How I Fired My Writing Staff and Saved Hours Every Week

Published: 3/3/2026

What do you do when your team underperforms week after week? No matter how much constructive feedback, the quality somehow dips further? When you’re forced to sigh, redo their sloppy work, and delay your next priority?

I cut them loose. As the old saying goes, if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. And if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself. Since I took matters into my own hands, I’ve had terrific results. I’m sure you can do the same if you just avoid hiring these writers.

C-Team Players

You have your A players. And you have the B-team who didn’t quite make the A-team. Now go down one more level to find the real culprits: Claude and ChatGPT.

LLMs are great for quick answers to research questions, summaries of documents, and brainstorming raw ideas. Anything with a base of existing data on the internet? Yes sir, that’s what they’re built for.

Is your brain on the internet? Sure, you have knowledge that you learned online, but what about your unique style, perspective, and approach? Until we can upload our consciousness to the cloud, those nuances remain stuck in your head, where they should be – inaccessible to chatbots and AI imitators.

I Learned the Hard Way

Before I accepted my role of creating my own articles and posts, I used to prompt Claude and ChatGPT at length to produce my content. I publish blog posts around 750-800 words, many of which took well over 800 words of prompting to develop! I may be a communication coach, but even I can do the math on that one.

I thought I was sooo smart, or at least enhancing my skills, by learning how to use AI for this. After a learning curve, I expected, I could streamline the whole process and automate content with models that I had trained. What I actually learned was that I had put the cart before the horse.

The Process for Creating Great Content

You produce it yourself. Whether you’re speaking or writing, whether it’s your business or your job or your hobby, you are the first source of content. You have experience, knowledge, and a unique voice. You have something new to say. So say it.

Let it flow from a place free of distractions or competing responsibilities. It usually takes me about an hour to get in the zone and create high quality content. During that time, I produce my script, slides, blog, or social media posts, and revise several times. Much like I would with AI, I tell myself to move sentences, improve the flow, etc. Unlike AI, I’m always clear on my instructions to myself and vision for the project.

Use Your Voice

The way you communicate is special. You have a style, a vocabulary, a cultural and life background that creates flavor and intrigue in your message. As you develop your voice, you realize that you can speak or write on any subject, even something dull or technical, and it will always sound like you. This, backed by your expertise, is how you create recognition and trust in your communication.

Find your voice by creating conversationally. Even as I write this, I’m imagining you across the table from me taking it all in, nodding and following along. That helps me keep it focused and interesting, just like I would if I were telling a friend a story or advising a client on their speaking plan. Whether writing or speaking, picture your audience and how they will receive your words.

The more you practice this, the easier it becomes. I know I say that for every tip I give, but that’s because it’s true! Eventually it becomes a part of you. You speak, write, and present from the heart, from a state of flow, and not from trying to automate or outsource your core knowledge and values.

The Silver Lining

We won’t be replaced. Period. These skills take time to develop, but then they will be yours forever, and ever up to standard. Others who never put in the effort, and expect robots to do everything for them? Spend 30 seconds perusing their AI-generated slop online and tell me if you think that’s the key to anyone’s success. It gives me a headache just reading it.

And hey – when I stopped prompting my articles to death, I cut about 20 minutes from my average time spent writing one. Even if it does go longer, it’s infinitely more enjoyable. That’s where your interest, expertise, and message will shine through the AI clutter and reach your target audience. Now get out there and find your voice.