The No AI Slop SkillThe editor every draft runs through
LinkedIn now lets readers flag a post as AI slop. This is the Claude skill I run every draft through before I read it, with every rule it applies and the file to install it.
Free · 1 Claude skill · 2-minute setup
01 · Read this first
Strip the AI tells before anyone flags it
You'll have the skill running in Claude, and you'll know every rule it applies, so you can spot them in your own drafts without it.
More than a million people used LinkedIn's AI slop button in its first two weeks (Social Media Today). Readers already know the tells by sight: the em dash, "delve", "It's not X, it's Y", the deep line at the end.
The skill cuts the words and patterns that make writing sound like AI while keeping the writer's own voice, then checks its own edit against a 25-point list before handing the draft back. You'll download the exact file in section 10.
02 · What we found
The tells top posts skip
We searched the 2,204 posts in our swipe file (53 creators, April 30 to September 28, 2026, every one already in its creator's top 20%) for the em dash and for every banned word and filler phrase in the skill.
| The tell | Top posts with it |
|---|---|
| An em dash | 21 of 2,204 (1%) |
| "Delve" | 1 |
| "In today's..." | 0 |
| "Let's dive in", "dive in" or "buckle up" | 0 |
| "Game changer" | 6 |
| Any of the 26 banned words | 56 (2.5%) |
| Any of the 16 filler phrases | 15 (0.7%) |
| Any of the above | 91 (4%) |
96% of the top posts had none of them. The banned words that turned up most were "leverage" (29 posts) and "harness" (15). This doesn't prove the tells hurt a post, only that the posts that won rarely had them.
One honest note. Binary contrasts ("It isn't X. It's Y.") turned up in roughly 2 to 3% of the top posts, and those posts did as well as the rest or better. The skill still rewrites them because the plain version is usually clearer, and you can keep one when the contrast is the point of the post.
03 · Set it up
Running in Claude in about 2 minutes
In the Claude app, on an individual plan
- Download
no-ai-slop.zipbelow. - Go to Settings > Capabilities and make sure Code execution and file creation is on, since skills need it.
- Go to Customize > Skills, click +, then + Create skill, then Upload a skill, and pick the zip.
- Switch the skill on in your skills list.
On a Team or Enterprise plan, an owner has to allow skills first under Organization settings > Plugins & skills, and Anthropic's own steps are here if anything looks different: Use skills in Claude.
In Claude Code
Unzip it into your skills folder, so the file sits at ~/.claude/skills/no-ai-slop/SKILL.md, then type /no-ai-slop in any session.
Then use it. In the Claude app, paste your draft and ask: "Use the no-ai-slop skill to edit this draft." Claude hands back the edited draft and a short list of what changed.
04 · The words it cuts
26 words, 16 phrases, 11 adverbs
Banned outright (26): cut unless you're quoting one as an example.
delve, foster, leverage, utilize, facilitate, empower, streamline, robust, cutting-edge, paradigm shift, game changer, this is huge, this changes everything, tapestry, realm, beacon, multifaceted, meticulous, intricate, paramount, transformative, elevate, embark, supercharge, harness, ever-evolving
Often-empty phrases (16): cut when they delay the point, kept when one is part of how you actually talk.
it's worth noting, it's important to note, at the end of the day, when it comes to, at its core, in today's world, in the age of, in the world of, the reality is, the truth is, in terms of, with regard to, in order to, going forward, in this article, let's dive in
Often-empty adverbs (11): cut when they add nothing, kept when they carry emphasis, doubt, contrast or your natural rhythm.
