Making the Audience Fall in Love with Your Speech (And You)

Going to high school in the Bay Area, I would tell people I was interested in majoring in Communications in college. My peers who aspired to enter medical, computer science, and data analytics careers would scoff with cynicism, thinking there was no money or prestige in Communications. “The next big thing is data and coding,” is all I would hear.

Fast forward 4 years later — I’m now pursuing Journalism and Public Interest Communications with an interest in PR. In a world where leaders like Mark Cuban are predicting a shift in demand toward liberal arts majors, I’ve never felt more empowered to pursue my career in the humanities and social sciences.

Why?

When I realized AI was real and incoming, I quickly gathered that Communications would be one of the few disciplines that couldn’t be entirely replaced. I recently went to a networking conference full of Sales, Marketing, and CX professionals. I was struck by the following comment made by a panelist:

“The three c’s that AI can’t ‘replace’ are creativity, communication, and critical thinking.”

I immediately smiled in agreement. These three skills are AI-safe because they require empathy and authentic human experience, and whether it’s crafting a story, managing a crisis, or persuading an audience, they’re at the core of Communications careers. There are some problems that all the data in the world can’t solve, because people (HUMANS!) are unpredictable, and regardless of how many times Chat GPT tells you it “understands,” it doesn’t.

But, it’d still be naive to say that the Comms world isn’t going to be affected or changed by AI at all. Nothing is safe from that. So the real question is: how do we, as communicators, leverage AI to our advantage in a rapidly changing world — and where should we keep it far, far away?

Here are some use-cases of AI, and some AI no-go’s, I’ve picked up as a Communications student:

AI Weakness #1: Writing for the Ear

As a Speech Consultant for the Center for Speech and Debate at UW, this one drives me nuts. I often see students using manuscripts entirely written by AI. I understand that the temptation to finish writing a 5-minute speech in 30 seconds is strong, but when writing for the ear, AI neglects so many stylistic improvements.

For example, repetition, tone inflection, metaphors, idioms, and comedy are all crucial speaking techniques that AI struggles with. AI could never write something like Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” or a Robin Williams stand-up set because they required creativity, emotional understanding, and dramatic expression — these things cannot be taught to a machine (at least not yet).

You can’t hear an em dash or emoji in a sentence structure, but there is another extremely common AI giveaway that I notice when listening to speeches. AI thinks style and impact can be injected into a speech using this sentence structure:

“It’s not ___, it’s ____,” or “This isn’t just _____. It’s _______,”

Now that I’ve pointed it out, you will start to see it everywhere. This sentence structure isn’t bad when trying to place impact in a very short blurb on LinkedIn or email. But, when it comes to speeches, it can be ineffective when overused and is often pretty unnecessary in making a point. It also detracts from the credibility of your speech when people notice the use of AI.

Instead, I recommend cutting straight to the heart of your argument. For example, AI might write, “Don’t use this sentence structure. It isn’t just overused, it’s also ineffective.” A cleaner edit would be, “Don’t use this sentence. It’s overused and ineffective.” The difference may seem small, but when this structure appears repeatedly in speeches, it sounds robotic and detracts from your credibility.

This doesn’t mean AI has no place in speechwriting. I use it to clean up wordy paragraphs or make a sentence less redundant, especially when there’s a time limit. Additionally, if you arrive at writer’s block or can’t think of a good transition between points, AI is a fantastic way to discover solutions, or at least some inspiration.

A tip I recommend is using custom GPTs that are designed for speech-writing or hyper-specific prompts to ensure the AI maintains the tone or theme you desire and suggests edits appropriately for the audience you’re speaking to. The trick is to treat it like a starting point, not the finished product.

PR: Create ❌, Curate ✅

AI is an excellent tool for anyone in PR. It can assist in generating tailored pitches and press releases by analyzing data on journalists, media outlets, and audience preferences, even copying content in hundreds of different languages. This ensures that the messaging is highly relevant, increasing the likelihood of gaining media coverage. Additionally, AI can automate follow-ups and track engagement, allowing teams to focus on strategic planning and creative tasks.

