AI can help you write faster and sound more confident. But only if you stop treating it like a vending machine for words. If your AI doesn’t sound like you, take action now to rectify that.
You ask AI to write a LinkedIn post, a stakeholder update, an email or a campaign idea. It gives you something polished, grammatically correct and completely forgettable. It is full of phrases you would never say: “delve into”, “unlock”, “game-changer”, “exciting update”. Then you decide AI is rubbish.
But usually, the problem is not the tool. The problem is that you have given it a task without giving it you.
AI does not know how direct you like to be, which phrases make you cringe or how much personality suits your audience. Give it a one-line instruction and it fills in the gaps with an average version of professional writing.
The good news is that you do not need to be technical to fix this. You need to give AI the same things you would give a new colleague: examples, context and clear feedback. Think of AI as a very fast junior writer, not a mind reader. It can do strong work, but it needs a proper brief before it can sound like it belongs on your team.
Here’s what to do if your AI doesn’t sound like you:
Step 1: Give it your best examples
Choose three to five pieces that genuinely sound like you: perhaps an email you were proud of, a LinkedIn post or a campaign brief. Paste them into the chat and ask it to identify the tone, sentence length, structure, recurring language choices and anything this writer avoids. You are not asking it to copy a post. You are giving it a pattern to learn from.
Step 2: Turn that pattern into a voice guide
Ask AI to create a short “voice guide” from your examples: how you want to come across, habits you prefer and things you do not want to see. It might say: “Clear, warm and commercially aware. Uses short paragraphs. Sounds like a helpful colleague, not a corporate brochure. Uses plain English. Avoids clichés, excessive exclamation marks and vague claims.” Add your own rules. These details are your professional fingerprint.
Step 3: Brief the job, not just the format
“Write a LinkedIn post about AI” is not a brief. It is a blank canvas. Tell AI who you are speaking to, what you want them to understand, why it matters and what action you want them to take. Specify the feeling too: reassuring, challenging, generous or energetic.
A stronger prompt looks like this: “Using my voice guide below, write a 180-word LinkedIn post for your network. The point is that AI produces generic work when we give it generic instructions. Make it practical and encouraging, with one action they can take today. Use short paragraphs. Avoid hype, jargon and the phrase ‘game-changer’.”
Now the AI has a role, an audience, a message and boundaries. That is where better writing begins.
Step 4: Edit out loud and give useful feedback
Read the draft aloud before you publish. The phrases that make you stumble are usually the phrases that do not sound like you. Tell the AI what is wrong: “Too promotional”; “Make the opening less dramatic”; “Use more direct language.” That feedback improves the next draft.
Step 5: Save the version that works
When you get a draft that feels right, save the voice guide and your best prompt in a note called “My AI Writing Brief” — useful to reuse yourself, or to share with your team so everyone writes in a consistent voice. Reuse it, improve it and add new examples as your confidence grows.
The aim is not to make AI write instead of you. It is to make the first draft less painful, so you have more time for the thinking, judgement and originality that only you can bring. AI should not flatten your voice. Used well, it gives you a faster route back to it.
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