Episode #206: Steve Dennis — How to Write Like a Human in the Age of AI

AI can generate endless copy. The new bar is making someone feel something.
This episode is for founders, marketers, and anyone who writes for a living and wants their work to connect.

Steve Dennis is a writer and ghostwriter who has shaped voices the world knows—including Andy Puddicombe at Headspace. Jason and Steve go back to the Headspace days, where Steve helped define the brand voice and coached writers (including Jason) on how to sound human on the page. In this conversation, they cover how to capture someone else's voice authentically, why vulnerability makes writing believable, and what AI still can't replicate.

What you'll hear

• Why your spoken word is where authenticity lives—stop "writing" and start speaking your story first
• The ghostwriter's test: can your closest friends read it and think it's your voice?
• What AI gets wrong: it engineers patterns, not meaning—it has no conscience, memory, or imagination
• The "remembering room" technique for evoking sensory detail and emotional truth

Chapters

• 00:00 — Cold open: Writing about mistakes is writing about being human
• 00:33 — Opening riff: Three traps of AI-era writing
• 02:33 — Steve's background and working with Andy Puddicombe
• 05:16 — How to disappear as a ghostwriter
• 07:27 — The biggest authenticity mistake: putting a dinner jacket on language
• 10:06 — The irreplaceable role of human writers
• 13:13 — Why AI can't access your memory bank
• 15:03 — Book recommendations: Stephen King and Robert McKee
• 17:38 — Where to find Steve and closing

Links & resources

GuestSteve Dennis — Writer
Twitter/X
InstagramAgency: Curtis Brown (London)

Mentioned
"On Writing" by Stephen King
"Story" by Robert McKee

About Frank Growth

Frank Growth is a podcast about how companies actually grow—real operators, real constraints, real decisions. Hosted by Jason Shafton.

Promotional links

• Work with Winston Francois
• Subscribe / Follow Jason