You ask an AI to write a quick email, and you get this back:
"I hope this email finds you well in this fast-paced digital ecosystem. It is a testament to our ongoing synergy that we delve into these multifaceted paradigms to unlock unprecedented value..."
Nobody talks like this! If a real coworker said that to your face in the hallway, you would ask them if they were having a medical emergency.
Why Does AI Default to Fake Corporate Speech?
AI models were trained on millions of corporate press releases, LinkedIn posts, and academic papers. To the model, words like "delve", "testament", "multifaceted", and "leverage" feel statistically safe and polite.
The 4 Fluff-Killing Rules
- 1. The 15-Word Sentence Cap: Force the AI to write short sentences. Fluff thrives in run-on sentences; clarity thrives in brevity.
- 2. The Coffee Shop Test: "Write in a friendly, conversational voice. If a normal human wouldn't say this out loud at a coffee shop, rewrite it."
- 3. The Banned Vocabulary List: Explicitly ban: delve, testament, tapestry, synergy, multifaceted, unlock, seamless, revolutionize.
- 4. Active Verbs Only: Replace passive descriptions (*"Decisions were made by the committee"*) with direct action (*"The committee decided"*).