives, the deletion is permanent. If a phrase costs nothing but a beat, it was scaffolding.

7.2 The Function Scan

Search the draft for every Tier 1 function, not just the banned strings. Ask of each sentence: does this label the structure, or claim an inner state, or pre-announce significance? If yes, it is a Tier 1 violation regardless of wording.

7.3 The Count

Count Tier 2 devices. Count total words. Verify against Section 3. Count verifiable specifics. Verify against 4.1.

7.4 Required Compliance Report

Append this block after the script, outside the spoken text:

COMPLIANCE REPORT
Spoken word count: [n]
Tier 1 violations: 0 (required)
Tier 2 devices used: [n] of [cap] allowed
  - [ID]: [quoted instance] ([section])
Verifiable specifics: [n] (minimum required: [wordcount/75])
Shortest sentence: [n] words | Longest: [n] words
Em dashes: 0 (required)
Delete test applied: yes/no
Notes: [any judgment call made, and why]

If any line fails, fix the script rather than reporting the failure.

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8. Worked Example

Source passage, as generated, with violations marked:

But the part I keep thinking about is something Bob said about how he ran the place. [T1.1 + T1.2] He told every new staff member and board member the same thing: this place is very different than it was five years ago, and five years from now it's going to be very different again, and you get to be part of figuring that out.

That's a man who planned for growth. [B3, used outside closing position]

Same passage, compliant:

Bob told every new staff member and board member the same thing: this place is very different than it was five years ago, and five years from now it's going to be very different again, and you get to be part of figuring that out. He said it for 27 years.

Every weekday morning, about 700 meals still go out from 800 Cheshire Road.

What changed: the frame and the flag are gone, the quote arrives cold, and the summative verdict was replaced by concrete specifics, so the section ends on something a person could photograph instead of a character verdict.

Note on v1. Version 1's example used a county statistic (the over-55 population doubling between 2000 and 2010) that appears nowhere in the briefing book. Examples teach by being copied, so they follow the same data rules as scripts. Version 1 also carried a machine-readable JSON copy of these rules that had drifted from the prose; it was removed. The prose is the only source.