How we write — for prose, marketing copy, and everything in between
Science of People is warm, evidence-based, and empowering. We make behavioral science accessible and actionable. Our voice reflects Vanessa’s personal style — approachable expertise with a genuine desire to help.
This page covers the rules that apply across everything we publish. Marketing copy (landing pages, ads, hero sections, emails-as-acquisition) has its own tighter ruleset further down. Prose (books, blog posts, courses, editorial emails) has its own.
Canonical source:
marketing/science-of-people-canonical-copy-guidein GBrain.That is the one company copy guide for positioning, hook banks, proof blocks, claim guardrails, and source routing.
sop-agents/plugins/sop-agents/references/science-of-people-canonical-copy-guide.mdis the company-bundled markdown file; the GBrain markdown file symlinks to it so the brain slug and repo-local writing workflows read the same maintained source instead of duplicated excerpts.Supporting source pages:
reports/interpersonal-skills-life-and-economic-outcomes-canonical-source-2026-05-20,reports/interpersonal-skills-full-impact-research-2026-05-19,reports/social-skills-economic-outcomes-research-2026-04-27,reports/people-school-economic-advancement-hooks-metrics-2026-04-27, andmarketing/people-skills-economic-value-copy-kit-2026-04-30.
This page is the in-repo reference. GBrain is the source of truth for marketing copy.
The Brand Promise
People skills are life infrastructure.
Our broad promise: help people build the trainable interpersonal skills behind better conversations, stronger relationships, more confidence, and the moments that shape how we work, love, lead, heal, age, and belong.
Our People School / product promise: build the people skills that get you trusted, promoted, sponsored, and paid — with the level of support you’ll actually use.
The pain we solve: you’re capable, you work hard, and somehow other people aren’t seeing, trusting, choosing, connecting with, or rewarding your value. The fix isn’t personality. It’s trainable.
People skills aren’t soft. They’re life skills and career skills. The full research spine connects social connection and interpersonal functioning to longevity, loneliness, mental health, physical health, relationship quality, education, well-being, cognitive aging, healthcare communication, team productivity, wages, promotions, leadership, negotiation, and career success.
Every piece we publish — marketing or prose — should connect, directly or indirectly, to this premise: relationships shape how we live, love, learn, work, heal, age, and belong; people skills help us build those relationships deliberately.
Voice Attributes (apply everywhere)
| Attribute | We Are | We’re Not |
|---|---|---|
| Warm | Friendly, approachable, encouraging | Cold, clinical, distant |
| Expert | Research-backed, credible, knowledgeable | Preachy, condescending, jargon-heavy |
| Empowering | Actionable, practical, confidence-building | Passive, theoretical, overwhelming |
| Authentic | Genuine, honest, relatable | Salesy, manipulative, fake |
| Vulnerable | Open about struggles, real stories | Perfect, unapproachable, distant |
Vocabulary
Use: charisma, cues, decode, captivate, warmth, competence, the People Skills Index (PSI), people skills, career skills.
Avoid: “soft skills” as a primary phrase (use only when correcting it), “EQ” as a lead, “communication style,” “synergy,” “leverage” as a verb, “unlock your potential,” “game-changer,” “next-level.”
Grammar & Style (universal)
| Rule | Example |
|---|---|
| No Oxford comma | ”warmth, competence and credibility” |
| Use contractions | ”You’ll” not “You will” |
| Active voice | ”Research shows” not “It has been shown” |
| Numbers under 10 spelled out (in prose) | “five tips” not “5 tips” |
| Numbers in marketing copy use digits | ”+12 points” not “twelve points” |
| Capitalize People School, ProSocial, Vanessa AI, Coach Cert | Product names are proper nouns |
Marketing Copy Rules
For landing pages, ads, hero sections, social ads, and acquisition emails. Tight, performance-driven, scene-led. Pulled from the canonical GBrain copy guide — see marketing/science-of-people-canonical-copy-guide for the full hook bank, proof blocks, receipts, and claim guardrails.
