The Em Dash. Why So Divisive?

The em dash has been through a lot lately.

For years, it was a perfectly respectable piece of punctuation. Professional writers used it. Copywriters used it. Ad agencies used it. Marketing companies used it.

It did its job. It created a pause, added emphasis, broke up a thought.

Nobody was investigating it.

Then AI came along.

And suddenly the em dash became suspicious.

Apparently, using one is now a telltale sign that something was written by AI. Which puts those of us who have been using em dashes in professional copy for years in a strange position.

Do we… take them out?

Do we edit perfectly good human-written copy to make it look more human?

Has the em dash been framed?

Because I would like to enter into evidence approximately every piece of professionally written copy created before ChatGPT existed.

The em dash isn't the problem

Here's the thing: real copywriters use em dashes.

They always have.

So if you're reading something and trying to determine whether AI wrote it, punctuation probably isn't the smoking gun you're looking for.

There's a much better tell.

Everything sounds polished, but it says absolutely nothing.

You've probably read something like this.

While you're reading it, you think, Yeah, that's good.

It sounds professional. The sentences flow. There are no obvious mistakes.

And then five minutes later, you couldn't tell someone what it actually said.

Or you finish reading and have that vague feeling that something is… off.

Something is missing.

That something isn't an aversion to em dashes.

It's you.

"Make it sound more like me" isn't an instruction

A lot of business owners want to create more content this year, and AI seems like the obvious way to make that easier.

So you open your AI tool of choice, ask it to write something and get back something that sounds like everyone else on the internet.

You try again.

"Make it sound more human."

Better, maybe.

"Make it less AI."

Okay.

"Make it more professional."

Now we're wearing a blazer for some reason.

Finally:

"Make it sound more like me."

There's just one small problem.

Have you told it what "me" means?

Because AI can't know that unless you know it first.

You can't prompt your way around brand clarity

Before AI can create content that sounds unmistakably like you, there are some behind-the-scenes questions you need to answer.

What words do you naturally use?

What words would you absolutely never use?

Why do your customers choose you instead of someone else?

What do you believe about your industry that most of your competitors don't?

What have you tried in your business that worked?

What hasn't?

What should you double down on?

What are you willing to say that everyone else keeps dancing around?

Those answers are what make your content recognizable.

Not removing a punctuation mark.

When you haven't done that work, AI has to fill in the blanks. And AI is very good at filling in blanks with things that sound perfectly reasonable.

That's also exactly how you end up with content that's polished, professional and completely forgettable.

Don't tell AI to sound human. Tell it which human.

This is why we start with what we call a Big Think.

It's a 90-minute deep dive into your business where we look at what's worked, what hasn't, what you should double down on, what makes people choose you, and where there are opportunities you may be missing.

We get the things that are floating around in your head out where we can actually see them.

Then we turn that clarity into detailed instructions an AI tool can use.

Instead of:

"Make this sound more human."

You can essentially tell it:

"Here's what this particular human sounds like."

Now it knows your vocabulary. Your perspective. Your boundaries. Your beliefs. What matters to your customers. What you want to be known for. What you would never say even if every marketing blog on earth told you to say it.

That's when AI becomes a workhorse instead of a generic-content machine.

Because AI can help you communicate your value.

It just can't decide what your value is for you.

So, can we free the em dash now?

Keep the em dash.

Delete it.

Use commas. Semicolons. Parentheses. Go absolutely wild.

Just don't confuse removing the superficial signs of AI with creating content that actually sounds like you.

The goal isn't to make your writing pass some imaginary AI detector.

The goal is for someone to read it and think:

Of course they said that.

And then, ideally, remember what you said five minutes later.

If you're asking AI to sound more like you but haven't quite figured out how to explain what that means, book a Big Think.

We'll spend 90 minutes getting clear on what makes your business yours—and turn that clarity into something both you and AI can actually use.

Em dashes welcome.