By Katherine S. O’Donnell, Executive Communications Strategist and Founder, OP Creative Communications
AI can save leaders time. It can help draft an email, shape a LinkedIn post, organize a presentation, respond to a difficult question or get a first version of an announcement on the page.
For leaders who already have more to do than there are hours in the day, that is incredibly valuable.
The CEO who needs to communicate with employees, donors, customers, investors or a board does not suddenly have extra time to write every message from scratch. The founder is expected to stay visible on LinkedIn while also running the company. The nonprofit executive director is fundraising, managing staff, preparing for board meetings, meeting with community partners and keeping supporters engaged.
Communication still has to happen.
For years, leaders have relied on communications staff, executive assistants and other members of their teams to help draft messages. AI has added another option. Sometimes the leader is using AI directly. Other times, a staff member or assistant is using it to help prepare something for the leader.
Either way, one thing has not changed:
Your name is still on it.
If you are sending the email, signing the letter, publishing the post or standing behind the statement, the communication represents you.
That is why reviewing AI-generated or AI-assisted communication before you send it matters.
AI can help you communicate faster. It should not take over your voice, judgment or responsibility.
The problem is not using AI. It is using it without enough review.
I use AI. I advise leaders and organizations on how to use it responsibly, and I see enormous value in it. I also see how much more useful it becomes when people understand where AI can help and where human judgment still needs to lead.
I have spent more than 25 years in communications, working with executives, nonprofits, boards, donors, employees, journalists, elected officials and community partners, often in situations where the words mattered.
Good communication involves much more than putting grammatically correct sentences together.
It requires judgment.
Who is receiving this?
What do they already know?
What don’t they know?
What is happening behind the scenes that AI cannot understand?
How will this sound coming from this particular leader?
What could be misunderstood?
What should not be said at all?
Those questions become even more important when AI helps create the first draft.
Before you hit send, I recommend asking yourself at least these seven questions.
1. Does it actually sound like you?
This is one of the first things I notice when reviewing AI-generated writing.
It may be polished, grammatically correct, or even sound impressive.
It just does not sound like the person whose name is going on it.
Every leader has a distinct communication style. It may be warm, direct, conversational, humorous or highly concise. The important thing is that the message sounds like you.
Your communication does not have to sound like everyone else’s definition of professional.
It needs to sound like you at your best.
Watch for words and phrases you would never normally use. Look for overly formal language, unnecessary adjectives, repeated sentence structures and statements that could have been written by almost anyone.
If your employees, clients or colleagues know you well, they often know when something does not sound like you.
Your voice is part of your credibility.
Protect it.
2. Is everything accurate?
AI can produce information confidently even when that information is wrong.
Names, numbers, dates, statistics, titles, links, quotations and other factual statements need to be checked.
Do not assume something is accurate because it sounds authoritative.
This becomes especially important in executive communications, fundraising, public statements, investor communications, board materials and anything representing an organization publicly.
A beautifully written mistake is still a mistake. Once it is sent or published, you may not get the opportunity to take it back.
The responsibility for checking it ultimately belongs to the person or organization publishing it.
3. Does AI understand the relationship behind the message?
Usually, it doesn’t.
You do.
Imagine you are writing to a donor who has supported your nonprofit for 15 years. Or an employee who has worked through an extraordinarily difficult period with your organization. Or a business partner you have known for a decade.
AI sees the prompt you gave it.
You know the history.
That context should affect how you communicate.
A message can be perfectly acceptable in isolation and still be completely wrong for a particular relationship.
Before sending it, ask whether the communication reflects what you know about the person receiving it, not simply what AI knew from your prompt.
4. Is the tone right for this moment?
Tone is not just about whether something sounds friendly or professional.
Timing and circumstances matter.
A cheerful message at the wrong moment can sound insensitive. A highly polished corporate response can feel cold when people are frightened or frustrated. An overly casual message can undermine the seriousness of a situation.
This is where human judgment becomes especially important.
AI can help identify possible tones. It cannot experience the room you just left, understand every conversation your team has had or fully appreciate how an announcement may land with the people affected by it.
