LESSON 3 OF 6
Keep it sounding like you
BY THE END OF THIS LESSON
Stop AI drafts from flattening your writing into corporate mush.
The flattening problem
Give a model your rough, opinionated notes and ask it to "polish" them and it will file the edges off. Your "this is a stupid way to do it" becomes "this approach may present certain challenges". Technically better writing. Completely dead.
Instruct against it directly
Add these to any drafting prompt:
"Keep my phrasing wherever it works — only change what is genuinely unclear."
"Do not soften my opinions. If I said something is bad, it stays bad."
"Do not add transitions like moreover, furthermore, or in conclusion."
"If you cut something, tell me what and why, so I can put it back."
That last one is the important one. It makes the edit reviewable rather than something you have to spot.
Build a banned list
Everyone has words that make them wince. Collect yours as you notice them and keep the list in your standing instructions.
Common starting set: delve, leverage, seamless, robust, elevate, unlock, game-changing, in today's fast-paced world, it is important to note that, and any sentence beginning "In conclusion".
WORKED EXAMPLE
POLISHED FLAT
While traditional onboarding approaches have their merits, organisations may find that implementing a more structured check-in cadence can yield meaningful improvements in early-tenure retention outcomes.
POLISHED, STILL YOURS
Our 90-day onboarding plan looked great and told new hires nothing about whether they were doing well. We added one fifteen-minute check in week one. Retention in the first 90 days went from 70% to 95%.
Both are grammatical. The first has been edited until no human is present in it — hedged, abstract, and unfalsifiable. The second keeps the specifics and the opinion, which is the entire reason anyone would read it.
YOUR TURN
Make the edit reviewable instead of invisible.
RUN THIS
Tighten this draft. Rules: - Keep my phrasing wherever it works. Only change what is genuinely unclear. - Do not soften any opinion I expressed. - No added transitions, no "in conclusion", no hedging I did not write. - At the end, list every cut you made and why, so I can restore anything. Draft: [paste yours]
What a good result looks like
Read the cut list first. If it removed a specific detail or an opinion, put it back — those are usually the best parts.
KNOWLEDGE CHECK
Answer all 2 correctly to complete this lesson.
1. What happens when you ask a model to "polish" opinionated writing?
2. Why ask it to list every cut it made?
REMEMBER THIS
Tell it to keep your phrasing and list what it cut — otherwise it edits you out.