How to Make Claude Sound More Human

To make Claude sound more human, give it an example of your own writing, tell it who you’re writing for and ask for specific edits. Remove filler and repeated patterns, keep the facts, and check that the result still sounds like you.

I use Claude every day to help produce content, from social media posts to newsletters to training materials. To stop Claude writing like an AI, I give it a clearer brief than “make this more engaging”. It needs to know what good writing looks like for the task.

You can start with the prompt below. My free Humanizer skill adds a reusable editing workflow, with a Claude skill, a text version for ChatGPT and a setup guide in one download.

A prompt to make Claude write like a human

Paste this into a Claude conversation. Replace the placeholders with your audience, a sample of your own writing and the draft you want to edit.

Edit the draft below for [audience] in my usual voice. Use the writing sample as a guide.

Remove filler, clichés and repeated sentence patterns. Keep every fact, number, quotation and citation, and don't add new claims.

Use plain British English, put the main point first and vary sentence length. Return the edited draft and three brief notes explaining the changes.

Writing sample:
[paste a short example of your own writing]

Draft:
[paste the draft to edit]

Change “British English” to your preferred variety. Choose a writing sample in the same format as the draft: a newsletter is a better guide to another newsletter than a formal report. If you don’t have a sample, describe the tone you want and remove that part of the prompt.

The starter gives you a useful first edit. The full Humanizer pack includes more detailed pattern checks and the original writing preferences from this article, ready to reuse.

Make it sound like you

“Human” covers a lot of different voices. A warm customer email, a technical report and a blunt LinkedIn post should sound different. Give Claude enough context to make that distinction.

1. Define the reader and purpose. Say who will read it and what they should understand or do afterwards. “An email asking existing customers to book their next appointment” is more useful than “marketing copy”.
2. Show it your voice. Supply two or three short examples you’ve written. Point out what you want it to keep: direct openings, dry humour, detailed explanations or an informal sign-off.
3. Ask for an edit you can assess. Name the problem, such as repeated points or a sales pitch that feels too pushy. Ask it to explain the main changes so you can decide whether they help.

If you’re writing something new, give Claude the facts, audience and writing samples before it drafts. If you already have a draft, ask it to edit that text. Keeping the original beside the revision makes changes in meaning easier to spot.

Before-and-after examples

These are illustrative edits, written to show the differences. They are not recordings of a particular Claude response.

A marketing email

Before: “We’re delighted to announce an exciting opportunity to elevate your content planning. Our 60-minute workshop on Tuesday will empower you to create a four-week content plan. Secure your place by Friday.”

After: “Create a four-week content plan in our 60-minute workshop on Tuesday. Book your place by Friday.”

The revision starts with what the reader will do. It removes the announcement language while keeping the workshop length, outcome, day and booking deadline.

A LinkedIn post

Before: “Consistency is a pivotal part of a robust social media strategy. Last month, we published three posts a week, but customer questions still went unanswered. This highlights the importance of going beyond content creation.”

After: “Last month, we published three posts a week and still left customer questions unanswered. Posting regularly matters. So does making time to reply.”

The specific observation carries the point. The edit keeps the number and timeframe, varies the rhythm and removes the vague commentary.

A website paragraph

Before: “Our innovative reporting tool seamlessly streamlines your analytics workflow by bringing website and email results together in one dashboard. Reports can be exported as a PDF.”

After: “See your website and email results in one dashboard. Export your report as a PDF.”

The revision explains what the tool does. It keeps both capabilities and avoids adding an unsupported promise about time saved or better results.

How to make Claude less verbose

Set a length that suits the job. “Keep this customer email under 150 words” gives Claude a clearer constraint than “be concise”. Ask for the answer first, then only the explanation the reader needs.

For a draft that keeps repeating itself, try: “Cut repeated points and introductory filler. State the main point in the first sentence. Remove the closing recap unless it adds a next step. Keep the evidence, qualifications and details the reader needs.”

Shorter is not always better. A technical explanation may need a worked example; an instruction may need an exception. Check what disappeared as well as how much shorter the result became.

Why AI writing sounds like AI writing

Wikipedia’s editors have a guide to common AI writing patterns. It’s a useful starting point for spotting habits that make otherwise readable text feel generic.

Vague vocabulary. Words such as “pivotal”, “robust” and “seamless” can take the place of an explanation. Ask what actually happened or what the product does. Replace the vague claim with that detail, if the source supports it.

Predictable sentences. Repeated contrasts, three-part lists and the same sentence openings make a draft feel formulaic. Read it aloud and vary the structure where the repetition gets in the way.

Throat-clearing. Openings such as “In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape…” delay the point. Try removing the first sentence. If the next one says something useful, start there.

Uniform structure. Not every answer needs a heading, a list and a summary. Ask for the format you need, such as two connected paragraphs or a short email with a clear request.

How to stop Claude using em dashes

Be explicit: “Don’t use em dashes. Use a comma, a full stop or rewrite the sentence, whichever reads most naturally.” Then check the output. Replacing every dash with the same punctuation mark can create a different repetitive habit.

None of these features proves that a piece was written by AI. Human writers use them too. The aim is clearer writing that suits your reader; a rewrite cannot guarantee an “undetectable” result.

What the Humanizer skill does

You give it a draft. It checks for common AI writing patterns, rewrites it in plainer language and gives you a short note explaining what changed. Use it on emails, social posts, articles, web copy or reports.

The skill instructs Claude to preserve facts, names, numbers, quotes and citations, and to keep your tone and English variety. You still need to check that it has followed those instructions.

The download contains the Claude skill, a self-contained ChatGPT text version, the original copy-and-paste writing preferences and a short setup guide. After an accepted email signup, the download appears here on the page. Existing newsletter subscribers can use the same email address.

How to use it in Claude and ChatGPT

For one draft, use the starter prompt above. For ongoing preferences, use Claude’s account-wide instructions, or project instructions for a particular client or type of work. For repeatable editing, enable the Humanizer skill and ask Claude to use it on your draft.

Account-wide instructions apply across your conversations; project instructions apply within that project. Keep client-specific voice examples with the relevant project. See Claude’s guide to personalisation for the current settings.

Install the Humanizer skill in Claude

1. Download and unzip the Humanizer pack. Keep the humanizer-claude.zip file inside it zipped; that is the file you’ll upload.
2. Make sure code execution and file creation are enabled in Claude’s settings. On a managed work account, your organisation may control access to Skills.
3. Open Customize → Skills, choose + Create skill → Upload a skill and upload humanizer-claude.zip.
4. Enable Humanizer, paste your draft into a conversation and ask Claude to use the skill to edit it. Include your audience and writing sample.

If the upload option is missing, check Claude’s current Skills setup guide. You can still use the starter prompt for a one-off edit.

Use the ChatGPT version

Attach the included humanizer-chatgpt.txt file to a ChatGPT conversation, or paste its contents into the chat. Ask ChatGPT to follow those instructions when rewriting your draft. This version supplies the editing instructions as text.

Before you publish either assistant’s result, compare it with the original. Check facts, names, numbers, quotations and links. Restore any detail or phrasing that matters to your voice, and remove any claim the assistant has added.

For repeatable social media tasks, my Claude Skills pack for social media managers adds complete workflows alongside these writing preferences.