How do you stand out as a real person in the age of AI? Does personal branding still matter? Down below are some of my thoughts when it comes to this.

Yep, I do think it still matters – and that it matters a great deal. Your personal brand is your long-term differentiator, making you stand out through the noise.  

I actually talked about this (and more) when I visited Connie Whitman on her show “Changing the Sales Game”. Emotional storytelling is what builds trust and people still seek authentic human connection. 

That hasn’t changed and if anything – it’s become more important. 

Your personal brand is not just a logo or a tagline – it’s the emotional footprint that you leave behind with people, that stays with them. It’s how people feel after they have interacted with you, read a LinkedIn post you have written, listened to a podcast you attended etc.

Yes, different AI:s can mimic your tone and style, but your lived experience is something else. That – together with your quirks – have become your most powerful assets.

AI tools allow us to work smarter and act as a huge time-saver. Sort of like growing that little kale plant more efficiently – knowing how to deal with all those nasty kale worms by using the right prompts and tools.

But with AI and all its possibilities (and endless outputs), audiences face choice overload. It becomes harder to create a genuine emotional connection. Getting your message right, unique and away from sounding generic is another challenge. 

And there is also the risk of oversaturation – robots everywhere, and not knowing what’s “real real” or “AI real”.  

I think about this quite often when I’m on Linkedin, scrolling and reading comments. Some AI-comments are very easy to recognize. And I also notice that people are quick to point them out. 

Another challenge: when you are bombarded with endless recommendations, you risk not only feeling overwhelmed but also never truly satisfied.

You start sounding like everybody else.

You lose your voice.

And that is the opposite of what personal branding is meant to be.

If you peel the onion (or if you’re like me, trying to peel that kale plant looking for those scary worms…) – what is it that really makes your brand unique? 

When you remove all the fluff and all the pretty words – what is left? That is the seed you want to plant everywhere. And you can absolutely use AI to support your creative process (and you should). But it should not replace your creativity. 

Ask yourself:

Where do you actually need those human interactions?

What do you want people to feel when they engage with you?

What part of your brand requires emotional nuance (and what doesn’t)?

Automate repetitive tasks with AI. Tasks that don’t really need the “real you” part – like drafting variations of a Linkedin post, rewriting your bio (or giving you inspiration) or summarising articles/podcasts/videos to short insights.  

Use AI for outreach emails, ideation or image creation to make your outreach stand out. Or another way of putting it: What “behind the scene-tasks” slow you down? 

Focus on staying consistent across platforms: You want your audience to recognize your voice, no matter if they are reading your newsletter, watching your video or hearing you attend a podcast. 

The goal? 

Your message has to make sense to your audience. And of course – test what resonates with your audience. 

AI = endless amount of options – 10 different bios, 100 AI-generated headlines, 200 blog posts – how can you not get caught in the loop of tweaking and optimising? But that perfection does not build connection (at least not for the moment). 

People don’t remember the most polished version – they remember the one that made them feel something. 

So strip away the fluff – and when you have done that – what is that one thing you want people to know about you? What is the feeling you want to leave behind? 

And how can you, with the help of AI, support that little kale plant to continue to grow?

It’s easy to get stuck in a dopamine trap, instant feedback and instant gratification. But when everything is super mega optimized – when the plants are just too perfect – nothing feels personal. And when this happens, your audience might just scroll right past you – even though your content – and “you”  is “perfect”.

Lean into what makes you you. The quirks, the things that may not even make sense – that’s how you truly stand out with your brand. 

So when you peel the kale plant – look for those scary worms and use AI to deal with them in a smart and genuine way 🙂