How to Make AI Sound Like You (Personalising AI Responses)
You’ve tried ChatGPT or Claude. The answers are helpful, but they sound… well, like a robot wrote them. Too formal. Too generic. Too “I hope this email finds you well.”
Here’s the thing: AI doesn’t have to sound like that. With a few simple techniques, you can get AI to match your voice, your tone, and your style. Whether you’re writing emails, social media posts, or website copy, you can make AI sound like you actually wrote it.
Let’s show you how.
Why AI Sounds So Generic (And Why It’s Not Its Fault)
When you ask AI to “write an email,” it doesn’t know anything about you. It doesn’t know if you’re chatty or formal, funny or straight-to-the-point. So it defaults to a safe, middle-of-the-road tone that sounds like… everyone and no one.
Think of it like asking a stranger to write a birthday card for your best mate. They’d write something polite and generic because they don’t know your relationship. But if you told them “we always take the mick out of each other, make it funny and a bit cheeky,” they’d write something completely different.
AI works the same way. You just need to tell it who you are and how you talk.
Technique 1: Give Direct Tone Instructions
The simplest way to personalise AI responses is to tell it what tone to use. Be specific: “professional” is too vague. Instead, describe the feeling you want.
Instead of
Write me a LinkedIn post about my new product launch.
Try
Write me a LinkedIn post about my new product launch. Use a warm, enthusiastic tone, like I’m genuinely excited to share this with people I know. Keep it conversational, not corporate. No buzzwords. Short sentences. The kind of thing you’d say to a colleague over coffee.
See the difference? You’re painting a picture of how you communicate.
Here are some tone phrases that work well:
- “Friendly and approachable, like chatting to a neighbour”
- “Professional but warm, not stuffy”
- “Casual and a bit humorous, but still credible”
- “Direct and no-nonsense, get to the point quickly”
- “Encouraging and supportive, like a good teacher”
Robi says: The more specific your tone instructions, the better the result. “Write it casually” is okay. “Write it like I’m texting a friendly client I’ve known for years” is brilliant.
Technique 2: Show It Examples of Your Writing
This is the most powerful technique, and most people never think to try it. If you give AI a sample of your actual writing, it can mimic your style surprisingly well.
How to do it:
- Find 2-3 things you’ve written that sound like “you.” Emails, social media posts, website pages, anything.
- Paste them into the chat.
- Ask AI to write new content in the same style.
Example prompt
Here are three emails I’ve written to clients recently:
[Paste email 1]
[Paste email 2]
[Paste email 3]
Now write a new email to a client letting them know their project will be delayed by one week. Match my writing style: the tone, sentence length, the way I open and close emails.
AI is remarkably good at picking up patterns. It’ll notice if you use short sentences, if you start emails with “Hope you’re well” or “Quick one,”, if you sign off with “Cheers” or “Best wishes.” All those little details that make your writing yours.
Before, without examples
Dear Client,
I am writing to inform you that your project timeline has been adjusted. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we anticipate a delay of approximately one week. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and assure you that we are working diligently to minimise the impact.
Please do not hesitate to reach out should you have any questions.
Kind regards
After, with your examples fed in
Hi Sarah,
Quick update on the website project: we’ve hit a small snag with the image gallery and need an extra week to get it right. New delivery date is the 14th.
Didn’t want to rush it and send you something half-baked! I’d rather take the extra time and make sure you’re happy with it.
Give me a shout if you’ve got any questions.
Cheers
Night and day, right? Same message, completely different feel.
Technique 3: Create a Reusable “Voice Prompt”
If you use AI regularly, writing tone instructions every single time gets tedious. The solution? Create a voice prompt: a saved description of your writing style that you paste in at the start of any conversation.
Here’s a template you can fill in:
My writing voice:
- Tone: [e.g., warm, direct, a bit of humour]
- Formality: [e.g., casual-professional, like talking to a friendly client]
- Sentence length: [e.g., mostly short, mix of short and medium]
- Words I use: [e.g., “brilliant,” “sorted,” “let me know”]
- Words I avoid: [e.g., “leverage,” “synergy,” “circle back”]
- How I open emails: [e.g., “Hi [name],” or “Morning!”]
- How I close emails: [e.g., “Cheers,” or “Speak soon”]
- Personality traits: [e.g., I’m encouraging, I use exclamation marks naturally, I sometimes use humour]
Please write all responses matching this voice.
Save this in your notes app and paste it whenever you start a new AI chat. It takes two seconds and makes a massive difference.
Robi says: Your voice prompt is like a cheat code. Write it once, use it forever. I keep mine saved in my notes, and by “notes” I mean my memory circuits. You should use your phone!
Technique 4: Refine With Feedback
Even with great instructions, the first attempt might not be perfect. That’s fine; AI is designed for back-and-forth conversation.
Useful feedback phrases:
- “That’s too formal, make it more relaxed”
- “Good, but I wouldn’t use the word ‘delighted’, I’d say ‘chuffed’ or ‘really pleased'”
- “Shorter sentences please, I write in a punchy style”
- “Lose the exclamation marks, I’m more understated than that”
- “The opening line sounds like a robot. Start with something more natural”
- “This is close but too salesy. Tone down the enthusiasm by about 30%”
Don’t be afraid to be specific. AI doesn’t have feelings; you won’t offend it. The more precise your feedback, the faster it learns your style within that conversation.
A real refinement conversation might look like this:
YouWrite me an Instagram caption for a photo of my new candle collection.
AIwrites something too formal
YouToo stiff. I’m a small business owner who’s genuinely excited about these candles. Write it like I’m showing them to a friend. Use “these beauties” somewhere.
AIwrites something much better
YouPerfect, but swap “purchase” for “grab” and add a line about the scent lasting all evening.
AInails it
Three rounds and you’ve got something that sounds exactly like you.
Technique 5: Use Custom Instructions (ChatGPT) or Projects (Claude)
Both ChatGPT and Claude have features that let you set permanent style preferences:
ChatGPT Custom Instructions: Go to Settings > Custom Instructions. You can add details about yourself and how you’d like ChatGPT to respond. This applies to every conversation automatically.
Claude Projects: Create a project and add style instructions to the project description. Every conversation within that project will follow your preferences.
This means you don’t even need to paste your voice prompt each time; it’s baked in.
What to put in your custom instructions:
- Your name and what you do
- How formal or casual you like responses
- Any words or phrases to use or avoid
- Whether you prefer short or long responses
- Your industry (so AI uses the right references)
Quick Wins to Try Right Now
- Open ChatGPT or Claude and paste your voice prompt template from Technique 3.
- Ask it to rewrite an email you’ve already sent: see how close it gets to your style.
- Try the feedback loop from Technique 4: ask for something, then refine it in 2-3 rounds.
- Set up Custom Instructions so your preferences are always there.
It takes about 15 minutes to set up, and it saves you hours of editing AI-generated content to sound like yourself.
Your Prompts, Your Voice
Want a head start? Our free prompt pack includes 20 ready-made prompts that you can easily customise with your own tone instructions. They’re designed to be tweaked and made your own.
If you want to go further, our business prompt pack includes prompts specifically built for emails, social media, and client communication, all with built-in tone customisation.
Key takeaway
AI is a powerful writing partner, but only if it sounds like you and not like a corporate chatbot from 2005. The techniques in this post (tone instructions, examples, voice prompts, feedback loops, and custom settings) are all you need to make that happen. Start with one technique, and build from there. Before long, people won’t be able to tell the difference between your writing and AI-assisted writing. And that’s exactly the point.