The 3 Word Edit That Stops Your AI From Sounding Like an AI

You can spot AI written prose from twenty paces. The hedging ("it is important to note that"). The bullet points the user did not ask for. The conclusion that summarises what you just read. The fluffy adjectives ("powerful," "robust," "comprehensive"). The reason most AI output sounds like AI is not that the model cannot write well. It is that the default writing mode is corporate, padded, and afraid to commit. Three words fix most of it.

The three words

Add this to any prompt where you want the AI to write like a human:

Plain language only.

That is it. Three words. Works in any model. Cuts the hedging, kills the filler, drops the corporate hedge phrases.

Why it works

The model is calibrating to the average user who has been rewarded by AI training to produce "professional" output. Professional, in the training data, means hedged and padded. "Plain language" pushes the model into a different writing mode: direct sentences, fewer adjectives, less restating of the question, fewer transition phrases. The model is capable of this mode. It just does not default to it because most users have not asked.

When to use it

Use it on any output that another human will read: emails, Slack messages, LinkedIn posts, performance review drafts, customer responses, internal memos. Skip it on outputs where you want hedging (legal language, careful science writing, situations where over commitment is the risk).

Three sharper variations

For directness: "No corporate hedging. No filler. Get to the point in the first sentence."

For tone: "Write like you are talking to a smart colleague who does not have time for fluff."

For format: "No bullet points unless I ask. No bold text. No headers. Just paragraphs."

Before and after

Without the three words, asked to draft an email declining a meeting: "Thank you for your kind invitation to the upcoming strategic alignment session. I sincerely appreciate the thought behind including me in this important discussion. However, after careful consideration of my current commitments and the priorities outlined for this quarter, I regret to inform you..."

With the three words: "Thanks for the invite. I cannot make this one. My quarter is fully booked through next month. If the decision needs my input, can you send the doc and I will comment async? Otherwise, send me the summary after."

Same prompt. Same model. Three extra words. The second version is what you would actually have written if you had the time.

The deeper version

The full pattern for AI that produces output indistinguishable from your own writing is to load your context and your standards once, into a Claude Project, Custom GPT, or Gem, so every output is calibrated to your voice. For the protocol to set that up properly, follow The First Saturday.

The reframe

The reason your AI drafts read like AI drafts is not that the model cannot write like you. It is that you have not told it to. Three words is the lowest cost intervention in your prompt library. The Layer 2 version, where your voice lives permanently in the AI's context, is what makes the output indistinguishable from your own writing after three months of use.

PromptLeadz publishes battle tested AI prompt packs for operators across all functions. All prompts are LLM agnostic. Pricing is in USD.