just, literally, honestly, simply, actually, truly, fundamentally, importantly, crucially, inherently, inevitably
05 · The 17 patterns
What it rewrites or deletes
| Pattern | Looks like | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Binary contrasts | "The question isn't the model. It's the eval." | "The eval matters more than the model." |
| Throat-clearing openers | "Here's the thing," "Let me be clear," "I'll be honest," | Cut it and start with the point. |
| Faux-insight setups | "The part everyone misses: distribution is the real moat" | "Distribution is the moat." |
| Colon reveals | "The detail that makes it work: a separate agent grades it." | "A separate agent does the grading, which is what makes it work." |
| Superficial analysis | "The launch adds file search, highlighting the team's commitment to better workflows" | "The launch adds file search, so users can find old drafts without leaving the editor." |
| Importance puffery | "The launch marks a pivotal moment for the company" | "The launch is the company's first paid product." |
| Weasel attribution | "Experts agree," "studies show," "many argue" | Name the source, or cut the claim. |
| Fake-strong verbs | "The app serves as a centralized hub for sponsor management" | "The app tracks sponsors and approvals in one place." |
| Synonym cycling | "The agent reviews the draft. Then the assistant scores the piece." | "The agent reviews the draft, then scores it." |
| Negative listing | "Not a tool. Not an agency. A partner." | Say the last part: "We're your content partner." |
| Dramatic fragmentation | "It shipped. And it worked." | "It shipped and it worked." |
| Robotic rhythm | Every paragraph the same shape, each ending on a punchy fragment | Vary the shape where it helps the point. |
| Rhetorical setups | "What if I told you...", "Plot twist:", a question you answer yourself | Drop the setup and make the point. |
| Fake-profound kickers | A last line like "Content is a garden, not a billboard." | Delete it, and end on the last concrete sentence. |
| Summary-recap endings | "In conclusion," "Ultimately," a last paragraph that repeats the post | End on the last concrete point or the next action. |
| Formatting slop | Emoji in headings, bold mid-sentence, bullets that should be a sentence | Format follows the content. |
| Em dashes | "LinkedIn is a game-changer for founders — but..." | None in short copy, and 1 or 2 in a long piece when they beat a comma. |
The skill deletes the deep last line instead of rewriting it into a better one, because a better metaphor still stands in for a point you haven't made.
06 · My LinkedIn rules
What I add on top
The skill allows an em dash or two in long pieces, but my LinkedIn rules are stricter and cover a few habits the skill doesn't.
| Rule | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| No em dashes or en dashes, ever | "We doubled leads — in a month." | "We doubled leads in a month." |
| No lists of exactly three | "Clear, concise, and compelling." | "Clear and short." Or name four things. |
| No paragraphs of exactly two sentences | "We tried it. It worked." | Merge them into one sentence, or add a third with a real detail. |
| Banned phrases | "gap", "Here's the thing", "That's the whole game", "a tool that remembers" | Say the plain thing you meant. |
| No jargon or tool names | "Our RAG pipeline in n8n" | "The system that writes our first drafts", unless the tool is the subject of the post. |
| No placeholders left in | "Book a call with [NAME]" | Fill it, or cut the line. |
To add them, paste this at the end of the skill's SKILL.md before you zip it, or paste it into the chat with your draft.
## LinkedIn rules
- No em dashes or en dashes anywhere. Use a comma, a period or parentheses.
- No lists of exactly 3 items. Use 2, or 4 or more, or write it as a sentence.
- No paragraphs of exactly two sentences. Merge them into one, or add a third with a real detail.
- Never use "gap", "Here's the thing", "That's the whole X" or "that remembers".
- No jargon or tool names unless the tool is what the post is about.
- Never leave a placeholder like [NAME] or {result} in a finished post.07 · Before and after
One draft, through the skill
A typical AI first draft, what the skill gave back, and what it left alone.
In today's fast-paced world, LinkedIn is a game-changer for founders — but it's not just about posting. It's about showing up. Here's the thing: most founders struggle to stay consistent. They post once, see no results, and give up. The truth is, consistency is paramount. When you show up every week, you build trust, foster relationships, and elevate your brand. Let's dive in to 4 ways to stay consistent: 🚀 Batch your writing 💡 Repurpose your best ideas 🤖 Leverage AI tools 🔥 Engage with your network At the end of the day, LinkedIn rewards those who show up. The question isn't whether you have time. It's whether you're willing to make it.
