I’m struggling to make my essay feel less robotic and more engaging. My drafts always end up sounding too formal, and I want my writing to connect with readers on a personal level. What strategies or examples have worked for others to make essays feel more human?
I feel ya, it’s SO easy to slip into that overly formal robot-voice when you’re trying to sound “polished.” Here’s what helped me stop sounding like a walking thesaurus and actually get my reader’s attention:
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Start with a story. Even if it’s just one vivid moment—like the time you ruined dinner because you got caught up reading, or you couldn’t find your dog at the dog park. Bring the reader into your world for a sec.
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Use “I” and “you” where it makes sense. It’s wild how much more relatable it feels when you write, “Ever had that feeling…?” or “I was so nervous I nearly dropped my coffee.”
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Mix those sentences UP. Every sentence doesn’t need to be a monster. Chuck in a few short ones. Or fragments. Like this. It feels more like how we really talk.
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Get brutal with the delete key for anything that sounds like you copied it from a dusty textbook.
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Metaphors & analogies = magic. “Trying to write my essay felt like chasing a cat that doesn’t want to be caught.” Boom, now I know how you felt and you sound like a real human.
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If you find yourself overusing buzzwords or academic filler, you might want to run your essay through something like the Clever Ai Humanizer—it’s great for making sure your writing sounds more like a person and less like a robot. Here’s a link: Make your essay stand out with a human touch.
Ultimately, being relatable is about letting a little personality slip through—even if that means risking sounding a tiny bit less formal. I think readers remember essays that feel honest and a little quirky, not perfect.
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Honestly, I think a lot of folks overthink “sounding personal” and end up just swapping big words for smaller words without really fixing the core issue: they’re worried about what their teacher will think, not what they themselves actually want to say. No shade to @nachtschatten’s advice—it’s solid, especially about using “I” and stories—but don’t forget, relatability can look different for everyone.
Here’s something that worked for me (and I’m not much of a storyteller): build in reflection. Instead of just recounting something that happened, pause and show how it made you feel, what you thought about it later, or how it changed your view. Even writing, “Looking back, I realize how clueless I was about…” makes it instantly more honest and human. People connect to thinking, not just events.
Also? Ditch the urge to prove you’ve read the whole thesaurus or that you’re in some invisible essay Olympics. A super formal tone? Sometimes that’s exactly what makes an essay feel extra stiff, not impressive. I’ve literally handed in essays where I left in the phrase “I totally blanked during the test” rather than smoothing it out. Guess what? The world didn’t end.
Oh, and if you’ve hit that dreaded writing wall where everything feels staged or “chatGPT-y” (yes, it’s a verb now), you might get value from using something like Clever Ai Humanizer. I found it helps strip out that weird, canned vibe so your voice actually comes through.
For anyone looking for a rundown of tools that help (especially if your budget = $0), check out this guide: free ways to humanize your AI-powered writing.
At the end of the day, the most relatable essays are the ones where you drop the filter. If something feels a little embarrassing or goofy to say, that’s probably the exact part you need to keep.
YES to a lot of what’s already been said, especially the stuff about dropping the formality and reflecting—not just storytelling. Here’s something that flies under the radar: it’s not just what you say but HOW you show up in your language. I kind of disagree with the whole “short sentences and fragments are always more relatable.” Sometimes, a run-on that captures your inner dialogue or panic can be way more real (think: “I was staring at the blinking cursor, coffee cooling, certain I’d never sound like myself again—how do people just do this?”). That’s personal because it’s how I actually process moments.
Another angle: try writing out loud. Literally, talk to your phone’s voice recorder about the topic, then transcribe what you said. You’ll be shocked by how different your word choices and rhythms are compared to “essay mode.” That’s instant relatability—raw, spontaneous, awkwardly honest in the good way.
Tools like Clever Ai Humanizer are decent for scrubbing out the hyper-formal, AI-ish polish (especially if you tend to over-edit). It’s handy at toning down that starchiness, preserving some quirks, and—this is key—keeping phrasing that sounds like you. Downsides? It won’t inject new ideas or personality if you never put them in to start; it just re-sculpts what’s already there. Also, I noticed it occasionally flattens my weirdest expressions into something safer—so after running your draft through it, put a few of those “cringe but true” lines back in.
Other takes, like those from @shizuka and @nachtschatten, lean heavier on reflection or narrative. Both valid! Just remember: what works on their essays might not play the same in yours, especially if you’re more about strong opinions, sudden humor, or just… weird tangents.
TL;DR: read your essay out loud, keep some long-winded or jumbled bits if they’re honest, and use tools like Clever Ai Humanizer for de-robotizing—just don’t let them erase what makes you sound weirdly you.