Voice rules — non-negotiable
- Lead with a scene, not a study. “The meeting where your idea has to land” beats “communication research shows.”
- Verbs over nouns. “Get promoted” beats “career advancement.” “Read the room” beats “interpersonal acumen.”
- One idea per sentence. Two sentences max before a period.
- Citations live in tooltips and footnotes. Numbers live in body copy. Names live in the receipts section.
- No hedging in headlines. “Linked to” and “associated with” belong below the fold, not above it.
- Punctuation as pacing. Em dashes snap. Periods thud. Commas slow you down — use them on purpose.
- Specific scenes beat abstractions. Replace “difficult conversations” with “the conversation you keep avoiding.”
- Status reversals open well. “You’re smart. That’s not the problem.”
Hook formulas (steal verbatim or adapt)
From the swipe-file kit — see marketing/copywriter-starter-kit-screenshot-index-2026-04-30 for full examples and adaptations.
| Formula | Example |
|---|---|
| Harsh truth | ”Smart isn’t enough.” / “You won’t get promoted for your potential alone.” |
| Identity / status | ”Be the person teams want in the room.” / “Become impossible to overlook.” |
| Practice before stakes | ”Practice the raise conversation before your salary’s on the line.” |
| Cost of avoiding | ”Silence has a price.” / “Work politics holding you back?” |
| Career economics | ”People skills aren’t soft. They’re the highest-leverage skills in modern work.” |
| Skill-is-trainable | ”Leadership isn’t luck. It’s practice.” |
| Pain-to-win | ”Turn work conflicts into breakthrough wins.” |
| Expert-in-your-pocket | ”A coach in your corner.” |
Anti-patterns — delete on sight
- “Research suggests…” → use the number.
- “Studies have shown…” → cut.
- “Communication is associated with positive career outcomes.” → “Your career is built in conversations.”
- “Soft skills” as a primary phrase.
- Three-syllable abstractions where a verb works.
- Anything that sounds like LinkedIn.
- Long sentences with three commas.
- Adverbs in headlines.
- “Imagine if…” openers.
- Citations above the fold.
- “Empower” / “elevate” / “synergy” / “leverage” as verbs.
Claim guardrails
- Don’t promise income outcomes for individuals.
- Don’t imply causality where a study shows correlation.
- Use “linked to,” “predicts,” or just the number — never “guarantees.”
- Keep gender/negotiation claims nuanced — context and penalties matter.
- Never reduce people skills to “charisma” or “likability.”
- Use the People Skills Index by its full name on first reference, then PSI.
Receipts (for fact-checking and footnotes — not headlines)
| Number | Claim-safe phrasing | Source |
|---|---|---|
| +12 pts | Jobs that require high social interaction grew by ~12 pp of the U.S. labor force, 1980–2012. | Deming 2017, NBER w21473 |
| −3.3 pts | Math-intensive but less-social jobs shrank by 3.3 pp over the same period. | Deming 2017 |
| Doubled | Labor-market return to noncognitive skill roughly doubled, 1992–2013, strongest at the top. | Edin et al. 2022 |
| ~As much as IQ | Social skill improved group performance about as much as IQ. | Weidmann & Deming 2021, NBER w27071 |
| 4–24% | Leadership wage premium for men who held leadership roles in high school. | Kuhn & Weinberger 2005 |
| 141 / 57,406 | Meta-analysis links political skill to career success. | Chen, Jiang & Wu 2021/2022 |
Full source list lives in the gbrain copy kit.
Prose Rules
For blog posts, books, courses, editorial newsletters, and longer-form content. Storytelling-first, room to breathe.
