Make your skill

Have a goal in mind

Once you've found a Blueprint you'd like to work with, check out the placeholder examples to get ideas on how you'd like to personalise your skill. Keep in mind who you're writing the skill for, such as friends and family. Go for a personal touch in your skills. For example, if you're using the Family Jokes Blueprint, try using inside jokes and phrases to customise your skill, make it useful, and hopefully crack a smile or two.

Pick a name for your skill

Give your skill a name you'll remember since you'll need to tell Alexa which skill to use. For example, you'll say, "Alexa, open My Family Trivia." Make it fun, memorable, and easy to say.

As a rule, all skill names must be:

• Short- around two or three words
• Unique (different from the other skills you've made)
• Use simple words (Alexa is still learning first and last names)
• Use only letters, periods, and apostrophes

Don't use "Alexa", "Echo", "Amazon", "Computer", "skill" or "app" in your skill name because these are the words you'll use to wake up Alexa.

Tip:

If you forget the name, you can always go to the Skills You've Made page to look it up.

Customise for friends and family

The Blueprint will be pre-filled with sample content to help jump start your creativity. Keep what you like—edit and delete what you don't. Some Blueprints create a format you can follow, while others like those in the Storyteller category, allow you to edit every part of the story. With any Blueprint, you can create unique stories and responses tailored to your audience. For example, family members can make a household chores skill and assign a task to each person by name.

Create your own story

With Storyteller Blueprints, you can edit any part of the story to make it your own. You have the option to create blanks so other people listening to your story can modify it to their liking, such as changing the name of the prince or princess. Don't forget to add fun sounds, expressions, and dramatic pauses to your story as well. You can play these different audio tracks to see how they'll work in your story. The more you add in, the more fun it'll be to use your skill.

The following video shows how to use blueprints to create your own story.