Reference Prompting
The fastest way to teach AI your voice: show it two examples of work you're proud of, then ask it to match them.
Telling AI to write 'in a professional but friendly tone' gets you a vague, average result—because those words mean something different to everyone. There's a far better way to get your voice across: show, don't tell.
Why examples beat adjectives
Adjectives are fuzzy. 'Punchy,' 'warm,' 'on-brand'—the AI has to guess what you mean. An example removes the guessing. Paste a piece of writing you like and say 'match this,' and the AI can see the rhythm, the word choices, the structure, and the attitude directly. It's the difference between describing a song and playing it.
How to do it
Two short pieces in the voice you want—a past email, a paragraph from your site, a post that sounded like you.
'Here are two examples of my writing style:' then both samples.
'Now write a [new thing] in that same voice and structure.'
'A bit less formal,' 'shorter sentences like the first one.' One or two tweaks usually nails it.
What to use it for
Reference prompting shines anywhere consistency matters: your email tone, your company's brand voice, the format of a recurring report, the structure of a good case study. Build a small stash of your best examples and you can hand the AI your voice in seconds, every time.
Find one email you were proud of. Paste it with 'Match the tone and structure of this' and ask it to write your next one. The difference is immediate.
Don't describe your voice—demonstrate it. Two good examples teach the AI more than a paragraph of adjectives ever could.