Read the message from the recipient’s perspective.
Not just yours.
5. Have you removed confidential or sensitive information?
This should become an automatic part of your AI communication review.
Leaders routinely work with information involving employees, donors, clients, customers, finances, strategy, intellectual property and other sensitive matters.
Think carefully about what information you put into an AI tool in the first place. Then review the final communication for anything that should not be included.
Being efficient is not worth creating an unnecessary privacy, confidentiality or reputational problem.
6. Did AI make the message longer or more complicated than it needs to be?
More words do not automatically make communication better.
Leaders are busy.
So are the people reading their messages.
AI can turn a straightforward thought into several paragraphs if you allow it. AI may add introductions, summaries, transitions and conclusions the message simply does not need.
Ask yourself:
What am I actually trying to say?
Then make sure that point is easy to find.
Some of the strongest executive communication I have seen is remarkably simple.
Clear beats impressive.
7. Are you comfortable putting your name on it?
This may be the most important question of all.
Before sending an AI-assisted message, stop for a moment and read it as if it were already public.
Also, ask yourself these questions. Would I:
Stand behind every sentence?
Say this directly to the person receiving it?
Be comfortable if it were forwarded?
Be comfortable if a screenshot appeared online?
Does it accurately represent me?
If the answer to any of those questions is no, it is not ready to send.
AI should give leaders more capacity, not less authenticity
I don’t believe the answer is for leaders to stop using AI.
Quite the opposite.
Used well, AI can help a leader get past the blank page, organize ideas, consider different approaches and reduce the amount of time spent on routine communication.
That extra capacity matters.
Leaders are expected to be visible and responsive in more places than ever. There are emails to answer, social posts to publish, newsletters to write, presentations to prepare and stakeholders who expect to hear directly from leadership.
An executive assistant or communications professional may help with some of that work. Today, that person may also be using AI to prepare drafts.
There is nothing inherently wrong with that.
The important question is what happens before the communication goes out under your name.
Human judgment should determine the final draft.
Your voice is an asset
Your voice has value.
If you have spent years building relationships, leading people, developing expertise and earning trust, the way you communicate is part of your reputation.
You should not give that away simply because AI can produce a polished paragraph in seconds.
The goal is not to make leaders sound less human.
It is to use technology while protecting the qualities people actually respond to: clarity, judgment, credibility, empathy, experience and authenticity.
That is where human intelligence needs to remain firmly inside artificial intelligence.
Before you hit send
I created Before You Hit Send: AI Communication Review Guide for Leaders to take this process further and give leaders a more comprehensive, practical and repeatable way to review AI-assisted communication before they send it.
It is designed for executives, founders, nonprofit leaders, communications professionals and others who want the efficiency of AI without giving up their voice, judgment or credibility.
The guide goes beyond these seven questions with a structured review process you can use when evaluating emails, public statements, social media posts, donor communications, employee messages, board communications and other important writing before your name goes on it.
It is designed to help you slow down at the right moments, catch what AI may have missed and make sure the final communication is accurate, appropriate and still sounds like you.
Before You Hit Send is available for you.
Get Before You Hit Send: AI Communication Review Guide for Leaders
https://opcc.gumroad.com/l/before-you-hit-send-ai
Because AI can help write the message.
Your reputation is still the part you have to protect.
Katherine O’Donnell is an executive communications strategist, nonprofit leader and founder of OP Creative Communications, with more than 20 years of experience in communications, fundraising, partnerships and organizational leadership. She serves as Executive Communications Strategist for GRC Careers and is helping shape Beyond Resume, a new approach to career visibility that helps experienced professionals showcase the full breadth of their expertise and value. Her work focuses on leadership, career strategy, responsible AI and keeping human judgment and authentic communication at the center of a changing workplace.
- More than 20 years in communications, fundraising, partnerships and organizational leadership
- Executive Communications Strategist, GRC Careers
- Founder, OP Creative Communications, LLC
- Advises executives, nonprofits and boards on responsible use of AI in communication
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