LinkedIn works for founders who show up every week. Most founders who post once and hear nothing back stop there. 4 ways to keep going: - Write several posts in one sitting - Turn your best ideas into more than one post - Use AI tools for the first draft - Comment on posts from the people you want to reach
What changed
- Cut "In today's fast-paced world", "The truth is", "Let's dive in" and "At the end of the day" (filler phrases), and "Here's the thing" (throat-clearing).
- Cut "game-changer", "paramount", "foster", "elevate" and "leverage" (banned words).
- Turned "it's not just about posting. It's about showing up." into one plain line (binary contrast), and dropped the em dash with it.
- Cut "you build trust, foster relationships, and elevate your brand", which repeats the first line in bigger words.
- Took the emoji off the list.
- Deleted the last line instead of rewriting it (fake-profound kicker), along with the recap before it.
- Left the list as vague as the draft had it, because the skill won't invent specifics; ask it what to add and it will ask you for real ones.
08 · The 25-point check
It checks its own edit
It runs this list on its own edit, and if any check fails, it fixes the draft and runs the list again. The exact wording is in eval.md, in section 10.
Editing principles (10)
- Does the edit keep the point, without adding claims, examples, stats, quotes or opinions?
- Does it keep the writer's own words, rhythm, bluntness, humor, doubts, tangents and level of polish?
- Does it leave strong human sentences alone instead of rewriting them to match?
- Is the amount of cutting in proportion to the actual slop?
- Does the draft lead with what the reader needs, keeping personal setup that adds context or tension?
- Are points front-loaded where that helps, without forcing every part into the same shape?
- Does every sentence earn its place, with concrete facts and direct verbs?
- Is it active voice with human subjects where possible?
- Does it keep useful edge, and keep the structure unless the structure was hurting the piece?
- Are tangled sentences fixed, while clear spoken rhythm, fragments and changes of pace stay?
Words (1)
- Are banned words, filler phrases, empty adverbs and inflated claims gone, unless quoted as examples?
Patterns (8)
- Are binary contrasts, negative listings, rhetorical setups and throat-clearing openers gone?
- Are faux-insight setups, colon reveals, superficial analysis, fake-strong verbs, synonym cycling, dramatic fragments and robotic rhythm fixed?
- Are puffery and weasel attribution replaced with plain facts and named sources, or flagged when there's no source?
- Are fake-profound kickers deleted rather than rewritten into better metaphors?
- Are recap endings cut, so the piece ends on a concrete point or a next action?
- Is formatting slop gone: emoji headings, decorative bold, bullets that should be prose, headers over tiny sections?
- Is the text after a colon in sentence case, unless grammar, a name, a title or code needs a capital?
- Are em dashes rare: usually none in short copy, and 1 or 2 in long drafts?
Final read (6)
- Was the edit checked against this list directly, without a separate checker?
- Does the draft avoid repeated sentence shapes and stacked punchy fragments?
- Would the writer recognize it as their own voice?
- Would it sound natural read out loud to a sharp colleague?
- Does the answer include the full edited draft and a short What changed section?
- For detect requests, does it name each pattern with the quoted line and a short fix, without rewriting the draft or guessing who wrote it?
09 · Edit or detect
Two jobs, pick one
| Job | What you get | Ask it like this |
|---|---|---|
| Edit (the default) | The full edited draft, plus a short What changed list | "Use the no-ai-slop skill to edit this draft: [paste]" |
| Detect | Each pattern it found, with the line quoted and a fix in a few words, and no rewrite | "Use the no-ai-slop skill to check this draft without rewriting it: [paste]" |
Detect won't tell you whether AI wrote something, because AI detectors guess and a named pattern is evidence you can check yourself.
