Writing in Your Voice, Not Generic AI Voice

How to train Claude to sound like you and never like a newsletter written by a committee

You can spot AI-written content without even trying.

It has a specific rhythm: perfectly balanced sentences, an em-dash every other line, a fondness for "In today's fast-paced world," and an ending that wraps everything up a little too neatly. It never says anything that sounds like it came from a specific person with a specific opinion. It sounds like a newsletter written by a committee.

That voice is everywhere online now and it is invisible. Nobody stops scrolling for it. Nobody shares it. Nobody remembers it.

Your job in this lesson is to make sure Claude never writes that way for you.

Why Claude Defaults to Generic Voice

Claude does not know how you talk. Without specific instructions it defaults to a voice that is competent but neutral, slightly formal and slightly careful, optimised to not offend or confuse anyone, and written for a room full of people and not one specific human.

This is the safe average. It is nobody's actual voice. Your job is to override that default with concrete rules about how you specifically sound before Claude writes a single word for you.

Step 1: Discover Your Actual Voice

If you are not sure how you sound in writing, use this prompt. Paste three things you have genuinely written including WhatsApp messages, emails to clients, an old post, a voice note transcription, or anything that sounds like you talking:

Here are three things I have written in my own words:

1. [PASTE SOMETHING YOU ACTUALLY WROTE]
2. [PASTE SOMETHING YOU ACTUALLY WROTE]
3. [PASTE SOMETHING YOU ACTUALLY WROTE]

Analyse the pattern and tell me:

• Sentence length: mostly short, long, or mixed?
• Contractions: do I use them (don't, it's, I'm) or write in full

(do not, it is, I am)?

• Tone: direct and blunt, warm and encouraging, or something else?
• Phrases I actually use: specific words or expressions that appear across

all three

• What I never say: any patterns of avoidance or phrases that would sound

wrong for me

Then write me a Voice Profile: a short paragraph describing how I sound,

followed by 5 concrete rules I can give Claude in future prompts.

Take the result and read it out loud. Does it actually sound like you? Adjust anything that is wrong.

Step 2: Write Your Rules

Based on the profile Claude produces, write out 5 to 8 concrete voice rules. These are not vibes. They are specific, checkable instructions.

Examples:

## My Voice

• Contractions: always use them (don't, it's, you're — never "do not",

"it is", "you are")

• Sentences: mostly short. One longer one every 3 to 4 for rhythm, not more.
• Tone: direct and slightly blunt. Warm but not cheerleader-ish. No hype.
• Perspective: always talking to one person and not a room
• I say: "honestly," "here's the thing," "look," "the real reason is..."
• I never say: "leverage," "unlock," "game-changer," "in today's world,"

"dive into," "let's explore," "it's important to note,"

"whether you're a beginner or expert"

• Swearing: occasional, only when it genuinely adds emphasis, not every post
• No question-as-a-paragraph openers like "Have you ever wondered..."
• No lists of 7 things unless the content genuinely needs 7 things

Step 3: The Banned Phrases List

This deserves its own section because it does more heavy lifting than any other part of the voice file.

Claude has absorbed an enormous amount of corporate content marketing. Left unchecked it will use the same phrases that appear in thousands of AI-generated posts every day. These phrases are not wrong. They are just invisible because they are everywhere.

Start with this list and add to it every time you catch Claude using a phrase that makes you cringe:

Never use these phrases in anything you write for me:

• "In today's fast-paced world"
• "unlock your potential" or "unlock" anything
• "game-changer" or "game-changing"
• "it's important to note"
• "dive into" or "let's dive in"
• "let's explore"
• "in conclusion" or "to summarise"
• "whether you're a beginner or an expert"
• "at the end of the day"
• "the truth is..." as a standalone opener
• "I've been in this industry for X years and..."
• excessive em-dashes used repeatedly like this
• ending every post with "What do you think? Drop a comment below."
• This one instruction eliminates most of what makes AI content read as AI content.

Step 4: Save It and Test It

Add everything to your MARKETING.md file:

## My Voice
- Contractions: [ALWAYS / SOMETIMES / NEVER]
- Sentence length: [SHORT AND PUNCHY / LONGER AND EXPLANATORY / MIXED]
- Tone: [YOUR DESCRIPTION]
- I often say: [YOUR PHRASES]
- I never say: [YOUR BANNED WORDS AND PHRASES]
- Other rules: [ANYTHING ELSE SPECIFIC TO YOU]

Now test it. Ask Claude to write a short post using your voice file. Send this prompt:

Using my voice profile from @MARKETING.md, write a 3 to 4 sentence post about

[ONE IDEA FROM YOUR CONTENT BACKLOG].

Use my voice rules exactly, specifically the sentence length, contractions,

and banned phrases list. After writing it, tell me which specific rules

you applied.

Read the result out loud. Does it sound like something you would actually say?

If a line feels wrong do not just accept it. Send this back:

This line does not sound like me: "[PASTE THE LINE]"

It feels too [formal / cheerful / vague / corporate — describe it].

Rewrite it the way I would actually say it. Here is a rough example of

the direction I mean: [WRITE AN APPROXIMATE VERSION IN YOUR OWN WORDS]

Every correction you make sharpens the voice profile. Do this for three or four pieces of content and Claude will start writing in a way that genuinely sounds like you, not a clean version of you, but actually you.

What a Good Voice Profile Looks Like in Practice

Here is a before and after using the same core idea and same audience but different voice instructions.

Without a voice profile: "In today's competitive digital landscape, it's important to note that leveraging AI tools like Claude can unlock significant value for your business. Let's dive into how you can use these game-changing technologies to transform your content strategy and drive meaningful engagement."

With a voice profile using direct short sentences, no hype, and contractions: "Most people using AI for marketing are just getting faster at writing the same generic content. That's not the win. The win is building a system where Claude writes in your voice, to your audience, from a brief that you wrote once and never have to write again."

The second version says something. The first one says nothing in a very smooth way.

Your Action Right Now

Paste three things you have genuinely written into the discovery prompt above. Take the voice profile Claude produces, adjust anything that is wrong, and add your final voice rules and banned phrases list to MARKETING.md.

Do not move to the next lesson without this in place. Every prompt from here on reads from @MARKETING.md and if the voice section is missing everything Claude produces for you will be generic.