# She Leads AI — Banned Words, Phrases, and Structural Rules **Owner** Anne Murphy | hello@sheleadsai.ai **Last updated** June 11, 2026 (Sharp re-confirmed #223) **Applies to** All SLAI content, all skills, all agents, all team members, Blog Maker, newsletters, artifacts, social, everything. --- ## Retired Visual System — Purple-Tech (do not use on any SLAI work) The legacy "Purple-Tech" SLAI design system is RETIRED for all SLAI work, locked 2026-05-28. Treat any SLAI artifact built with these colors, fonts, or component patterns as off-brand and flag it. **Retired colors (do not use on SLAI work):** - Purple `#8A0092`, purple-dark `#6A006A`, purple-glow `rgba(138,0,146,0.08)` - Pink `#FF0099` (reserved as a possible Society accent only, not for current use) - Lime `#D3E519` - Orange `#FFA100` - Magenta `#D182C8` **Retired fonts:** Roboto Slab, Alfa Slab One, Agilera. **Retired component patterns:** purple gradient hero, purple H2 with coral border, purple-glow Society Line, magenta-border CTA card, gradient purple "Go Deeper" callout, lavender-glow accents, purple pill CTAs. **Use instead — the FY2027 brand system (LOCKED 2026-05-29).** Source — `C:\Users\anne\slai-content\website-fy2027\styles.css` (and `SLAI-FY2027-BRAND-SYSTEM.md`). The dark is one Ink family in four values — #1A1A2E Ink (deep field), #26263F (lift), #363654 (second lift), #141422 (deepest, footers). Coral does the action — #FB746C light for surfaces and emphasis, #EF5B54 deep for the one button. #F7F7F4 cream paper, #FFFFFF cards, #F2C14E gold for hairlines and the AI Academy sub-brand. The true-navy #1F2A5A is RETIRED — never place two darks together, lift an Ink field with cream, a tonal step of Ink, or a gold hairline. Fonts — League Spartan at the lighter weights 500–600, Montserrat 400–600 body, Bodoni Moda italic for accents and all labels. Buttons are solid deep-coral only, no ghost or outline, secondary actions are text links, eyebrows are gone everywhere. The legacy Offer Refinement Coach and Claude Code Concierge HTML in their old purple form can stay live until rebuilt — don't reuse those patterns on anything new. --- ## The Two Rules That Cover Everything Else **1. Every word earns its place.** No add-on words. No throw-away words. If you can cut a word and the sentence still works, cut it. **2. No quips.** If a sentence sounds like it belongs on a tote bag, a mug, a poster, or a bumper sticker — kill it. No clever sign-offs. No phrases designed to make the reader nod instead of think. --- ## Hard Stops (never use, any context, any document) 1. real 2. actually 3. honest / honestly / honesty 4. genuine 5. truly 6. authentic 7. fluff 8. matters 9. matter 10. room 11. incredibly 12. system (when used generically — name the specific thing) 13. grounded — APPROVED 2026-06-04 (PM). Anne lifted the morning restriction — "grounded is now approved." Use freely. Canonical phrase is "grounded in powerful community" — no article "a" (Anne 2026-06-07). Tagline is "A Human-Centered AI Academy Grounded in Powerful Community." No longer strip it. 14. surface-level 15. the work (as tagline, sign-off, or filler phrase) 16. doing the work (banned — audience is already leading, this implies they need to start) 17. carrying around 18. garden (as a noun for a content collection — that's someone else's word) 19. naming (use the specific word or label instead) 20. landing for you (as in "if this is landing for you" — too vague/soft, not Anne's voice) 21. walk / walked / walking (as a metaphor for action or movement — some SLAI community members do not walk. Use "leave with," "take away," "gain," "come away with," or similar. Applies to testimonial copy we write; verbatim quotes from attendees are exempt.) 