{"id":"exec-investor-paragraph-plain-voice","audience":"executives","category":"leadership-work","track":"leadership","technique":"tone","level":"intermediate","title":"Rewrite a hyped investor update paragraph in a plain voice","free":false,"task":"Your board chair says the founder's investor updates sound like ads. Rewrite this paragraph in a plain, factual voice. The first sentence states that Q3 revenue missed plan and shows the gap as math. Keep every number exactly, remove the hype, add no other claims, and end with exactly \"Next update: January 15.\" One paragraph, no bullets, under 65 words.","materialLabel":"Founder's draft paragraph (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Draft paragraph for the Q3 investor update (from founder, Callum):\n\nWhat an incredible quarter! We are absolutely crushing it. Our explosive momentum continued as we onboarded a jaw-dropping 23 new customers, our best quarter ever by far. Revenue came in at $1.12M, and while that's a touch under our $1.3M plan, it's really just timing, and honestly the pipeline has never looked hotter. Gross margin held strong at 62%. We're on a rocket ship and every single metric is screaming that we're about to break out in a massive way. Burn was $480k for the quarter. Huge thanks to the whole team, you are all legends!","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":65},{"type":"maxBullets","max":0}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Softening instead of rewriting","why":"The AI tones it down a little but keeps the upbeat opener and hides the miss.","fix":"Say: \"Sentence 1 states that revenue missed plan, with the gap as math.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Keeping some hype or excuses","why":"Phrases like \"strong momentum\" or \"just timing\" survive the rewrite.","fix":"Add: \"No hype words, excuses or predictions. Only what happened.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"No fixed ending","why":"The AI ends with thanks to the team or a forward-looking line.","fix":"Add: \"End with exactly: Next update: January 15.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"Rewrites land near the original length.","fix":"Say: \"One paragraph, 5 short sentences, under 50 words, no bullets.\"","checks":["maxBullets","maxWords"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the voice","patterns":["plain","factual","neutral","no hype"]},{"label":"Leads with the miss and its math","patterns":["miss","first sentence","math","gap"]},{"label":"Keeps the numbers","patterns":["every number","keep (all|the) numbers","exact"]},{"label":"Gives the exact ending","patterns":["next update","end with","last sentence"]},{"label":"Sets length and shape","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","one paragraph","no bullets"]}],"hint":"A voice rewrite works best when you name the voice, say what goes first and last, and say what must not change.","rubricLabels":["The first sentence says Q3 revenue missed plan and shows the gap as math ($1.3M - $1.12M = $180k, or the same numbers in another order)","Keeps the other numbers exactly (23 new customers, 62% gross margin, $480k burn), has none of the hype (incredible, crushing it, explosive, jaw-dropping, rocket ship, pipeline never hotter, just timing), and adds no predictions","The last sentence is exactly \"Next update: January 15.\""]}