AI sounds like everyone because it learned from everyone. To sound like you, it has to read you.
Why it sounds generic
A model with no instructions writes the average of what it has read. That average is polished, polite and a little corporate. Every business that uses the tool gets the same voice.
The model can write in your voice. It has not been shown it yet. That part is your job, and it takes about an hour.
Step 1: collect samples
Find five to ten things you wrote that sound most like you. Emails that got replies. Posts people answered. A page you still like.
Use real ones. If AI wrote the first draft, leave it out. Add one piece that sounded wrong to you, and say why. A bad example teaches as much as a good one.
Step 2: turn the voice into rules
Read your samples and write down what you see. How long are your sentences? How do you open? Which words keep coming back?
- Short sentences. Rarely more than 15 words.
- Open with the point. Explain after.
- No exclamation marks.
- Say customers. Never say clients or users.
Rules like these are easy to check. "Friendly and professional" is impossible to check, and every model thinks it already writes that way.
Step 3: write a banned list
List the phrases that make you wince. This is the fastest fix of all, because the same handful of phrases gives most AI writing away.
- I hope this finds you well
- In today's fast-paced world
- Game-changing
- Let's dive in
Add to the list every time a draft annoys you. After a month it will be the most useful page you own.
Step 4: keep it in one voice file
Put the samples, the rules and the banned list in one file. Paste it before you ask for a draft, or add it to the tool's custom instructions.
If you want a structure to copy, there is a one-page brand voice template on this blog.
Step 5: check every draft against it
The file does not enforce itself. Read each draft with the rules next to it.
I hope this message finds you well! I wanted to reach out to share an exciting update about our offerings.
Two changes this month. The audit now takes a week. The price stays the same.
Then read it aloud. If you would never say a line to a customer's face, cut it.
What does not work
- Asking it to sound human. It has no idea which human you mean.
- One sample. It will copy that one email, not your voice.
- A tone word. "Casual" means something different to every writer.
Where the voice file goes next
A voice file helps most when every draft is checked against it, every time. That is hard to keep up when you are also the marketer, the salesperson and the support desk.
Nive is being built to hold that file and do the checking. You see which rules a draft followed and which it broke. The first job is cold emails, which is where a robot voice costs the most. Join the waitlist to get the demo first.