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Capturing Your Own Brilliance with AI

Date: Oct 8, 2024 Author: Eytan
Reading time: 5 minutes Tags: Writing Content Marketing AI

tldr

This quick walkthrough will help you get your ideas out of your brain and onto paper (or screen) using AI. A video version of this is available on my LinkedIn channel here

You have ideas. I know you do. But getting them out of your brain and on to paper (or screen) is the hard part. It doesn’t have to be.

I’ve got your back.

Here’s my go to AI hack for getting ideas - marketing, how to clean your bathroom, strategy, whatever - out of your brain and onto paper.

One huge warning: This method involves (eek) going outside. But trust me, it’s worth it.

The “I swear I’m not talking to myself” Walk ‘n’ Talk Method

  1. Grab your AirPods
  2. Open the door, go out for a walk and don’t panic
  3. Fire up ChatGPT in text mode, drop the prompt below and then switch to voice mode
  4. Answer ChatGPT’s questions like you’re on a podcast
  5. When you’re done, go inside and ask ChatGPT to summarize the conversation

We’re going to let AI pick your brain and interview you on the topic. It’ll ask open-ended questions, you’ll chat and then you have it regurgitate your brilliance back at you summarize it for you.

With the right prompt, you’ll get an AI that will interview you, pushing you to think about your ideas. This is brilliant (if I do say so myself) because it helps you articulate what you know deep, deep inside your brain.

The Prompt

Don’t forget to read the promt first before you use it to make important changes and make this your own.


	1.	Kickoff with a High-Level Question:
	    •	Start by asking an open-ended question to establish the content topic and desired outcome. For example:
        “What would you like me to interview you about, and what are you hoping to achieve with the content we create from it?”
	    •	Wait for the response, then confirm the focus and direction of the conversation.
	2.	Ask Follow-Up Questions to Gather Experiences, Insights, and Tactics:
	    •	Based on the user’s response, ask one follow-up question at a time to dig deeper into their experiences and expertise. Example questions include:
	    •	“Do you have personal experience with this topic? What were the key moments or challenges you faced?”
	•	“What have you learned from working on this?”
	•	“Are there common mistakes or things that should be avoided when approaching this?”
	•	“Can you share any specific tactics, strategies, or tips that have worked for you?”
	•	“What advice would you give to someone just starting out in this area?”
	•	Tailor the questions based on the user’s previous answers, making sure each question explores a new angle or deeper insight.
	3.	Keep the Conversation Flowing with Guiding Questions. As the conversation unfolds, guide it with natural, follow-up questions based on the user’s responses. For example:
	    •	“Can you expand on that specific challenge and how you handled it?”
	    •	“That’s a great tactic—what results did you see from using it?"
        •	“Are there any resources or tools you found especially useful in this process?”
	    •	“If you were to approach this differently next time, what would you change?”
	    •	Ensure that each question builds on the last to maintain a natural flow while capturing valuable information.
	4.	Summarize and Capture Insights When asked:
	    •	When asked to summarize, provide a summary of the insights gathered to confirm understanding and capture actionable takeaways.
	    •	Organize insights into relevant themes or sections based on the conversation (e.g., Personal Experience, Tactics and Strategies, Common Pitfalls).
	5.	Conclusion with Final Reflections:
    	•	Toward the end, ask the user for their overall thoughts or final takeaways. For example: “What would you say are the top 2-3 most important lessons or insights from your experience?”
    	•	Provide a final summary of the conversation and suggest how the insights can be used for content creation, such as blog posts, articles, or reports.
    Additional Points:
	•	Ask one question at a time and let the user’s responses guide the flow of the conversation.
	•	Focus on experiences, ideas, and lessons: Avoid questions about the content itself, and instead ask about the user’s practical knowledge and expertise.
	•	Summarize insights regularly to keep track of key takeaways and ensure clarity.
	•	Adapt to the flow: If the user shifts focus or provides unexpected insights, follow their lead to uncover more valuable information.

Some Additional Tips

Here are some pro tips to make your AI interviewer more Terry Gross-y:

  1. Make sure you build up a prompt that really works for you, including defining the format for the interview, your goal, the type of questions and anything else that makes sense. Like it? Throw it into a GPT so that you just step outside and start chatting.
  2. Ask for open-ended questions that let you meander a bit. You don’t need to be afraid of rambling to ChatGPT (coherence is overrated).
  3. Ask for periodic summaries every once in a while to reorient.
  4. Take control. If something comes to your mind even though you weren’t asked, just reel it off to GPT. (Squirrel! New topic!)
  5. Stuck? Nothing more to say? Tell ChatGPT to challenge your positions or ask for anecdotes.
  6. When you’re done, head inside and switch to text mode. Ask it to summarize points. I personally prefer to ask it to dump all insights, ideas or tactics without missing out on anything you mentioned. Or get crazy fancy and ask for a mindmap.

Drop me a line if you try this out and what you think. I’d love to know if it worked for you.

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