Your human voice is your leadership advantage
How do we use AI without allowing it to erase the very thing that makes communication meaningful?
Mary Olson-Menzel is the founder and CEO of MVP Executive Development and co-founder of Spark Insight Coaching. Michelle Powers is a fractional chief of staff.
We are living through a remarkable moment in communications as a profession. AI can help us write faster, create more content, polish our messages and produce communications fast.
Along the way, something can get lost in all that polish: the human voice. For communications leaders, this is a profound leadership issue.
Comms professionals are often among the most trusted voices inside an organization. You help executives articulate strategy, employees understand change and customers understand our commitments. In a world where anyone can generate a polished paragraph in seconds with the push of a button, our ability to sound and communicate like a real human being becomes even more valuable.
The question isn’t whether we should use AI: of course we should. The better question is: How do we use AI without allowing it to erase the very thing that makes communication meaningful?
Optimizing for trust over polish
AI has made polished communication remarkably accessible. A few prompts can produce a thoughtful-sounding announcement, an executive LinkedIn post or a company-wide message.
But sounding good and being trusted are two very different things.
We can all recognize the feeling of reading something that is technically sound but somehow feels hollow and empty. The words, grammar and structure may be perfect, and yet, we don’t believe them. Trust is built over time through authenticity, consistency, vulnerability, conviction and connection.
This is particularly important when organizations are navigating change. Employees want to understand what leaders believe, why decisions are being made and what those decisions mean for them. This necessitates a human being willing to stand behind the message.
Your voice is part of your leadership signature
Comms professionals help executives become better communicators by preparing them for town halls, media interviews, employee meetings and board meetings.
Now, the opportunity is helping leaders develop an authentic human voice with conviction. A human voice communicates what someone genuinely believes while remaining thoughtful about how that belief is received.
The strongest executive communicators are the ones who can say, “Here’s what I believe. Here’s why it matters. Here’s what I don’t know yet. And here’s what we’re going to do next.”
That kind of clarity is difficult to manufacture, especially through AI alone.
Communications leaders have a new job to do:
The role of the communications leader is expanding from helping organizations determine what to say to how their leaders show up.
That means finding ways to help executives communicate with greater presence, clarity and authenticity. Above all, it means encouraging leaders to move beyond corporate language and into language that sounds like them.
It means asking questions such as:
- What do you believe about this?
- What do you want people to understand?
- What are you worried about?
- What would you say if you weren’t trying to sound like a CEO?
- What do you want your employees to feel after hearing from you?
Those questions can unlock something AI cannot: a genuine point of view.
Protect the human voice internally, too
The human voice matters just as much inside the organization.
Employees are inundated with messages, updates, announcements and content in their daily work lives. They need context, meaning and to hear from leaders who are willing to acknowledge what is difficult, while also providing a path forward.
An example of protecting human voice could look like the difference between:
“We recognize that this transition may create challenges as we continue to implement our strategic priorities.”
Versus:
“I know this change is hard. I know there are questions we can’t answer yet. But I also believe this is the right direction for our organization, and here’s why …”
The second message isn’t as polished, but it is inherently more human.
Don’t let AI flatten your executive voice:
One of the greatest risks of AI-assisted communication applications is that everything starts to sound the same, regardless of the target audience for the message.
When every executive uses the same tools, prompts and the same polished language, differentiation becomes harder. The unique characteristics that make a leader memorable, such as humor, warmth, directness, curiosity or vulnerability, can disappear.
Comms leaders have an opportunity to prevent that.
The leaders who resonate will be the ones who can look into a camera and speak with conviction rather than a polished performance. They will be able to articulate what they believe, acknowledge what they don’t know and connect their decisions to something bigger than themselves.
How communications leaders can protect the human voice
- Coach for conviction, not perfection: Before your executive steps in front of a camera or into a meeting, get clear on what they genuinely believe. Find ways to help them communicate that belief clearly rather than trying to make every sentence perfect.
- Build an executive voice guide: Proactively capture the words, phrases, stories, perspectives and principles that authentically belong to the leader. Then, use AI as a tool to support that voice.
- Create more opportunities for unscripted communication: Town halls, employee Q&As and fireside chats can help leaders develop more comfort in communicating with their own voice. Expressing authenticity and conviction are skills that get stronger with practice.
The comms leaders who embrace this distinction will be incredibly valuable in the years ahead. In this increasingly AI-forward world, you have the opportunity to make sure humans still have something worth saying and the courage to say it with conviction and authenticity.