22. run, don't walk (banned phrase — same reason as above) - own / owns / owned / ownership (added 2026-05-27 — jargony, not Anne's voice. Use "handle," "lead," "run," "core," or "your" instead. Applies to "own your use cases," "the work you own," "ownership of," etc.) - carry / carries / carried (added 2026-05-29 — same jargon family as own. Use "lead," "run," "handle," or name the specific responsibility. Applies to "the channels you carry," "what each person carries," etc.) - circling / circle (as hesitation framing — "the idea you've been circling," "what you keep circling back to") (added 2026-05-31 — implies the audience hasn't acted yet, which collides with the no-scarcity rule. Name the specific project or affirm what they've already started.) - sat with / sitting with / sit with (added 2026-06-01 — consultant-therapy filler, not Anne's voice. "I sat with the feedback," "sitting with everything from the call." Use "reviewed," "read through," "went back over," "thought through," or name the specific action.) - show up / shows up / showed up / showing up (added 2026-06-01 — implies the audience needs to start, which collides with the audience-is-already-leading rule, and it carries a quip cadence (see Q2 "Show up Saturday"). Use "join us," "be there," "gather with us," or name the specific action. Verbatim quotes from attendees are exempt.) - pivoted / pivot (added 2026-06-01, carried over from the April 20 voice rules — business-speak that hides what actually shifted. Name the specific verb — "shifted format," "moved to X," "switched to an open mic." Do not say a session or meeting pivoted.) - brought (as a summary or filler verb — "she brought a framework," "what each of them brought") (added 2026-06-01, carried over from the April 20 voice rules — lazy. Use "shared," "shaped," "taught," or the specific action.) - cheesy / cheese (added 2026-06-27 — quip-adjacent filler that signals a sentence is trying too hard. Say what you mean plainly. Long-standing on the public Words AI Ruined page; reconciled into canon 2026-06-27.) **Qualifier rule:** Never use the words above as modifiers either. "Genuine track record," "truly committed," "authentic voice" — strip the qualifier. The noun does the work. --- ## Banned Sentence Structures 23. It's not just A, it's B 24. Isn't X, it's Y (any variant of this construction) 25. Now more than ever... 26. What if I told you... 27. This changes everything. 28. Join the movement. 29. Gone are the days of... 30. We're on a mission to... 31. Let that sink in. 32. Imagine a world where... 33. The best part? 34. Here's why that matters. 35. Say hello to... 36. You'll never believe... 37. X is here to stay. 38. Introducing the future of... 39. You deserve... 40. What matters 41. Why it matters 42. Actually work - Rhetorical questions (any question asked for emphasis instead of inquiry) (added 2026-06-27 — reconciled into canon from the public Words AI Ruined page) --- ## Banned Quip Patterns (judgment-call check, sharpened by examples) A quip is any sentence that reads like a tagline, mug, poster, sign-off, or bumper sticker. The brand-enforcement skill Step 6 (QUIP CHECK) catches these via judgment, not pattern match. The patterns below are documented examples — flag anything matching the *shape*, not just the literal words. | # | Pattern | Real example caught | Why it's a quip | |---|---|---|---| | Q1 | Imperative + time-pressure | "Get on the calendar before the week gets away from you" | Personifies time, retail-urgency cadence | | Q2 | Three-beat tagline ("X. Y. Z.") | "Follow the work. Join the conversation. Show up Saturday." | Sound-bite construction, fragment-as-rhythm | | Q3 | Permission/choice softener | "Pick what fits." | Apologetic, filler, talks down | | Q4 | Closure-and-rotation framing | "Apply by deadline. Once a window closes, the next opens later." | Inspirational-cycle cliché | | Q5 | "We will tell you the moment..." | "We will email you the moment registration opens" | Breathless retail copy | | Q6 | Paired emotion + access | "Same heart, accessible from anywhere" | Greeting-card cadence | | Q7 | Italic flourish line above a section title | "in their words" / "stay close" / "on the calendar now" | Eyebrow in disguise — see eyebrow ban | | Q8 | "Stay With Us / Connect With Us" + framing line | "Stay With Us — Follow the work. Join the conversation." | Newsletter sign-off cliché | | Q9 | Cinematic anticipation | "This is the year we..." / "What if we..." | Reveal-style writing, not Anne's voice | | Q10 | Reciprocal hospitality | "Bring your X, leave with your Y" | Workshop-flyer cadence (note — context-dependent; the Member Jam blurb survives because it describes a literal working session, but treat as suspect) | | Q11 | Aphoristic "once you X, you cannot un-X" | "Once you have been seen, you cannot unsee yourself" | Sounds like a poster | | Q12 | Meta-CTA cuteness | "that is what these links are for" | Self-aware wink instead of a clean call to register | | Q13 | "Bigger" + abstract noun stand-in | "They reach for bigger language" | Vague substitute for what was actually said | | Q14 | Diminutive-poetic ("the word too small") | "the word too small for what happens to them" | Precious construction; just say what the word fails to capture | | Q15 | Print-vs-practice parallel | "values printed on the website / practiced in the program" | Rhetorical parallel trick; say plainly what is on the site and what happens | | Q16 | Two-beat fragment tagline | "One Move. The Whole Year." | Bumper-sticker cadence; flagged 2026-05-28 by Anne as an example of "a quip we absolutely don't need." Cut any two-fragment "[Short noun phrase]. [Short noun phrase]." that functions as a sign-off or section close. | **How to apply** — When a sentence matches one of these shapes, default to FLAG. If the writer can rewrite as a plain statement of fact, do that. If the only way to keep the meaning is to keep the cadence, escalate to Anne — do not approve silently. **Why this exists** — Anne caught me writing eight of these in a single mockup pass on May 11, 2026, including the "Stay With Us" stack and the italic flourish lines. Q11–Q15 added May 15, 2026 after Anne flagged the Homecoming email draft for "twee" patterns ("ewwww" was the literal verdict). --- ## Banned Phrases 43. At the forefront of... 44. Bleeding edge 45. Boiling the ocean 46. Boots on the ground 47. Bridging the gap 48. Build what's next 49. Catalyzing change 50. Charting a new course 51. Crafting compelling narratives 52. Cutting edge 53. Democratizing access 54. Delve into the intricacies of... 55. Digital age 56. Digital ecosystem 57. Dive in 58. Doing the work 59. Driving impact 60. Eat our own dog food 61. Elevate your experience 62. Empowering individuals 63. Exciting news! 64. Forward-thinking 65. Future-proof 66. Game-changing / Game-changer 67. Get it (as in "people who get it") 68. Global Prosperity (use "Women's Economic Growth") 69. Groundbreaking 70. Harnessing the power of... 71. Helping you navigate... 72. Highest-leverage (use "biggest difference") 73. Holistic approach 74. Human-Centric (use "Human-Centered") 75. Hyper-focused on... 76. I hope you are doing well / I hope you are well 77. Ignite innovation 78. Imagine... 79. Important to consider... 80. In conclusion 81. In the dynamic world... 82. In the XYZ world... 83. In the realm of... 84. In these unprecedented times 85. Inflection point 86. Innovative breakthrough solutions 87. Inside your AI 88. Inspiring the next generation 89. Join us on this journey 90. Leading the charge 91. Learn to lead (positions audience as not-yet-there) 92. Level up 93. Limitless potential 94. Lose yourself... 95. Making waves 96. Maximizing potential 97. Mission-driven 98. Mix and match 99. Move the needle 100. Navigating the [landscape] / [complexities of]... 101. New heights 102. Next-gen 103. Out of the box 104. Paradigm shift 105. Passionate go-getter 106. Pioneering solutions 107. Picture this 108. Pillars (in public-facing copy — use "What We Stand For") 109. Push the envelope 110. Redefining the future 111. Reinventing the wheel 112. Revolutionizing the industry 113. Seamless integration 114. Secret weapon 115. Shaping the future 116. Share this with every woman you know who's building something 117. Sharp skills and strong ideas (generic flattery) 118. She Adopts AI (retired name — never use) 119. Shifting landscape 120. Sitting on (e.g., "I've been sitting on this" — passive/apologetic energy) 121. Sitting with (fake-reflective filler) 122. Soft skills (use "essential human skills") 123. Staying ahead of the curve 124. Stay in the Effect (not a thing) 125. Step into 126. Step back in time... 127. Storybook 128. Take it to the next level 129. The power of AI 130. Think outside the box 131. Thought