Imagine this scene
Your CMO needs a LinkedIn article drafted by end of day. You’ve written for them before, but every time you try to match their voice using AI, it comes back sounding like a press release. Today you’re going to fix that.
Left to its own devices, AI writes in a generically professional, slightly corporate tone. It uses certain phrases compulsively: “it’s important to note,” “in today’s rapidly evolving landscape,” “leveraging cutting-edge solutions.” These constructions don’t sound like any real person. They certainly don’t sound like your CEO. The fix isn’t prompting harder — it’s teaching AI what the voice actually sounds like before you ask it to write anything.
Key Insight
You can’t prompt AI into someone’s voice. You have to show it the voice first — with examples. This is the difference between a generic ghostwrite and a convincing one.
A voice brief is a short document (or prompt section) that tells AI what the leader sounds like. It should include: 2–3 examples of their actual writing or speech (emails, interview quotes, speeches), a list of phrases they use and phrases they never use, their typical sentence length (short and punchy, or longer and more considered), and the tone register they tend to operate in (warm but direct? Formal but accessible? Opinionated and informal?). The more specific you are, the more usable the output.
Before you write the brief, read 3–5 pieces of the executive’s existing writing or transcribed speech. Look for patterns: do they use rhetorical questions? Do they tell stories? Do they start with data or with an anecdote? Do they acknowledge difficulty or project confidence? These are the stylistic fingerprints AI can learn to mimic if you surface them explicitly.
The most common failure modes in AI ghostwriting are: generic observations that could apply to anyone (cut them), false confidence about things the executive doesn’t actually know (verify them), and corporate platitudes that no real person would say out loud (replace them). When in doubt, read the draft aloud in the executive’s voice. If you cringe, AI wrote it. If it sounds natural, your briefing worked.
Build a voice brief for a real executive and use it to generate a LinkedIn post that actually sounds like them.
Choose a leader you ghostwrite for (or have ghostwritten for). Gather 3–5 examples of their real writing or speech — emails, LinkedIn posts, interview quotes, speech excerpts. If you don’t have examples, use a public figure whose voice you know well.
Analyze the examples: What phrases appear repeatedly? What’s the typical sentence length? Are they formal or conversational? Do they lead with opinion or evidence? Write down 5–8 observations about their voice patterns.
Build a voice brief. Paste your examples into AI and ask it to describe the voice in a brief paragraph. Then refine that description with your own observations from Step 2. Include phrases they use and phrases to avoid.
Now use the voice brief to prompt a LinkedIn post. Give AI: the voice brief, the topic, the intended audience, and the message the leader wants to land. Ask for three opening lines and pick the best one.
Read the draft aloud. Circle anything that sounds like AI filler. Edit until it sounds like the person. Note how many edits you needed — this is your baseline for how well your voice brief is working.
