The Problem with "AI Speak"
We all know what bad AI content looks like. It starts with "In today's marché actuel," uses the word "explore" three times, and ends with a barrage of irrelevant rocket ship emojis.
When your audience detects "AI Speak," trust evaporates instantly. But the robotic tone isn't the AI's faultâit's the result of lazy prompting. If you feed Claude a generic instruction like "Write a post about marketing," you will get a generic, predictable output.
The Power of the Brand Voice Brief
To humanize your AI content, you must build a robust Brand Voice Brief. This is a master prompt that you feed to Claude before asking it to write anything. A great voice brief includes:
- Perspective: (e.g., "Write in the first person, as a seasoned but approachable startup founder.")
- Formatting Rules: (e.g., "Use short sentences. Avoid bullet points. Use line breaks for pacing.")
- Negative Prompts: (e.g., "Do NOT use corporate jargon, emojis, or words like 'innovative', 'synergy', or 'landscape'.")
Techniques for Authentic Copy
Beyond the master brief, use these prompt engineering techniques to force Claude out of its default patterns:
The Specificity Hack: AI defaults to broad statements. Force it to be specific. "Write a post about leadership, but base the core lesson on a specific time I had to fire a toxic top-performer."* The "Rewrite as a Human" Command: If the first draft feels stiff, tell Claude: "Rewrite this to sound like you are sending a casual Slack message to a smart colleague. Lower the reading grade level to 6th grade."*
When combined with High Story MCP, you can save your perfect Brand Voice settings globally, ensuring that every post Claude drafts and schedules automatically adheres to your unique, human-sounding identity.
Why do AI-generated social media posts sound robotic?
Because most people give AI vague briefs. 'Write a LinkedIn post about our product launch' produces generic output. The more specific your brand voice, audience pain points, and tone instructions, the more human the output.
How do I make Claude write in my voice?
Give Claude a voice brief: your communication style (direct/warm/sarcastic), what you never say, a sentence or two from a past post you loved, and your audience's language. Claude is extremely responsive to detailed tone instructions.
How do I avoid AI-sounding phrases like 'in today's fast-paced world'?
Add explicit negative instructions to your prompt: 'Do not use corporate jargon, do not start with a question, avoid phrases like currently or It is important to. Write like a human talking to another human.'
Can I edit AI-generated posts in Claude before they publish?
Yes. With High Story MCP, you can review pending posts by asking Claude: 'Show me my pending posts and rewrite the weakest one to sound less formal.' Claude edits the copy and updates it in your High Story queue before publishing.
A month of social media posts, ready to publish, in 2 minutes
HighStory reads your website and generates your Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook posts with visuals, captions and a calendar. You approve, it publishes.
