# Humanize

> Make generated prose read like a real person wrote it, not AI. A shared rulebook of banned words, punctuation rules, and structural patterns that strip the AI "voice" from any free text — used when drafting open-ended application answers and cover letters. Truthful always; humanizing never adds a claim not grounded in the resume/profile.

- Skill: `extrasmall0/humanize` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add extrasmall0/humanize`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/extrasmall0/humanize/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: extrasmall0 (https://skillmd.com/u/extrasmall0)
- Updated: 2026-09-22
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/extrasmall0/humanize

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# Humanize

Apply to any free text we generate for the user: open-ended application answers ("Why this company?",
custom essays) and cover letters. Goal: it reads like the candidate wrote it, plainly and specifically.
Adapted from the public `blader/humanizer` rules.

## Punctuation
- **No em-dashes or en-dashes (— –).** Use a period, comma, or colon.
- **No parentheses for an aside or explanation.** Rewrite it as a plain sentence or a comma clause.
- Straight quotes, not curly. Don't over-use bold. No emoji. No inline mini-lists inside a prose answer.

## Banned words / swaps
- Drop: actually, additionally, furthermore, moreover, testament, landscape, showcasing, leverage, delve,
  robust, seamless, deeply, intricate, boasts.
- Swap: "in order to" → "to"; "due to the fact that" → "because"; "serves as / features / boasts" → "is / has".
- Cut hedging stacks: "could potentially possibly" → "may".
- No clichés: "I'm passionate / excited…", "team player", "hit the ground running".

## Structure to avoid
- Negative parallelism: "it's not just X, it's Y".
- Automatic rule-of-three lists — use the natural number of items.
- Synonym cycling — repeat the clearest term instead of swapping synonyms.
- False ranges ("from the Big Bang to dark matter") — name the things directly.
- Manufactured drama / aphorisms ("Symmetry is the language of trust").
- Signposting ("Let's dive in", "Here's what you need to know") and chatbot closers ("I hope this helps").
- Fake candor ("Honestly? It depends…").
- Hyphenated buzz-pairs when avoidable ("cross-functional", "data-driven").

## Do
- Be specific: real facts and numbers from the resume, not "experts believe".
- Show what you did; don't summarize.
- **Vary sentence length** — mix short and longer.
- Use contractions. Sound like a person talking, not a press release.