Why every organisation should sound more human

For years, organisations have been filling websites, presentations, emails and marketing materials with language that sounds impressive but often says remarkably little.

Now, with AI making content creation faster and easier than ever, there’s a risk of producing even more of the same.

More words. More content. More communication. But not necessarily more meaning.

And that’s an interesting challenge for businesses. Because when everyone has access to the same tools, the same technology and increasingly similar ways of expressing themselves, how do you make sure your organisation still sounds like you?

The answer isn’t to abandon technology or start writing everything as though you’re chatting to a friend. It’s to remember that, ultimately, you’re communicating with people.

When professional becomes impersonal

Most organisations don’t set out to sound dull. Often, it happens gradually.

A piece of writing starts with a clear message. Then it passes through different departments, stakeholders and approval processes.

Someone thinks it’s too informal. Someone else wants to introduce more technical language. Another person suggests something that sounds more ‘corporate’. By the time everyone is satisfied, the original message may have lost much of its personality.

The result is familiar. Communication that’s technically correct, professionally presented and almost entirely forgettable.

We’ve all encountered phrases such as ‘leveraging innovative solutions’, ‘delivering customer-centric excellence’ or ‘driving transformational outcomes’. They sound like business language. But what do they actually tell us?

Very little.

And if your audience has to work hard to understand what you’re saying, there’s a good chance they’ll stop listening.

AI hasn’t created the problem. It’s exposed it.

AI is changing the way organisations create content, and there’s no question that it can be enormously useful. It can help structure ideas, accelerate research, explore different approaches and make the writing process more efficient.

We use it ourselves at Switch.

But there’s a difference between using AI to help develop your thinking and allowing it to do your thinking for you.

AI can produce perfectly competent content in seconds. What it can’t automatically supply is your organisation’s experience and judgement, it’s convictions or individual perspective.

Those things have to come from somewhere. Without them, it’s easy to end up with communication that’s grammatically polished, professionally structured and indistinguishable from everybody else’s.

And that presents an interesting contradiction.

The easier it becomes to produce content, the more valuable it becomes to have something distinctive to say.

The opportunity isn’t simply to use AI to communicate more. It’s to use it intelligently, while making sure the ideas, experience and personality behind the communication remain unmistakably yours.

Sounding human doesn’t mean sounding casual

There’s sometimes a misconception that making an organisation sound more human means making it more informal.

More conversational language. More humour. Perhaps a few emojis.

But that isn’t necessarily appropriate. A law firm shouldn’t sound like a lifestyle brand. A healthcare organisation has different responsibilities from a retailer. An engineering consultancy needs to communicate technical expertise and precision.

Being human isn’t about adopting a particular personality. It’s about expressing the personality that’s right for your organisation in language your audience understands.

You can be authoritative without being intimidating. Professional without being impersonal. Knowledgeable without making everything unnecessarily complicated.

In fact, being able to explain something complex in straightforward language is often one of the clearest demonstrations that you understand it.

Your tone of voice should be as recognisable as your visual identity

Most organisations invest considerable time and money developing their visual identity.

Logos, colours, typography and imagery are carefully considered to create something distinctive and recognisable.

But what about the words?

Your tone of voice is just as important in shaping how people experience your brand. It influences how you explain your services, introduce new products, respond to enquiries, communicate difficult decisions and engage with customers.

And it needs to work consistently across all of those situations.

That doesn’t mean every message should sound identical. Different audiences and circumstances require different approaches. But there should be a recognisable character behind the communication.

Just as your visual identity shouldn’t change every time you produce something new, your organisation’s personality shouldn’t disappear whenever someone different writes the copy.

A strong brand doesn’t just have a recognisable look. It has a recognisable voice.

The commercial value of being understood

This is where human communication becomes more than a question of writing style.

Clear, distinctive communication can make a genuine difference to how an organisation performs. It can help customers understand complicated products or services.

It can make sales conversations easier by explaining a proposition before anyone picks up the phone. It can help prospective employees understand the culture and values of a business.

And it can make organisations appear more approachable and confident, particularly in sectors where communication has traditionally been formal or technical.

None of this means every organisation should sound the same. Quite the opposite.

The objective is to communicate in a way that’s appropriate to your audience while remaining true to the character of your business. Because when people understand what you’re saying, they’re better placed to appreciate what you’re offering.

And when they recognise something distinctive in the way you communicate, they’re more likely to remember you.

How human does your organisation sound?

You don’t necessarily need a new brand or an entirely different tone of voice. Sometimes the best place to start is by looking critically at what you’re already saying.

Take a recent piece of communication – a website page, a customer email or a marketing campaign – and ask yourself:

• Does it actually say something useful? Or is it full of familiar phrases that could apply to almost any organisation?
• Would our audience understand it? Are we explaining things clearly, or expecting people to understand our internal terminology?
• Does it sound like us? Could someone recognise our organisation’s personality without seeing the logo?
• Does it feel appropriate? Are we striking the right balance between authority, warmth and clarity?
• Could we say it more simply? Are we using complicated language where straightforward words would do a better job?

And perhaps the most revealing question of all:

If you replaced your organisation’s name with a competitor’s, would the communication still make sense?

If the answer is yes, you might not be expressing much that’s distinctive about your business.