AI Prompts Make You Focus Your Non-AI Content
Mike Porter
Mike Porter is an adviser to the document industry, an author, & business communications expert
As you navigate the dynamic world of content creation, one unexpected tool that can refine your skills is artificial intelligence (AI) - even if you plan to write your articles from scratch. The secret lies in the prompts you design. These prompts aren't just for the machine; they are a powerful way for you to clarify your own thoughts and strategies before diving into the writing process.?
I know we should all follow the advice of the experts to outline our articles thoroughly and do the research before putting our hands on the keyboard, but I'll bet that doesn't always happen for you. A vague idea about what you wanted to write seems enough to get started. Sometimes that works out. Other times, you will quickly run out of steam and find yourself staring at a few bare bones paragraphs with no clue about what to do next.
The exercise of composing an AI prompt, even if you never ask AI to do any writing for you, can help you avoid these uncomfortable, time-wasting experiences.
By thoughtfully composing AI prompts you:?
This exercise can sharpen your writing skills and give you a structured path to follow. Here's how you can use AI prompts, not as a tool for artificial creation but as a method for creating better human-produced content.
How AI Prompts Help You Plan Writing Projects?
When you start working on an article by composing an AI prompt, you essentially distill your ideas into clear, concise instructions. This forces you to think deeply about several key aspects of your writing project:?
Audience Identification
Who do you want to influence? By identifying your audience at the outset, you will tailor all the content to their preferences and needs.
Desired Impact
What do you want your readers to feel or do after reading your content? If you don't define this up front, your article is unlikely to produce the desired effect.
Tone and Style
What kind of language and style will resonate best with your audience? These parameters guide you as you create sentences and paragraphs.
Scope of the Article
What's the range of subjects to be covered? Being specific about the scope ensures thorough coverage without wandering off-topic.
Let’s say you want to write an article about the benefits of direct mail marketing in real estate. If that's the extent of your plan, your article can turn out to be extremely long (this can be a big topic) or horribly unfocused. Writing an article with such little preparation will be a frustrating experience and it probably won’t perform as well as you would like.
To get more focused, pretend you're asking AI to write the piece for you. To get what you want, you'll need to include specifics. Here's an example prompt you might send to AI if you were going to have it write the article by itself:?
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"Write an article aimed at residential real estate agents informing them about the benefits of leveraging the power of direct mail to gain listings. Use a friendly, conversational tone. Include tips for direct mail tactics such as effective targeting and personalization that encourage mail recipients to respond. Mention strategies for targeting the right people for your message. Stress the importance of including strong calls to action."
Formulating an AI prompt forces you to think through the project and focus on your objectives. We were very specific about what we wanted to produce. This article will be about how to get more listings with direct mail, not how to sell houses, so we included that detail in the prompt, along with more guidance about to structure the article.
The AI prompt exercise clarifies your vision, making the writing process smoother and more focused. It's like creating a detailed blueprint before constructing a building.??
I even include grammar specifications in prompts, such as avoiding passive verbs and split infinitives that make pieces weak and difficult to read. I may also specify the narrative voice as first, second, or third person. With these stipulations in mind before starting, I write fewer passages that I must revise and correct later.
The practice of crafting these prompts improves with repetition and experience. The more you hone your prompts, the better you become at pinpointing exactly what you need from your writing.
AI Prompts to Discover New Angles
When you structure AI prompts, you break down your core ideas into simple, actionable statements. This exercise reveals gaps you might not notice otherwise. Each part of the prompt forces you to consider different perspectives. As you go through this process, you might think of a fresh angle that resonates with your audience.?
Suppose you want to convince your audience to agree with you about the main points in your article. Try crafting a prompt that instructs the AI to adopt a persuasive, engaging tone while explaining a complex topic. While drafting this prompt, you may realize your argument will be more credible if the article includes relatable examples. This awareness leads you to line up customer testimonials or quotes from trusted sources. You can fine-tune your understanding of what truly motivates your audience to act or change their opinion.?
Experiment with various prompts to learn what works best for you. Try writing prompts that describe the same content from different points of view or change the tone. These exercises show how versatile your content can be. They expand your toolkit as a writer, giving you insights into styles and approaches you might not otherwise explore.?
The iterative nature of creating prompts helps you refine your strategies. By comparing different outcomes, you understand what statements improve clarity or increase engagement. This ongoing learning shapes your skills and makes you more adept at aligning your content with your intended message and audience.
Ignore the AI-Generated Content?
Rather than abandoning the AI-generated content, consider it a draft or an outline. Skim through the output to recognize which sections align with your core message and which ones to discard. Use the AI's effort to highlight ideas or angles you hadn't initially considered.?The generated content might include a sub-topic that you would have otherwise missed.
Examining the AI's take on your topic can also uncover gaps you need to fill. You might detect missing transitions or underdeveloped arguments that you can strengthen with your own expertise.
Observing the AI’s style and tone can guide you in adjusting your own voice to better connect with your audience. You can spot overly technical jargon or too formal language that may need simplification. You needn't copy and paste any of the?AI-generated content into your piece. Use it as a helpful starting point, making it easier for you to polish and perfect your final all-human article.
In my experience, AI doesn't always improve your writing, it just makes it faster. AI is great at putting words together that seem to make sense and feel like they came from a human, but it knows only what you tell it about your audience, your company, the market, or an industry. A relatable voice (you) must be the one to add real-life aspects to the content.
The human connection is essential for the writing I do. It's probably the same for you. You're writing for humans, not bots, so make use of all the tools at your disposal to help you achieve your objectives with useful, relevant content but be sure to include your own contributions.
As crazy as it sounds, AI can help make your human-produced content meet your objectives and connect with the other humans you want to influence.