Guide, 3 min read

Make AI write like you

AI writing often sounds the same: polite, puffy and a bit stiff. With a few samples and some plain rules, you can get drafts that sound like you on a good day.

Why AI drafts sound generic

When you do not say how you talk, the AI falls back on a safe, middle of the road voice. It sounds like everyone, so it sounds like no one. Friends can tell. Customers can too.

Words like "casual" or "professional" do not help much, because your casual is not anyone else's casual. What helps is showing your real writing and naming the habits that make it yours.

Step 1: Gather 2 or 3 samples

Find a few things you wrote that you are happy with. Emails, texts, posts or notes all work. Pick samples that match the job: for a work email, use work emails, not birthday texts.

  • Use only your own words. Skip anything someone else edited a lot, or anything AI already wrote for you.
  • Cover private details. Swap out names, phone numbers and account details before you paste. The guide on keeping your info safe has more.
  • Longer is better. A few paragraphs show more of your voice than a single line.

Step 2: Ask AI to describe your voice

Before you ask for new writing, have the AI study your samples and describe your style as a short list. This does two things. You can check that it got you right, and you end up with notes you can use again.

Copy this

You are a writing coach who is great at noticing how people write. Here are samples of my writing: --- [paste 2 or 3 samples] --- Describe my writing voice as 6 to 8 short rules someone could follow to sound like me. Cover sentence length, word choice, how I open and close, humor, and anything I never do. Use plain words. Then write [the new piece you need] following those rules.

Step 3: Add your own rules

The AI will miss some things only you know. Add them to the list. Good rules are specific:

  • "I write short sentences. I almost never use semicolons."
  • "I say hi, not hello. I sign off with just my first name."
  • "No exclamation points in work emails."
  • "Never use these words: journey, thrilled, reach out."

Banned words are some of the most useful rules. If a draft has a word you would never say, add it to the list.

Before

write a text to my team saying the meeting moved. sound casual

After

Write a text to my team saying Friday's meeting moved to 2pm. Match my style: short sentences, a lowercase greeting, a little dry humor, no exclamation points, and I sign off with just my first name, Dana. Here is a text I sent last week: "hey all, pizza is in the break room. it will be gone by 1, so plan accordingly."

"Casual" in the first prompt is a guess. The second shows exactly what casual means for this person.

Save your voice so you never start over

Once your voice rules work, save them. Keep them in a note on your phone and paste them at the top of new chats. Or add them to the custom instructions in your AI app, if it has them, so they apply every time. Our assistant instructions tool can turn your rules into a ready set of instructions.

Then read every draft out loud before you send it. If a line makes you wince, change it, and add a rule so it does not happen again.

Using AI for customer messages? Your voice is part of how people know you. Find ready prompts for your line of work on Prompts for your job, then add your voice rules to them.