How the score works
This page explains the AI scan panel: the score, the tells it counts, the style it describes, and the voice number after a rewrite.
The score
The score starts at 100 and drops for each kind of tell PlainSpeak finds. It counts wording a reader is likely to notice, nothing else.
| Score | Band |
|---|---|
| 95 to 100 | Clean of tells |
| 80 to 94 | A few tells |
| 55 to 79 | Tell-heavy |
| Under 55 | Dense with tells |
Wording tells are counted per thousand words, so a long piece is not punished for being long. Very short pieces are scored as if they were 250 words. Each kind of tell has a ceiling, so one habit cannot sink the whole score.
What is scored
These are the tells. Each shows as a chip with its count; select a chip to see only those in your text. Groups with no hits are folded away: select Show N groups at zero to see them too.
Wording a reader will notice
| Tell | What it is |
|---|---|
| AI-isms | Buzzwords and stock phrases chatbots lean on: "delve", "tapestry", "unlock the potential". |
| Corporate speak | Business jargon: "leverage", "synergy", "circle back". |
| Clichés | Worn-out metaphors: "game changer", "at the end of the day". |
| Connector spam | Too many signposts: "Furthermore", "Moreover", "In conclusion". |
| Antithesis | The "it's not X, it's Y" move, used again and again. |
How the draft is built
| Tell | What it is |
|---|---|
| Clause chaining | Each clause picks up the last one's word: "builds trust, and trust builds loyalty". |
| Uniform rhythm | Every sentence, or every paragraph, about the same length. |
| Tidy close | The last paragraph opens by summing up: "Ultimately", "In short". |
What readers believe is a tell
| Tell | What it is |
|---|---|
| Em-dash pile | More than three em dashes. Many good writers use them, so this is weak evidence, but readers judge it anyway. |
What is described, not scored
How it reads shows style measures that never change the score, because a contract, a paper and a social post are all right to differ: Hedging, Adverb pile, Passive voice, Rule of three, Abstract nouns, Long sentences, Repeated openers and Serial comma.
They are flagged only when there is a real pile: for example, three or more hedges, or long sentences making up over a quarter of a piece. With a writing baseline, they are judged against your own usual range instead.
Over tolerance
Below the chips, Over tolerance lists every group with enough hits to be worth fixing. Below the line counts tells that appear but not often enough to matter. On the Current copy tab, Fix these fixes just the groups over tolerance. See Rewrite your copy.
The tiles
| Tile | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Avg length | Average words per sentence. |
| Long sents | The share of sentences over 26 words. |
| Reading ease | The Flesch reading ease score. Higher is easier; 60 to 70 is plain English. |
| Reading | Reading time in minutes. |
Original and Current copy
Original scans the draft you brought in. Current copy scans the rewrite, and updates as you edit it. After a rewrite, the panel switches to Current copy by itself.
The voice number
After a rewrite, PlainSpeak measures how far the rewrite's style moved from your original, across 14 measures such as sentence length, rhythm, reading ease, contractions and hedging. It shows as voice with a verdict and a percentage:
- held: the rewrite kept your style.
- drifted: it moved noticeably.
- very different: it moved a long way.
How much movement counts as drift depends on the mode: Polish allows the least, Rewrite more. Recompose is measured against your Repurpose lens when you have one, since changing the style is its job. Under about 120 words the number is marked (short text), because a few words can move it a long way.
Looks like
The Looks like button names the kind of piece PlainSpeak thinks you pasted: long-form, social or conversational. It decides from headings, length, hashtags and mentions, and whether the text talks to the reader. Select it to see why, or to correct it. The kind sets how the Mass audience voice shapes a rewrite, which template Recompose suggests, and whether your writing baseline applies.