Most of us can spot AI-written copy now, even if we can’t say exactly why. With tools like Pangram scanning content for it, sounding like the default has real consequences, and a clearly defined brand voice is one of the best ways to sound like a specific person again.
In this episode, we talk with brand voice expert Justin Blackman, creator of Voice Finder and the Verbatim tool, about what brand voice actually is and how to find yours. Justin breaks it down into three things you can measure: vocabulary, cadence, and tone. He explains why AI copy drifts toward the average of every human on the planet, and how he pushes clients to defend each word they use to describe themselves until it earns its keep.
We get into Latinate versus Germanic words, why AI and copywriters both write shorter sentences than most people, and what separates optimistic from confident on the page. We also compare what ChatGPT and Claude say our own brand voices are, and hear about the GIF that took Justin an hour to choose.
* The phrases that give AI away: “where the center holds,” “load-bearing,” closing the gap, “it’s not X, it’s Y”
* Justin’s three measurable parts of brand voice: vocabulary, cadence, and tone
* Why jargon and insider language can be a feature when they attract the right people and repel the wrong ones
* “Friendly, human, and casual” as the trifecta of nothingness
* Latinate vs. Germanic words, and why “prickly” lands differently than “deflating”
* Building a vocabulary theme from your background, from roots-to-fruits and broadcast signals to Indiana Jones
* Why AI sentences run shorter than most human writing, and how that’s changing the way all of us write
* Why a book written like an email is so hard to get lost in
* Optimistic, hopeful, or confident? How each one changes the words you put on the page
* What your GIF choices reveal about your brand voice
“If you ask most people, and just about damn near every brand on the planet, what they sound like, they’re gonna default to the same thing. They’re gonna say friendly, human, and casual. It’s the trifecta of nothingness. It’s in damn near every brand voice guide I’ve ever seen. Friendly is more of a personality. It’s the way that you show up. It’s what you do for people. It doesn’t define how you talk.” - Justin Blackman
About our Guest
Justin Blackman
Voice Finder
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Meg Casebolt
Jessica Lackey
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