Claude's default email voice sounds like everybody else. A voice skill teaches it how you write. Give Claude 10 emails you've sent, let it interview you, and it writes the skill for you.
A skill is a set of instructions Claude saves and reuses. Once your voice skill is saved, Claude reaches for it every time you ask for an email to that audience. You don't paste your style guide again.
I want you to build a skill that writes emails in my voice when I email [who, e.g. my coworkers]. The folder I've shared holds 10 real emails I've sent to [who]. Read all of them before you do anything else. Step 1: Analyze my writing Look at: - how I open an email (greeting and first line) - how I close (sign-off, my name, anything after it) - my average sentence length and paragraph length - how fast I get to the point - words and phrases I use often - punctuation habits: exclamation marks, dashes, emojis, bullet points - how formal or casual I am, and when that shifts - how I ask for things, and how I say no Show me a short summary of what you found, with one quoted example from my emails for each point. Step 2: Interview me Ask me one question at a time and wait for my answer before the next one. Ask no more than 12 questions. Cover: - the greetings I like, and when I use each one - my sign-offs - my pet peeves in other people's emails - words or phrases I never want to see in my emails - how long my emails should be - how I write subject lines - anything you noticed in my emails that you're unsure I like Step 3: Write the skill Create a skill folder named [email-voice-team] with a SKILL.md file inside it. - Frontmatter: a name (lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens only) and a description under 200 characters that says what the skill does and when to use it. Start the description with "Use when drafting any email to [who]". - Body sections: When to use, Greeting, Tone, Sentence and paragraph length, Words and phrases I use, Words to avoid, Sign-off, Two example emails, Final check. - Write every rule as a direct instruction to yourself. - Use my real phrases from the emails and my interview answers. - Build the two example emails from my real emails, with private details removed. Step 4: Test it Use the skill to draft one new email to [who] about [a real topic you need to write about this week]. Ask me what sounds off. Update the skill and redraft until I say it sounds like me. Step 5: Package it Package the finished skill as a skill file I can save to my skills.
Open Customize > Skills to see every skill you've saved and switch each one on or off. Skills need Code execution and file creation switched on. On Free, Pro and Max plans that's under Settings > Capabilities.
Build a voice skill. Give Claude 10 real emails you've sent to one audience, then paste a prompt that has it analyze your writing and interview you. It writes a skill file with your greetings, tone, sign-offs and favorite phrases. Save the skill, and Claude uses it when you ask for an email to that audience.
A skill is a set of instructions Claude saves and reuses. Each skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file that has a name and a description, and the description tells Claude when to use it. Claude only reads the name and description until a request matches, then it opens the full file.
Open Customize, then Skills. You'll see every skill you've saved, with a switch to turn each one on or off, and you can upload a skill file there too. Skills need Code execution and file creation switched on, which on Free, Pro and Max plans is under Settings > Capabilities.
Check the description first. Claude picks a skill from its description, so make it name the audience, like "Use when drafting any email to clients", and keep it under 200 characters. Check the skill is switched on in Customize > Skills. To be sure it runs, name it in your request: "Use my email-voice-team skill."
Yes, build one for each audience you write to. Client emails and team emails need different greetings, tone and length, so give each its own skill. Make each description say who it is for and who it isn't for, so the two skills don't trip over each other.
The fill-in voice skill template I start from, with every section Claude needs to sound like you. Plus the prompt that builds your second voice, so client emails and team emails each get their own.
Fill in every [bracket] with your own rules and two real emails. You can save it as a SKILL.md file and upload it, or paste it into Cowork and ask Claude to turn it into a skill.
--- name: [email-voice-clients] description: Use when drafting any email to [clients]. Writes in [Your Name]'s voice: [warm, direct, short]. [Under 200 characters in total.] --- # [Your Name]'s email voice: [clients] ## When to use Use this skill for every email to [clients / prospects / partners]. Don't use it for [team updates / newsletters / social posts]. ## Greeting - Default: "[Hi Sam,]" - First email to someone new: "[Hello Sam,]" - Never: "[Dear Sir or Madam / Hey there / I hope this email finds you well]" ## Tone - [Friendly and direct. Get to the point in the first line.] - [Confident. Make a recommendation. Don't list every option.] - [Light humor is fine. No emojis with clients.] ## Sentence and paragraph length - Sentences: [short, about 12 words on average] - Paragraphs: [no more than 3 sentences] - Whole email: [under 150 words unless I ask for more] - [Use bullet points only for 3 or more items the reader has to act on.] ## Words and phrases I use - "[Quick one:]" - "[Here's what I suggest:]" - "[Does that work for you?]" ## Words to avoid - [Just checking in] - [Circle back / touch base] - [Per my last email] - [Exclamation marks, more than one per email] ## Sign-off - Default: "[Talk soon, Sam]" - Formal: "[Best, Sam McKenzie]" - [Nothing after my name. My email signature adds the rest.] ## Example 1: [a follow-up after a call] Subject: [Next steps from today] [Paste a real email you sent, private details removed.] ## Example 2: [saying no, or pushing a deadline] Subject: [New date for the report] [Paste a second real email, private details removed.] ## Final check Before showing me a draft, check it against every rule above. Cut any sentence that doesn't help the reader act.
Keep the description under 200 characters and make it name the audience. "Use when drafting any email to clients" tells Claude which voice to pick. Two skills with vague descriptions will trip over each other.
Read my skill [email-voice-team]. I want a second email voice for [clients]. The folder I've shared holds 10 real emails I've sent to [clients]. Read them all. 1. Compare these emails with my existing skill. Show me a short list of what changes for this audience: greeting, tone, length, sign-off and words I use, with one quoted example for each. 2. Ask me up to 6 questions, one at a time, about anything the emails don't make clear. 3. Write a new skill named [email-voice-clients] in the same SKILL.md format as my existing one. Its description must start with "Use when drafting any email to [clients]" and must say it is not for [my team], so the two skills don't overlap. 4. Update the description of [email-voice-team] so it says it is not for [clients]. 5. Draft one test email to [clients] about [a real topic], ask what sounds off, and fix the skill until I'm happy. 6. Package both skills as skill files I can save.
Prompts, step-by-step guides and checklists you can put to work today.