Leaps, Pitchbox, and Jasper are some AI tools that can create content, speed up outreach, and provide helpful prompts or fitting images for your project. Persado, Mention, or Talkwater are great for analyzing what kind of messaging works best for your brand, monitoring online sentiment, and positioning your brand in alignment with ICP’s or to rival main competitors.

My personal must-haves for everyday writing and communicating are Grammarly and Wordtune, which help you improve your grammar and diction. Wordtune can even help you finish your sentences when you’re stuck on how to phrase something.

There are numerous programs and applications of AI for PR and Communications that I missed, but you get the point.

While AI can boost productivity and lessen time consumption, it is certainly not a replacement for the human aspects of PR. Using AI, you can draft PR briefs or social media content in seconds, but you still need to review everything and curate it to be received well by humans.

The role of communication professionals now shifts from creator to curator. To curate your material, filter out irrelevant filler, refine the content to match your brand’s voice, contextualize it with cultural or timely references that AI may overlook, and finally, humanize it with a review through the lens of empathy and authenticity.

Crisis & Journalism: The Human Touch

I’d err on the side of caution when using AI in crises. The internet picks up on a lot more than we give it credit for, and the last thing any company or news source needs when things are already tense is to get caught using AI. The blowback from sounding inauthentic or robotic can actually become part of the crisis itself.

Crisis communications demands more than quick messaging. It requires cultural fluency, emotional intelligence, and deep situational awareness. A single phrase that seems harmless in a draft can inflame tensions if it’s insensitive to historic, racial, religious, cultural, or regional trauma. No algorithm, no matter how advanced, can replicate the human ability to “read the room” during a breaking crisis.

When communities are grieving after a natural disaster or a company is under fire for a product failure, people want a response that truly feels human. They want to see leaders acknowledge pain, accept responsibility, and offer solutions with sincerity, whether it’s face-to-face, on TV, or in an online statement. AI can summarize sentiment trends or highlight frequently used keywords in social media backlash, but it can’t look into the eyes of a parent who lost their child and capture the weight of that moment. That part is only capable of humans.

Journalism works similarly. Reporters on the ground aren’t just transcribing events; they’re noticing what isn’t said, what body language reveals, or how silence itself speaks volumes. A journalist who witnesses a heated protest notices the trembling hands holding the signs, the tear gas in the air, and the mix of fear and determination on the faces of the participants. AI can help with fact-checking, online research, or generating data visualizations, but it cannot capture or re-tell those visceral details that make truth resonate.

I sometimes use tools like Perplexity or Gemini to find sources or research materials for what I’m writing about. But when it comes to events where real people face hurt or damage, the most reliable source is human testimony.

The Future:

Why does this matter? If technology reaches a point where nearly every task can be automated and productivity maxed out, why would that be a problem?

Edelman’s 2025 Trust Barometer reveals that nearly 70% of people worldwide believe business leaders, government officials, and journalists deliberately mislead the public for their own gain. Trust in media and government sits at a fragile 52%, while NGOs and business only fare slightly better at 58% and 62%, respectively. With AI accelerating change and wealth gaps widening, public confidence in institutions is at risk like never before.

Already, automated customer service reps, AI-generated social media content, and even simulated consumers reacting to ads are blurring the lines between human and machine. Yet Edelman’s data also shows a clear truth: when trust rises, so does economic optimism—benefiting every institution.

That’s why communicators matter. AI can deliver information, but humans deliver meaning. As long as people crave connection and authenticity, the human voice will remain irreplaceable. The best communicators will not resist AI—they will harness it to tell stories, build trust, and strengthen relationships in an era when both technology and skepticism run high.

And if that means society is finally rediscovering the value of the liberal arts? Well, I’m here for it.

Like this article? Connect with the author on social media or sign up for email updates to be the first to know when there’s a new post: