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Hey there, {{first_name | friend}},
Writing has been keeping me busy this summer, so I wanted to share something practical today: how to get AI to actually sound like you when you write.
With so many people and businesses using AI to write everything from their newsletters to social media posts, everyone’s content is starting to sound the same… or like it was written by a bot. 🤖
Which is why it’s soooo important to know how to use AI to turn out great, fast copy AND get it to write like you (except maybe with fewer typos!).
I work with a professional human copywriter on this very newsletter. Deanna and I have been comparing notes on telltale signs that something has been written by AI.
Here’s our running list of AI tells:
Of course, we have to start with em dashes everywhere. AI loves them. Humans, in real life, mostly do not write this way. So either replace them with a comma, 3 periods and a space, a colon, a semi-colon, or add a space on either side of the em dash so it looks less “AI”.
Three "no" sentences stacked in a row to make a point. It’s one of the fastest tells that a human did not write the copy. No, really. No joke. No, I'm not going to do it here 🙂
Certain words show up over and over: quietly, genuinely, honestly, delve. If you see them everywhere, that is a sign AI quietly wrote it. (See what I did there 😅)
The "It's not X, it's Y" sentence structure. AI uses it constantly to sound profound, and it gets old fast.
Numbers from 3 up should be written as numerals, except in headlines, where numerals always win. And if a sentence starts with a number, it should be spelled out. For example: Three things changed this week, not 3 things changed this week. AI gets this wrong and apparently so do I, because Deanna has to correct me on it regularly.
And maybe most of all, vague, fluffy phrasing that sounds good on first read and says very little on second. And then sounds repetitive on the third. Real writing is specific.
If you want a shortcut to avoiding these tells in your own writing, check out Prompt 1 below.
🤖 3 Prompts to Make AI Sound More Like You
Try these in your favorite AI tool to put the tips above into action.
Prompt 1: Set Your Style Rules
Act as my writing assistant. Do not produce text that violates the following style rules: write numbers 3 and up as numerals except in headlines, never use em dashes, do not stack multiple "no" sentences in a row, avoid words like quietly, genuinely, and honestly, and delve, never use the structure "It's not X, it's Y," and always be specific rather than vague. Format the output going forward by applying these rules automatically to everything you help me write.
Mom Tip: Paste this into your AI tool's custom instructions or settings (you may need a paid account to access this feature) so it applies every time, not just in a single conversation.
Prompt 2: Teach It Your Voice
Act as a writing coach analyzing my voice. Review the writing samples I am about to paste in and identify patterns in my tone, sentence length, word choice, and humor. Format the output as a short style guide I can save and reuse, describing how I write so future AI-assisted drafts sound like me.
Mom Tip: Paste in an few emails, an article, and an old piece of writing you worked hard on, anything that sounds like you on a normal day. Remember to remove anything you’d like to keep private.
Prompt 3: Let It Help With Your Inbox
Act as my email assistant. Walk me through the process to connect my inbox so that you can draft replies to my emails in my own voice once connected. Format the output as a step-by-step guide I can review and follow to set up the drafting and approval workflow, ensuring you are never sending automatically without my review.
Mom Tip: Both Claude and ChatGPT offer ways to connect to your email if you choose to. Start small, maybe just quick replies or scheduling notes, before handing over anything sensitive.
My Current AI Toolkit
For dictation: WISPR Flow. It turns my rambling voice memos into clean text in real time, so I can think out loud in the car or on a walk instead of being stuck at a keyboard.
For writing: Claude from Anthropic. It is the tool I trust most for drafting and editing real copy, especially when I feed it style rules like the ones above and need it to actually follow them.
For images: Nano Banana from Google. It is my go-to when I need a quick, polished image for a presentation or flyer without opening a full design program.
None of these are sponsored. They are simply what is currently working for me. And I’d love to hear what’s working for you! Share your favorite AI writing tool in the poll below.
🗳️ Quick Poll: Which AI tool do you prefer for writing?
And now for some exciting news…
I am putting the finishing touches on the first draft of my book, The AI Empowered Family, and handing it to my publisher. 🍾
But what might surprise you is that I didn’t use AI to write it. Yes, it’s a human-generated book about AI, written the old-fashioned way. If you want updates as it heads toward publication, join the book launch list below.
Until next time,
P.S. In an effort to live my values, I am sharing how I use AI for my work more transparently. For this edition, Claude assisted in turning my human-written outline for this newsletter into a first draft for human review.
I’m Sarah, mom of 3 girls, MBA, and AI strategist. I created AI-Empowered Mom to share practical, responsible ways AI can help lighten the mental load of parenthood. I’m so glad you’re here.
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