leader 132. Touch base 133. Trailblazing 134. True potential 135. Trusty sidekick 136. Unlocking new possibilities 137. Unleash 138. Unlock 139. Unveil 140. Ushering in an era 141. Weekend bootcamp (or similar bootcamp framing) 142. Women building at the intersection 143. Women who are building something 144. Women who are doing the work 145. Gather to build (or any "gather to [verb]" construction — sounds like a retreat tagline) 146. actively (as a filler prefix — "actively building," "actively doing") — cut the word; the verb does the work 147. amplify — use "advance," "deepen," "extend," or "position" 148. and we'll talk — flippant; name the actual next step (1:1, a call, a specific path) 149. Applied AI Report — retired name; never use 150. build (used as filler in place of a precise verb) — use the exact verb; exceptions: SS approved language, CREATE CTA "Gather With Us" 151. EF Consulting — just Empowered Fundraiser 152. finished asset in hand — overpromise; use "draft," "first version," or "real progress" 153. grandfathered / grandfathered rate / grandfathered member — use "legacy-rate members" or "founding-rate members" 154. happened — vague; use the actual verb for what occurred 155. hold / holding / holds (as a verb in hook or outcome language) — use "defend," "stand behind," or "keep" 156. I run — not how Anne talks; rewrite 157. producing (when describing Anne's role with CREATE) — use "hosting" 158. starts here / launch-pad variants — vague; describe the next concrete step 159. watch what happens / dramatic cinematic phrasing — cut; state what will occur 160. won't say out loud / mind-reading framing — describe visible reality instead 161. worth doing / worth keeping — empty or rude; rewrite with what the thing actually is 162. zone of genius — use "your work," "your topic," or "your expertise" --- ## Banned Personality Typology Strip on sight in all audience-segmentation copy and skill outputs. These labels impose a framework on SLAI community members. 163. Skeptic 164. Enthusiast 165. Delegator 166. Researcher 167. Protector 168. Avoider --- ## Banned Cliche Words (never use as standalone descriptors) 169. Aficionados 170. Ample 171. Argue 172. Astonishing 173. Beacon 174. Blend 175. Boasting 176. Buckle 177. Captivate 178. Capture 179. Compadre 180. Comprehensive 181. Conquer 182. Conveying 183. Curated — APPROVED 2026-06-05 (Anne). "A great word for us." No longer banned; use freely. 184. Discover 185. Dynamics 186. Elevate 187. Embark 188. Embrace 189. Embody 190. Emerge 191. Enhance 192. Ensure 193. Escape 194. Excels 195. Explore — SOFTENED 2026-06-05 (Anne). Occasional use is fine ("explore the deck"). Not a hard strip — use sparingly, never as filler. 196. Figure 197. Foster / Fostering 198. Harness 199. Illuminated 200. Immerse 201. Interactions 202. Intricate 203. Intriguing 204. Keen 205. Landscape 206. Mastering 207. Mystery 208. Nestled 209. Notably 210. Paramount 211. Physique 212. Pivotal 213. Prowess 214. Relax 215. Revolutionary 216. Roam 217. Synergy 218. Transform 219. Vibrant 220. Vital 221. Vulnerable 222. Wander 223. Sharp — RE-CONFIRMED by Anne 2026-06-11. Hard stop as a descriptor in any context ("sharp conversations," "sharp women," "sharp insights"). Strip it everywhere. --- ## Structural Rules 224. No colons in titles, headings, subheadings, or list items. Hardly ever use colons at all. 225. No semicolons. Ever. 226. No groups of three. Never write "A, B, and C" lists. Use one or two items instead. 227. No period tricks for voice. "Every. Single. Day." is outdated. 228. No fragment tricks for voice. "Thinking about it. Finishing one. Starting the next one." is a cheat. 229. No cuteness with punctuation. 230. No emojis in newsletter copy. 231. No motivational cliches, tech-bro phrasing, or tagline-sounding sentences. 232. No attendance numbers in public-facing copy. Never "500+ women" or "200 attendees." 