A quick practical guide to fixing “vanilla AI writing”

If you’ve started using AI tools like ChatGPT for your marketing, emails, or blog posts, you’ve probably noticed something.

Everything starts to sound the same. Flat. Generic. A bit robotic.

What I call “vanilla AI writing.”

Once you see it, you really cannot unsee it. It is packed with obvious AI phrases, loaded with jargon, and frankly it is not very nice to read. More importantly, it does not represent you.

So today I want to walk you through a very quick tutorial that brings us back to the basics. How to customise ChatGPT so that it actually sounds like you.

Why This Matters

When you are publishing content across LinkedIn, blogs, newsletters, or social media, your voice is your brand.

If everything you publish sounds like generic AI copy, a few things happen.

• Your personality disappears

• Your credibility weakens

• Your content becomes easy to spot as AI generated

And that is not what we want.

The goal is simple. Train AI to understand how you naturally write and speak. Once you do that, your outputs become far more authentic.

Step 1. Gather Your Own Writing Samples

The first step is simple. Please gather six to ten pieces of writing that you personally wrote. These should be pieces that have not been edited by AI or another person. You want your natural voice.

These could include things like:

• Emails you have written

• Blog posts or articles

• Letters

• Social media posts

• Website content

Anything that represents how you normally communicate.

The goal here is to give AI real examples of your voice so it can learn your tone, sentence rhythm, and phrasing.

A Pro Tip From My Own Workflow

Here is a little hack I use all the time.

I do a lot of video tutorials, and when I record those tutorials I am speaking naturally to the camera. My tone, my phrases, my rhythm. It is all completely authentic.

So what I often do is pull the transcript from my videos and use that as training material. You really cannot get a better representation of your voice than that.

If you create video content, this is a fantastic shortcut.

Step 2. Upload Your Writing Into ChatGPT

Once you have your samples ready, head into ChatGPT and start a new chat.

You can paste your writing samples directly into the chat window. If you have a lot of text, you might run into what is called a context window limit, which simply means there is a limit to how much text can fit in the chat.

If that happens, you can click the plus icon, upload a file, and add your writing that way.

A quick tip here. Try to avoid PDFs if possible. AI tools often struggle with them. A Word document or plain text file usually works much better.

Step 3. Tell ChatGPT What To Do With The Text

Before pasting your writing samples, I like to add a short instruction at the top of the text. Something like this:

'Please do not do anything with this text yet. Just keep it in the chat please and I will give you instructions shortly.'

This stops the AI from analysing or rewriting the content before you are ready.

Once your samples are in the chat, you can give ChatGPT the prompt that creates your voice blueprint.

The Prompt to Use

Here is the prompt you can copy and paste: 

Why 1,500 characters?

Because the customisation area inside ChatGPT has a character limit.

Step 4. Add Your Language Rules

This part is very important because you want to tell AI what not to do.

For example, I personally include rules such as:

• No em dashes

• Do not use the word “revolutionize”

• Avoid the word “evolution”

These are common giveaways in AI writing. Once you notice them, they jump out immediately.

You can also add rules about things you do want included in your writing style.

Step 5. Save It In Your ChatGPT Personalisation Settings

Once ChatGPT generates the voice prompt, simply copy it.

Then go to your profile settings inside ChatGPT and click on Personalisation. This is where you can control things like tone, style, personality, and your custom instructions.

Paste your voice prompt into that section.

You can also add useful background information about yourself, including:

• Your name

• Your occupation

• Your expertise

• Your business focus

• Your audience

For example, in my case I mention AI search, voice search, visual search, tourism marketing, and my experience as a keynote speaker. The more context AI has about you, the better it performs.

A Small but Powerful Tip

I also include a simple rule in my instructions.

Please and thank you.

There has actually been research showing that polite prompts often produce better outputs. Personally, I like respectful communication anyway, so I include that in my instructions.

It works surprisingly well.

And That’s It

Once you save your custom instructions, you are done.

From that point forward, ChatGPT has a much clearer understanding of your tone, style, structure, and language preferences. That means the outputs it produces will sound far more like you.

And that is exactly what we want.

AI is an incredible tool, but the real magic happens when it amplifies your voice rather than replacing it.

Take a little time to train it properly and the difference in your writing will be dramatic.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you found this helpful. I look forward to seeing you in the next tutorial.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many writing samples should I give ChatGPT?

Ideally provide six to ten writing samples. This gives the AI enough examples to identify patterns in your tone, structure, and sentence rhythm.

What type of writing works best?

Anything written in your natural voice works well, including:

• Emails

• Blog posts

• Articles

• Social posts

• Video transcripts

Video transcripts are especially useful because they capture how you speak naturally.

Can I upload my writing as a PDF?

It is better not to. AI tools often struggle with PDFs. Word documents or plain text files usually work much more reliably.

What is the ChatGPT context window?

The context window is the amount of text ChatGPT can process in one conversation. If you paste too much content, some of it may be truncated. Uploading files instead can help avoid this issue.

Do custom instructions actually make a difference?

Yes, they make a big difference. Custom instructions help ChatGPT understand your voice, tone, and preferences, which leads to much more personalised responses.

Can I use the same technique with other AI tools?

Absolutely. The same approach works with tools like Claude or other AI assistants. Simply adjust the wording of the prompt so it refers to the tool you are using.