LinkedIn post drafting and Unicode formatting

Author's original introduction

Format and draft compelling LinkedIn posts using Unicode bold/italic styling, visual separators, structured sections, and engagement-optimized patterns. USE FOR: draft LinkedIn post, format text for LinkedIn, create social media post, write thought leadership post, convert content to LinkedIn format, LinkedIn carousel text, Unicode bold italic formatting.

SkillPi interpretation

Tasks

Draft and format post text using the documented Unicode character map and post structure patterns.

Audience

People preparing LinkedIn post or carousel copy.

Inputs and outputs

Input: ideas, raw content or technical material. Output: formatted plain-text post copy; publishing is separate.

Software, accounts and paid services

A skill-capable writing host and the referenced Unicode character map. A LinkedIn account is needed to publish; the document states no extra formatting tool requirement. Confirm actual file access and external-service permissions in your host. Domains referenced in the documents (not a runtime allowlist): No HTTP(S) domain stated.

Limits and differences

Uses Unicode styling rather than Markdown rendering. Engagement-optimized is an author description, not a measured promise of reach or interaction.

Testing

Not tested

Security rating and access scope

caution · Static evidence review; not a runtime safety guarantee.

A skill-capable writing host and the referenced Unicode character map. A LinkedIn account is needed to publish; the document states no extra formatting tool requirement. Confirm actual file access and external-service permissions in your host. Domains referenced in the documents (not a runtime allowlist): No HTTP(S) domain stated.

Before use, confirm and authorize actual file access, external services and network destinations in your host. This review grants no runtime permissions.

Original SKILL.md

---
name: linkedin-post-formatter
description: 'Format and draft compelling LinkedIn posts using Unicode bold/italic styling, visual separators, structured sections, and engagement-optimized patterns. USE FOR: draft LinkedIn post, format text for LinkedIn, create social media post, write thought leadership post, convert content to LinkedIn format, LinkedIn carousel text, Unicode bold italic formatting.'
---

# LinkedIn Post Formatter

Transform raw content, ideas, or technical material into polished, engagement-optimized LinkedIn posts using Unicode typography and proven structural patterns.

## Overview

LinkedIn only supports plain text — no Markdown rendering, no rich formatting. This skill uses Unicode Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols to simulate bold, italic, and bold-italic text that renders natively in the LinkedIn editor without any external tools.

## Unicode Typography Reference

When converting plain text into Unicode-styled LinkedIn text, first load and use `references/unicode-charmap.md` as the authoritative character mapping reference.

Apply these character mappings to create visual emphasis in plain text:

### Bold (Mathematical Sans-Serif Bold)

Use bold for key phrases, section headers, and emphasis words.

| Plain | Unicode Bold |
|-------|-------------|
| A-Z   | 𝗔-𝗭         |
| a-z   | 𝗮-𝘇         |
| 0-9   | 𝟬-𝟵         |

### Italic (Mathematical Sans-Serif Italic)

Use italic for subtle emphasis, technical terms, or quotes.

| Plain | Unicode Italic |
|-------|---------------|
| A-Z   | 𝘈-𝘡           |
| a-z   | 𝘢-𝘻           |

### Bold-Italic (Mathematical Sans-Serif Bold Italic)

Use sparingly for maximum emphasis.

| Plain | Unicode Bold-Italic |
|-------|-------------------|
| A-Z   | 𝘼-𝙕               |
| a-z   | 𝙖-𝙯               |

## Visual Separators

Use these characters to create visual structure:

- **Section divider**: `━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━` (box-drawing heavy horizontal)
- **Bullet points**: `◈` (diamond with dot) or `◎` (bullseye)
- **Arrow flow**: `↓` for vertical flow, `→` for horizontal continuation
- **Sub-points**: `↳` for indented sub-items
- **Numbered items**: Use bold Unicode digits `𝟭. 𝟮. 𝟯.` etc.

## Post Structure Patterns

### Pattern 1: Hook → Content → CTA (General Purpose)

```
[Bold hook line — provocative statement or question]

[1-2 lines of context setting the stage]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Main content with bold section headers]
[Bullet points using ◈ or numbered with bold digits]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Bold takeaway or summary]

[Call to action — repost, comment, or grab resource]

#Hashtags
```

### Pattern 2: Listicle (Numbered Insights)

```
[Bold opening line with a strong claim]

[Setup line explaining what follows]

𝟭. [Bold item title]
   [Supporting detail]

𝟮. [Bold item title]
   [Supporting detail]

...

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆: [Summary in italic]

#Hashtags
```

### Pattern 3: Story → Lesson (Thought Leadership)

```
[Italic opening with a personal or observed moment]

[2-3 short paragraphs telling the story]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻:

[Bold lesson or principle extracted from the story]

[CTA]

#Hashtags
```

### Pattern 4: Resource Share (Cheatsheet/Guide/Tool)

```
[Hook: "If you do X, you cannot miss this..."]

[Brief description of what the resource covers]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Bold section count]. [Bold section titles as numbered list]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆:

[Why this resource matters — bold key phrase]

[Grab it / Share it CTA]

♻️ 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 if this is useful to your network.

#Hashtags
```

## Formatting Rules

1. **Line breaks matter**: LinkedIn collapses multiple blank lines. Use single blank lines between paragraphs.
2. **Hook above the fold**: The first 2-3 lines must compel the reader to click "see more." Front-load value.
3. **Short paragraphs**: 1-3 sentences max per paragraph. Wall of text kills engagement.
4. **Bold sparingly**: Bold key phrases and headers, not entire paragraphs.
5. **Italic for nuance**: Use italic for technical terms, internal thoughts, or subtle emphasis.
6. **Hashtags at the end**: 5-8 relevant hashtags on the last line. No mid-post hashtags.
7. **No emojis in body** unless the user explicitly requests them. Exception: one strategic emoji in CTA (♻️ for repost).
8. **Character limit**: LinkedIn posts can be up to 3000 characters. Aim for 1500-2500 for optimal engagement.
9. **No URLs in body**: LinkedIn suppresses reach for posts with links. Add links in comments instead. Mention "link in comments" or "grab it below" as CTA.

## Engagement Optimization

- **Opening hooks that work**: Questions, bold claims, "If you do X...", contrarian takes, surprising stats.
- **Closing CTAs that work**: "♻️ 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 if...", "Save this for later", "Tag someone who needs this", "What's your take? 👇"
- **Whitespace is your friend**: Dense text gets scrolled past. Airy, scannable layout wins.
- **The "see more" hook**: LinkedIn truncates posts after ~210 characters on desktop. Make sure the first 2 lines create enough curiosity to click.

## Process

1. Analyze the source content (text, HTML, image, or idea).
2. Identify the best post structure pattern (Hook→Content→CTA, Listicle, Story→Lesson, Resource Share).
3. Extract the core message and 3-5 key points.
4. Apply Unicode bold/italic formatting to headers and emphasis words using `references/unicode-charmap.md`.
5. Add visual separators between sections.
6. Write a compelling hook for the opening.
7. Add a CTA and hashtags at the end.
8. Verify the post is copy-paste ready for LinkedIn.

Copyright and license notice

MIT License

Copyright GitHub, Inc.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.