The SOP Formula
Every piece of long-form content should follow this pattern:
- Hook — Personal story or relatable pain point
- Science — Research-backed explanation
- Action — Concrete, implementable tip
- Transformation — What’s possible when they apply it
Tips-first approach
Every piece of content should lead with actionable value:
- Start with what they’ll learn — not background or setup
- Get to the tip fast — don’t bury the lede
- Make it scannable — readers skim before committing
Do
- Use “you” and “we” — it’s a conversation
- Lead with vulnerability then value
- Back claims with research (cite studies — prose can show its work)
- Give ONE actionable tip per piece
- Paint vivid future scenarios
- Front-load the value proposition
- Use contractions
- Write how Vanessa speaks
Don’t
- Use jargon without explanation
- Make claims without evidence
- Share long stories without clear takeaways
- Ask for engagement without providing value first
- Use weak CTAs (“reply with your thoughts”)
- Write walls of text (400+ words in emails)
- Start with “Today I want to talk about…”
Heading structure
- H2: Main sections
- H3: Subsections within H2
- Bold: Key terms and takeaways
- Lists: Tips and action items
Editorial Email Voice
For nurture sequences, content emails, and newsletter sends — not acquisition ads.
Subject lines
- Use curiosity-driven subjects that create emotional pull
- Promise transformation or easy solutions
- Example: “An easy way to find your best friend” vs “Looking for friends?”
Opening (20–30 words)
- Lead with personal hook or relatable scenario
- Acknowledge the reader’s pain point
- Promise transformation
Body (100–150 words)
- Make pain point visceral with specific examples
- Establish authority early (“After a decade studying human behavior…”)
- Paint picture of desired outcome
- Provide one quick actionable tip
Close (30–50 words)
- Reinforce main benefit
- Clear, benefit-focused CTA
- PS with urgency or additional value
Length
- Keep editorial emails to 150–250 words
- Acquisition/cold emails follow marketing copy rules instead
Tone Variations
Adjust tone based on context while maintaining our core voice:
| Context | Tone Adjustment | Which ruleset |
|---|---|---|
| Landing pages, ads, hero sections | Tight, scene-led, performance-driven | Marketing Copy |
| Acquisition / cold email | Short, hooked, status-aware | Marketing Copy |
| Blog posts, long-form articles | Conversational, story-driven, deeper | Prose |
| Books and courses | Encouraging, instructional, transformational | Prose |
| Editorial/nurture email | Personal, vulnerable, value-first | Prose + Editorial Email |
| Social media | Playful, engaging, short, punchy | Marketing Copy hooks |
| Research citations | Precise, academic, link to original studies | Prose |
| AI Coach (Vanessa AI) | Warm, supportive, actionable | Prose |
What’s Working (From Testing)
- Authentic vulnerability creates connection
- Addressing universal pain points (friendship, confidence, social anxiety, career advancement)
- Building “us vs them” dynamic (you get it, others don’t)
- Specific, relatable scenarios (“always reaching out first”)
- Vivid future painting (“Imagine six months from now…”)
- Status reversals as openers (“You’re smart. That’s not the problem.”)
- Connecting people skills to economic outcomes — promotion, salary, sponsorship — not just feelings
Common Mistakes to Avoid
| Instead of This | Do This |
|---|---|
| Long personal stories without takeaways | Short stories that illustrate a point |
| Asking for engagement without value | Give value first, then ask |
| Weak endings that trail off | Strong endings with clear next steps |
| Generic promises | Specific transformations |
| ”Click here to learn more" | "Discover how to read anyone in 5 minutes" |
| "Research suggests communication matters" | "+12 points. Jobs that need people skills grew that much in a generation." |
| "Soft skills" | "People skills” / “career skills" |
| "Unlock your potential” | A specific, named outcome |
One-line prompt for downstream writers
Lead with a scene, not a study. Pick one hook. Use the number, not the citation. If a sentence sounds like a journal, kill it. Connect it back to the career/economic stakes — promotion, raise, the room you want to be in. For marketing copy, follow the gbrain copy kit. For prose, follow the SOP Formula.