The 7 ghostwriting moves that make leaders sound brilliant
Your words, their thoughts.
Darin Smith is communications and marketing manager at Crossroads Charter Schools.
Why do so many CEOs and executives sound flat when they speak? Their authority is real, yet the words often land stiff, scripted or forgettable.
Leaders usually aren’t hired for their writing. They’re hired for vision, decisions and the ability to inspire. If the message doesn’t connect, none of that shows up.
Ghostwriting fills that gap. It isn’t trickery. It’s the skill of turning scattered thoughts into clear language that sounds natural in the leader’s voice.
Here are seven moves communications pros can use to help leaders not only communicate, but connect.
- Capture the phrases they already use.
Every leader has favorite words and habits of speech. Your first job is to notice them.
Sit in meetings. Record prep calls (with permission). Keep a running list of repeated phrases and metaphors. At a major school district, the COO ended many thoughts with “students first, always.” That line became the spine of his town hall remarks and the hook in his follow-up email. People recognized it. Authenticity increased without a single extra statistic.
Ghostwriting isn’t inventing a voice. It’s bottling the one they already have.
- Trade jargon for plain English without losing authority.
Executives swim in acronyms. Left on the page, those acronyms create distance.
Your test is simple: Would a smart, non-expert understand this sentence the first time through? If not, rewrite. Instead of, “We’re launching strategic educational initiatives,” write “We’re rolling out programs that help more students succeed.” Same intent, sharper meaning.
Clarity doesn’t reduce credibility. It builds it. If people can’t understand you, they’ll never follow you.
- Put a story at the center of the message.
People remember people. Numbers help, but stories stick. Use a simple arc: problem, action, outcome. A superintendent once shared an anecdote of a family that moved districts twice in a year. We opened with that story, then tied it to attendance and tutoring results. The board still got the data. The community got a face and a reason to care.
When in doubt, find one real example and let it carry the weight. One real story will always beat a hundred abstract numbers.
- Write for the ear first, then the eye.
Long sentences tire readers and sink speeches. Vary the rhythm.
Read every draft out loud. Mark where you stumble. Shorten there. Try lines like: “We faced a setback. We learned. We adjusted. Then results followed.” That cadence plays in a room, in email and on LinkedIn. Keep most sentences under twenty words. Sprinkle a longer one when you need context.
If it’s smooth when spoken, it will be smooth on the page. If the words don’t sing out loud, they won’t stick in print.
- Ask the questions they’d never ask themselves.
Great ghostwriting begins before the first paragraph. It begins with curiosity.
Don’t take dictation. Probe. Try questions like:
- What part of this decision made you hesitate?
- If you had sixty seconds with the entire organization, what would you say?
- How would you explain this to a high school student?
- What do you want people to feel when they finish reading?
I once asked a CFO what he feared most about a pricing change. He paused and said, “That frontline staff will feel blamed.” That single sentence reframed the whole memo. We led with respect for staff, then explained the change. Resistance dropped.
Questions turn talking points into insight. The best ghostwriters aren’t scribes. They’re interrogators of truth.
- Edit until it sounds like them, not you.
The common failure in ghostwriting isn’t grammar. It’s tone. The draft reads like “comms copy” instead of the leader.
Build a quick “voice map” from your notes: formal or casual, short or long sentences, favorite verbs, personal tells (thank-you lines, sign-offs, small jokes). Read your draft in their voice. If you can’t hear them saying a line, change it.
A leader I worked with was warm in person but stiff on paper. We added contractions, replaced abstract nouns with concrete ones and kept a few of her go-to phrases. After the next town hall, employees said, “That sounded exactly like you.” That’s the goal.
If it doesn’t sound like them, it won’t land with them.
- End with a line that carries.
People remember the last sentence. Don’t waste it on “thanks for your time.”
Close with a clear, confident statement that names the shared future.
Examples:
- “We’ll do this the right way, together.”
- “This is the next step, not the final one.”
- “The future won’t build itself. We will.”
A good close isn’t poetic for its own sake. It tells people what to hold onto when the meeting ends. The close is the line that echoes after the room empties.
Putting it all together
Ghostwriting isn’t about putting words in someone’s mouth. It’s translating leadership into language that lands. You capture the leader’s voice, strip out needless complexity, anchor the message in a human story, keep the cadence tight, ask sharper questions, tune the tone and finish strong.
For communications professionals, these moves change how you’re seen. You stop being the person who “fixes typos” and start being the partner who makes the vision land. When the stakes are high and the clock is short, that’s the person leaders call first.
Make them sound like the best version of themselves. Do that consistently, and you’ll become the best version of yours.
This was fantastic. Highly informative and a helpful guide.
Awesome!