233. No IP/permission disclaimer paragraphs in artifact footers. Do not include "these tools are the intellectual property of..." or "redistribution without permission is prohibited" language. --- ## Additional Rule: Don't Quantify Time 234. Never say "15 minutes" or specify how long a tool or prompt takes. The time isn't the point and it may take longer. --- ## Additional Rule: Name as a Rhetorical Verb 235. name / names (as a rhetorical action verb — "name what they aren't saying," "names the problem," "names what's happening") — state the thing directly. Never use "name" as a soft placeholder for what is said, revealed, or identified. --- ## Twee Tells (added May 15, 2026) Caught in the Homecoming email draft. Anne's verdict — "ewwww." 236. bigger language — vague abstract substitute; name what is actually said 237. the word too small / too small for what happens — poetic diminutive; rewrite as plain statement 238. lands hard — softener filler; the noun does the work 239. were already belonging / "were already [gerund]" as state — use the simple verb ("they belonged") 240. the most concentrated expression of — NPR-essay abstraction; describe the thing directly 241. the parts most events forget — wink-at-the-reader phrasing 242. (the values) printed on X / practiced in Y parallel — print-vs-practice rhetorical trick; say plainly what is on the site and what happens at the conference --- ## Additional Rule: No Reassurance Framing (added June 5, 2026) Never write comfort or reassurance lines — "there's no wrong way to start," "don't worry," "take your time," "no pressure," "Anne reads every submission herself," "we can't wait to hear from you" as soothing. These presume a nervous reader who needs permission, which talks down to an audience that is already leading. They also center us instead of her. **Quick test** — does the sentence exist to soothe an imagined anxiety? Cut it and say what the thing does instead. Warmth comes from specificity and respect, not comfort blankets. Caught on the Present With Us hero, June 5 2026. --- ## Additional Rule: No Scarcity Framing 243. Never frame copy around what the audience is missing, lacking, or under-using. Strip lines like "you're not using all of your Claude Code capacity, that's not a judgment, that's the truth," "if you are only using X, you are using a quarter of Y," "the gap between the woman who does X and the woman who does Y." The audience is already doing the work. Reframe around what using the thing UNLOCKS, what it CHANGES, what it MAKES POSSIBLE — never around the deficit in the reader. **Quick test** — does the sentence describe what the reader is NOT doing, or what they are missing? Cut it. Rewrite around the positive future. --- ## Added 2026-05-31 (website-family audit) - **Build With AI / build with AI** — banned outright in ANY case and ANY context — headline, CTA, slogan, or mid-sentence (Anne, 2026-05-31; hardened 2026-06-01, "don't say build with AI ever"). "build" alone is fine (the gather·build·launch·lead word-band), and the gerund "building with AI" stays a permitted SEO keyword, but the three-word string "build with AI" is never used. - **trained / training** (in metric or outcome copy) — use "educated." The locked metric is "4,000+ educated," never "4,000+ trained" / "Women trained." - **Read the Latest** (as a CTA) — already a known never; reaffirmed. On newsletter cards link the title, or use "Read the letter." - **Save My Seat / Save My Spot** (as a CTA) — banned. Use the house gathering CTA "Gather With Us." - **anchored in community** — retired descriptor. UPDATED 2026-06-04 (PM) — "grounded" is APPROVED (see #13); the canonical phrase is "grounded in powerful community" (no article "a," Anne 2026-06-07). - **Registration is open / Registration Is Open** (as email or page framing for CREATE) — banned. Frame around what attendees gain. - **journey** (as the arc/path word) — use "next chapter." --- ## Added 2026-06-07 (Anne, CREATE site content session) - **Move beyond code** — never use, in any context (Anne, 2026-06-07, "don't say move beyond code ever"). The frame is wrong — we don't move past the technology, we put human values INTO it. Use "encode" framing instead ("encode emotional intelligence and ethics into AI"). --- ## Added 2026-06-05 (Anne, academy copy review) - **trained / train / training** — broadened from the metric-copy rule above to ALL contexts. We don't say trained. Use "educated," "taught," or name what they learned. ("get trained with practical frameworks" → "get educated with practical frameworks" / "learn practical frameworks.") - **upskilled / upskill / upskilling** — corporate L&D speak. Name the specific skill gained instead. - **supported / support** (as vague coaching filler — "you'll be supported," "with support along the way") — name the specific thing — office hours, peer feedback, Anne's review. EXEMPT — the canonical Society line "supported by the She Leads AI Society membership community" stays verbatim. - **container** (as coaching jargon for a cohort, group, or program — "a safe container," "the container of the cohort") — say cohort, group, or program. --- ## Added 2026-06-14 (Anne, canonical reconciliation sweep) These four were flagged across earlier sessions ("encode this") but never reached this enforced file. Judgment-level — kept out of the hard-block hook to avoid false positives on common substrings. - **trainer** — extends the trained / train / training ban (see the 2026-06-05 and 2026-05-31 entries). We do not call anyone a trainer. Use "educator," "Certified AI Educator," "facilitator," or name what she teaches. (Anne flagged this gap directly.) - **See the Program** (as a CTA or link label) — banned. Anne called it "dumb" 2026-05-29. Use the house CTAs — "Gather With Us," or name the specific next step. - **land** (bare verb — "land this," "where it lands," "let it land," "if this lands for you") — banned standalone, extends the existing "landing for you" entry (#20). Soft/vague, not Anne's voice. Compounds tied to real meaning ("landing page," "land and keep clients") are fine. State the concrete action instead. - **Heading-stack rule** — never stack three heading elements (H1/H2/H3 or styled equivalents) back to back. Max two, prefer one. A third stacked heading is a structural flag. (Promoted from MEMORY; Anne said "encode it" 2026-05-30.) - **seat** (as a word, any context — "your seat at CREATE," "save your seat," "claim your seat," "a seat at the table") — banned. Anne 2026-06-14, "don't ever say seat." Extends the already-banned "Save My Seat" CTA to the bare word. Use "your place at," "join us at," "register for," or name the concrete action. (Blast radius — re-check CREATE and Full SLAI copy for "seat.") - **school** — we do not call the She Leads AI Academy a "school." Anne 2026-06-14, "we don't say school." It's the Academy. Judgment-level — kept out of the hard-block hook to avoid false positives (referencing an external school, "old-school"). Describe the Academy by what it is — small cohorts, faculty, the credential — not as a "school." (Blast radius — re-check the Academy page and any canonical Academy copy.) --- ## Added 2026-06-24 (Anne) A fuller banned-words and phrases update is coming later this week; this entry is encoded now so it's live in the meantime. - **quiet argument** — banned phrase (Anne, 2026-06-24). Extends the existing "Argue" cliché-word entry (#171). Reads as writerly/quippy. Use "the quiet question" or name the actual tension directly. --- ## Added 2026-06-26 (Anne — reflective-filler family) Anne flagged these on first occurrence in the alumnae follow-up draft. The "sitting with / sitting on" entries (#120, #121) already existed; these reinforce them and add the new ones. Same family as #65 (sat with / sitting with). Consultant-therapy filler that delays the point. State what you mean directly. - **still thinking about** — banned (Anne, 2026-06-26). "I am still thinking about our gathering." Say what you observed or felt directly. Use "What a gathering," "I keep coming back to," or name the specific thing. - **still sitting with** — banned (Anne, 2026-06-26). Extends #65 and #121. - **sitting with** — re-confirmed banned (see #121). Use "reviewed," "read through," "went back over," or name the action. - **sitting on** — re-confirmed banned (see #120). Passive/apologetic. Name the actual status. --- Build With AI on your own terms on your terms grandfathered Save My Seat Save My Spot Read the Latest zone of genius She Adopts AI Human-Centric Global Prosperity Stay in the Effect Applied AI Report Move beyond code