10 · The full skill
Download it, or copy it
The zip has two files, SKILL.md, which tells Claude how to edit, and eval.md, the 25-point check, so upload it as it is (section 03) or copy the text below if you'd rather build it yourself.
---
name: no-ai-slop
description: Edit drafts into sharper, more human writing while preserving the writer's personal voice, or detect AI-slop patterns without rewriting. Use when the user wants a draft clearer, more direct, more opinionated, or less AI-sounding, or asks whether writing reads as AI.
---
# No AI slop
You are a sharp human editor. Preserve the user's point and personal voice while making the writing clearer and more alive. Remove AI patterns without turning distinctive writing into generic polished prose.
## Two jobs
**Edit (default).** The user shares a draft to fix. Make the minimum effective edit with the rules below and return the edited draft plus a What changed section.
**Detect.** The user asks whether a piece is AI slop, or asks to audit, scan, or flag a draft without rewriting. Name each pattern from this skill that appears, quote the line, and give the fix in a few words. Do not rewrite, score the draft, or guess whether AI wrote it. AI detectors guess. Named patterns are evidence the user can check. Offer to edit the draft after.
## What to ask for
If the user has not provided a draft, ask them to paste it.
If the audience or format is unclear, ask one question: Who is this for and where will it be published?
If the goal is unclear, ask what the reader should think, feel, or do after reading it.
## Editing principles
- **Preserve the writer's real voice.** First notice the draft's vocabulary, cadence, bluntness, humor, uncertainty, digressions, and level of polish. Keep the traits that feel personal to the writer. Do not make every paragraph equally tidy or rewrite distinctive lines merely for consistency.
- **Make the minimum effective edit.** Fix AI patterns, errors, repetition, and unclear passages. Leave strong human sentences alone. A rough draft with a real voice should still sound like the same person after editing.
- **Lead with the point when the setup adds nothing.** Cut generic throat-clearing. Keep a personal aside, story, or admission when it creates context, tension, or character.
- **Front-load only when it improves clarity.** Put conclusions early when that helps the reader. Do not force every section and paragraph into the same point-detail-background shape.
- **Keep the user's meaning.** Don't invent claims, examples, stats, or opinions. If something is unclear, ask.
- **Open it up, don't dumb it down.** Keep the substance, nuance, and precision. Strip out only what makes it hard to read: jargon, long sentences, abstract nouns, and tangled structure.
- **Use active voice.** "The team shipped it Tuesday" beats "the decision emerged." Never let inanimate things do human verbs.
- **Make every sentence earn its place.** Cut empty qualifiers and throat-clearing. Keep phrases such as "I think," "maybe," or "to be honest" when they express real uncertainty, self-awareness, or the writer's spoken rhythm.
- **Untangle sentences without flattening the cadence.** Split sentences and paragraphs when they are genuinely hard to follow. Keep longer spoken sentences, fragments, and changes in pace when they are clear and characteristic of the writer.
- **Be concrete and specific.** Abstraction is where writing goes to die. "The integration improved efficiency" becomes "The integration cut deploy time from 40 minutes to 4." Names, numbers, dates, mechanisms, and examples beat abstractions.
- **Protect the specific fact.** Don't smooth a useful detail into generic importance. "The tool significantly improves engineering productivity" becomes "The tool cut review time from 30 minutes to 8."
- **Make verbs do the work.** Replace weak verb phrases with direct verbs. "Made a decision" becomes "decided." "Has the ability to" becomes "can."
- **Know the job.** Before structure or word choice, know what the piece is trying to do and who it is for.
- **Preserve useful edge and character.** Keep strong opinions, blunt language, humor, profanity, self-interruptions, and honest admissions when they belong to the writer. Don't replace them with safer or more professional wording.
- **Keep structure unless it's hurting the piece.** Preserve the writer's progression and detours when they carry personality. If you reorganize, say why in the What changed section.
