You spent an hour pouring your heart into a message only for an AI detector (or a cynical reader) to flag it as "AI-generated." And IT’S FRICKIN’ NOT. This is a massive problem: people who do not use AI are getting rejections for jobs, being told off in LinkedIn messages, and losing their reputation because they “sound like AI.”
This Write to Lead issue is for all the leaders who don’t use AI, or use it carefully and judiciously, and still get the good ol’ AI stink eye. Power to ma’ people.
If your writing is being mistaken for AI, it’s because you’ve likely polished the humanity right out of it. The “you” is missing; ya sound like everyone else.
Side note: Did you know that, when not given very specific brand voice guidelines and direction, AI defaults to writing like the average of all the writing in its trained database? That’s why it’s pretty bland, boring, and easy to spot. It’s just…Meh. When you edit your human-written drafts to be 'perfectly safe,' you are manually calculating your own text to match that exact same average.
The problem is: We’ve been trained to be professional.
[Clears throat and speaks with the booming, confident voice of a high brow museum curator.] Your writing should be balanced, neutral, and objective. Always polished and perfect, with the cadence of a beautiful melody gracefully sweeping over the meadow…
[Drops the act and looks directly into your eyes] ...and there better not be any inkling of personality in there or OH MY GOODNESS DID YOU READ WHAT SHE WROTE?!?!
Ahem.
The out-of-the-ordinary generates cooler gossip for days and nobody wants to be the fodder.
So what can’ya do? The micro-lesson is this: stop writing messages that are predictable, boring, and perfectly polished. AI is a "predictive text" engine. If your writing is 100% predictable — regardless of if it was written by AI or not — the AI detector (and the reader) will assume it’s a bot.
Predictable Messaging Is Ruining Your Impact.
If you want to stop the AI stink eye from starin’ ya down like the Eye of Sauron thinkin’ you have the Ring of Power in your pocket, then for the love of The Shire, stop taking the main roads of messaging and blaze your own unbeaten path.
This matters because those who have walked the main road before you have left ruts so deep, you’re gonna get stuck. Spinning your wheels trying to get out wastes time, energy, money, and potentially future revenue. Great leaders today can’t afford to sound like everyone else — or get flagged by AI filters — because your work and impact will come to a screeching halt.
In an AI-flooded market, generic language is a liability. If your message sounds like an algorithm wrote it, your audience will treat it like spam.
Put it into practice. The next message you write, lean into the three things AI can't do: specific, messy details, personal opinion/risk, and rule-breaking rhythm.
Add specific, messy details. Don't just write "we had a successful client meeting and secured the project." Share details about how enthusiastic Jimmy was when he presented the proposal, how the client wore her poker face until the very end of the meeting, and mention the exact aha sound the client made when she finally made the connection. AI cannot invent a specific memory you actually experienced.
Main Road Messaging | "I’m pleased to share that after a successful client meeting, we secured a new project that will continue through H1 2027." [Yawn]
Unbeaten Path Messaging | "Great news! Shelia and her team wore their poker face throughout the entire presentation, but Jimmy didn’t let that stop his enthusiasm. He stood in front of the team with reverberating energy. The minute the light bulb went off for Sheila, she audibly gasped, a smile washed over her face, and the poker face was gone. Congratulations team — we won the project!" [Smiles, celebrates, does a happy jig!]
Boldly share your opinion. Take a risk. All humans have biases, passions, and strong opinions born from experience. If you write a sentence that someone can disagree with, you have written a great, human sentence.
Main Road Messaging | "While AI offers many operational efficiencies, it is crucial to balance automation with human oversight to maintain authentic client relationships." [Looks bored. Checks watch.]
Unbeaten Path Messaging | "I’ll be honest: most corporate AI content sucks the life from the room. It’s lazy leadership, and it’s costing you your team's trust." [Eyes grow wide.]
Break the rules on purpose. Use single-word sentences. Start sentences with "And" or "But." Write a paragraph that is just one sentence long. AI writing is structurally gorgeous, but we’ve read it all before. It’s time to do somethin’ different.
Main Road Messaging | "Furthermore, when we communicate transparently, we foster an environment of psychological safety." [Eyes glaze over.]
Unbeaten Path Messaging | "Say what you need to say. Cut the crap and get to the point, but also balance that with love and respect. That’s how you build trust." [Oh, she means biz-ness!]
(If you need a refresher on clearing out dead, robotic language, go back and run your draft through the Zombie Test for passive voice).
Now, if you are reading this thinking, “There is no way I can write like this. I’ll get fired! I’ll lose clients!”... first off, don’t do anything to get fired or lose clients. But also, do you really, truly, from the bottom of your heart believe that? Or is that fear of standing out whispering lies to you?
Sprinkle some personality and opinions into your writing so that you can test the waters a little at a time. If I were a bettin’ woman, I would bet that you’ll start getting more attention — and not the get-fired kind. The wow-I-need-to-listen-to-him (or her) kind.
How’d it go? Did breaking a few messaging rules garner some attention? What messy details did you add into your announcement? I would love to see before and after examples of your sentences — will you share them with me?
And if you need some help building the confidence and writing skills to make your messaging avoid the AI stink eye, schedule a 30-minute virtual chat with me. (Bring your own glass of lemonade!)
P.S. Random Things I’m Loving This Week
Notebook LM — I’ve been experimenting with using it to keep all of my client files in one place. The ability to recall information from agendas, notes, images, meeting recordings, and much more through such an easy interface has been awesome. If you have any tips for usage, let me know!
Summer Sched — I love the slow fade into our family’s summer schedule. Preschool is already over, soccer wraps up today, next week school is done, then dance wraps up. Summers are always a slower pace and I’m ready for it.
Ziflow — I’m using this simple content editor software with a client and quite frankly, it’s a game changer for editing PDFs and works collaborative magic between multiple teams. There is a free version if you want to check it out!
Save the Bees! — I planted a shade wildflower garden from seed in my front yard a couple of weeks ago and after staring at the dirt everyday…THEY ARE SPROUTING! Wildflower beds can take a year or two to fully establish, but MAN, I am so excited to watch it grow.
All that is dirt in this photo will one day be filled with wildflowers! (Hopefully…fingers crossed.)