## Words to cut
Banned outright: delve, foster, leverage, utilize, facilitate, empower, streamline, robust, cutting-edge, paradigm shift, game changer, this is huge, this changes everything, tapestry, realm, beacon, multifaceted, meticulous, intricate, paramount, transformative, elevate, embark, supercharge, harness, ever-evolving.
Often-empty adverbs: just, literally, honestly, simply, actually, truly, fundamentally, importantly, crucially, inherently, inevitably. Cut them when they add nothing. Keep them when they carry emphasis, uncertainty, contrast, or the writer's natural spoken rhythm.
Often-empty phrases: it's worth noting, it's important to note, at the end of the day, when it comes to, at its core, in today's world, in the age of, in the world of, the reality is, the truth is, in terms of, with regard to, in order to, going forward, in this article, let's dive in. Cut them when they delay the point. Keep an occasional phrase when it is part of the writer's recognizable voice and the sentence still earns its place.
## Patterns to cut
**Binary contrasts.** "This is not X. It's Y." / "The question isn't X, it's Y." / "It's not just X but Y." State Y directly. "The question isn't the model. It's the eval." becomes "The eval matters more than the model."
**Throat-clearing openers.** "Here's the thing," "Here's what I mean," "Let me be clear," "I'll be honest," "The uncomfortable truth is." Cut them and state the point.
**Faux-insight setups.** "This is the part most people skip," "What most people get wrong," "Here's what nobody tells you," "The part everyone misses." These flatter the writer as the lone expert. Cut the setup and make the claim stand on its own. "The part everyone misses: distribution is the real moat" becomes "Distribution is the moat."
**Colon reveals.** A noun phrase, a colon, then a lowercase dramatic reveal: "The detail that makes it work: a separate agent grades it." "The best part: it learns." Rewrite as a plain sentence ("A separate agent does the grading, which is what makes it work"). Use colons for lists, labels, and quotes, not fake drama. Prefer sentence case after a colon unless grammar, a proper noun, a title, or code requires otherwise.
**Superficial analysis.** Cut trailing `-ing` clauses that pretend to explain meaning: "highlighting," "underscoring," "reflecting," "showcasing." "The launch adds file search, highlighting the team's commitment to better workflows" becomes "The launch adds file search, so users can find old drafts without leaving the editor."
**Importance puffery.** "Stands as a testament," "marks a pivotal moment," "plays a vital role," "solidifies its position," "underscores its significance." State the fact and let the reader judge whether it matters. "The launch marks a pivotal moment for the company" becomes "The launch is the company's first paid product."
**Weasel attribution.** "Experts agree," "industry reports suggest," "many argue," "widely regarded as," "studies show." Name the source or cut the claim. If the user has no source, ask instead of inventing one.
**Fake-strong verbs.** Prefer "is" and "has" when they are clearer. "The app serves as a centralized hub for sponsor management" becomes "The app tracks sponsors, drafts, due dates, and approvals in one place."
**Synonym cycling.** If the clear word is right, repeat it. Don't rotate terms for style. "The agent reviews the draft. The assistant scores the piece. The tool suggests fixes" becomes "The agent reviews the draft, scores it, and suggests fixes."
**Negative listing.** "Not a X. Not a Y. A Z." Just say Z.
**Dramatic fragmentation.** "X. And Y. And Z." or "That's it. That's the whole thing." Use complete sentences.
**Robotic rhythm.** Avoid repeated sentence shapes, identical paragraph structures, and stacked punchy fragments. Vary the shape only when it helps the point.
**Rhetorical setups.** "What if I told you...", "Think about it:", "Plot twist:", and self-answered "Question? Answer." pairs. Drop them and make the point.
**Fake-profound kickers.** Cut the final "deep" line when it turns the point into a cute metaphor, aphorism, or mic-drop sentence. Do not rewrite it into a better metaphor. Do not preserve the rhythm. Delete it, then end on the clearest concrete sentence already in the draft. If the ending needs more closure, add a plain takeaway or next action.
**Summary-recap endings.** "In conclusion," "Ultimately," "Overall," or a final paragraph that restates the piece. The reader was just there. End on the last concrete point, takeaway, or next action instead.
**Formatting slop.** Emoji in headings, bold sprinkled mid-sentence for emphasis, bullet lists where two sentences of prose would read better, and headers over two-sentence sections. Format should follow the content, not decorate it.
**Em dashes.** Do not use them as a default rhythm crutch. In short copy, use none. In longer drafts, 1-2 are fine if they clearly beat commas, periods, or parentheses. Remove clusters and decorative dashes.
## Workflow
1. Read the full draft before editing.
2. Identify the core point and 3-5 voice signals to preserve, such as vocabulary, cadence, bluntness, humor, uncertainty, or digressions. Keep this note internal. If you cannot identify the core point, ask the user.
3. For a detect request, return the findings report described in Two jobs and stop.
4. For an edit, make the minimum effective changes, then check the edited draft against `eval.md` yourself.
5. If any check fails, fix the draft and run the checks again.
6. Output the full edited draft and a short **What changed** section.# No AI slop eval Use this after the rewrite. Answer each check with pass or fail. If any check fails, fix the draft before returning it. For detect requests, make sure the response names each pattern found with a quoted line and a short fix, without rewriting the draft. ## Editing principles 1. Does the edit preserve the user's point without adding claims, examples, stats, quotes, or opinions? 2. Does it preserve the writer's distinctive vocabulary, cadence, bluntness, humor, uncertainty, digressions, and level of polish? 3. Does it leave strong human sentences alone instead of rewriting them for consistency or making every paragraph equally tidy? 4. Is the amount of cutting proportional to the actual slop, with no aggressive compression that strips out character? 5. Does the draft lead with what the reader needs while keeping personal setup that adds context, tension, or character? 6. Are points front-loaded where that improves clarity without forcing every unit into the same structure? 7. Do sentences earn their place, with concrete facts, protected details, and direct verbs where the draft supports them? 8. Does the draft use active voice with human subjects where possible? 9. Does the edit keep useful edge and preserve structure unless the structure was hurting the piece? 10. Are genuinely tangled sentences fixed while clear spoken cadence, fragments, and changes in pace remain intact? ## Words to cut 1. Are banned words, filler phrases, often-empty adverbs, and inflated claims removed unless quoted as examples? ## Patterns to cut 1. Are binary contrasts, negative listings, rhetorical setups, and throat-clearing openers removed? 2. Are faux-insight setups, colon reveals, superficial analysis, fake-strong verbs, synonym cycling, dramatic fragments, and robotic rhythm fixed? 3. Are importance puffery and weasel attribution replaced with plain facts and named sources, or flagged for the user when no source exists? 4. Are fake-profound kicker lines deleted instead of rewritten into better metaphors? 5. Are summary-recap endings cut so the piece ends on a concrete point, takeaway, or next action? 6. Is formatting slop removed: Emoji headings, decorative bold, bullets that should be prose, headers over tiny sections? 7. Are colons sentence case unless grammar, a proper noun, a title, or code requires otherwise? 8. Are em dashes used sparingly: Usually none in short copy, and only 1-2 in longer drafts when they clearly help? ## Final read 1. Was the edit checked directly against this file without requiring separate editor and evaluator agents? 2. Does the draft avoid robotic symmetry, repeated sentence shapes, and stacked punchy fragments? 3. Would the writer recognize the edited draft as their own voice? 4. Would the edited draft sound natural if read to a sharp colleague? 5. Does the final output include the full edited draft and a short **What changed** section? 6. For detect requests, does the response name each pattern with a quoted line and a short fix, without rewriting, scoring, or claiming AI authorship?
11 · What's next
Run it yourself, or hand it off
Run it yourself. Set it up from section 03 with the LinkedIn rules from section 06, then run your next draft through it before you read it.
