/w=3840,quality=80,fit=scale-down)
With ChatGPT at your fingertips, you can 10x your productivity and write awesome content at the click of a button….
But wait - maybe you bought into the dream of effortless content creation with AI and had your dreams shattered when ChatGPT started churning out generic texts that screamed, “Written by AI!” I’m all for using ChatGPT to boost your productivity and get your ideas out into the world faster. So, let me teach an amazing trick to ensure AI writes exactly how you want.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
- Why most AI-generated content sounds generic
- How to define your writing style
- How to design a prompt that teaches ChatGPT how to write like you.
- Plus: automating the process with a custom GPT specifically for writing content!
The struggle of writing with ChatGPT
Being able to write an entire blog post with a single prompt is mind-blowing and something we’d never have thought possible until recently.
But while it’s possible to write entire articles and posts in a few clicks with ChatGPT, you have to ask yourself what the point of writing is if you’re not saying anything different.
As awareness of AI-generated content grows, people are learning to spot the obvious signs of text written by ChatGPT (hello, corny expressions, cliches, and emoji overload.)
Outsourcing the bulk of your creative work to AI can make it hard to establish a personal brand.
But, if you teach ChatGPT to write just like you, you can speed up your output and still create content that reflects your brand.
Why you need a personal brand voice
Whether you write for your personal brand or company, you need to cultivate a unique voice that resonates with your audience.
A distinctive brand voice will help you:
- Differentiate yourself from others talking about the same topic and be remembered.
- Attract a unique audience who relate to you and are more likely to buy your products or services.
- Always have something to say because you can put your own spin on popular topics.
- Achieve consistency. Your style is your signature, and your content is consistently recognizable and relatable to your audience.
- Increase engagement and connection because your audience will know how to respond to your content.
Defining your brand voice
Before teaching ChatGPT to write like you, it’s important to analyze and understand your own style and create a style brand voice guidelines document. This process is a must for anyone who wants to create content!
Step 1: Gather examples
Start by collecting a variety of your best posts and articles. These could be content pieces that have received the most engagement and positive feedback or pieces that you’re most proud of and reflect your beliefs and expertise.
If you don’t have a lot of published content, review your drafts and even collect some examples from other creators you admire. When collecting other creators' content, make sure you have examples from different writers so you don’t just look at one person’s style.
Step 2: Analyze your content
Read through your best content and analyze it using the following criteria:
- What aspects of my personality are reflected in this content?
- What is special and different about the way I write?
- Is it clear what audience I am writing for?
- How would you describe your style in one sentence?
Once you’ve analyzed your writing, start putting together a writing-style document that also includes examples.
For reference, here is an example of how I describe my writing style:
- Personal and Relatable: Share personal stories and experiences. This approach helps to create a strong connection with the audience.
- Direct and Conversational: Use a friendly and direct tone, making posts feel like a one-on-one conversation.
- Professional Insights: Combine personal anecdotes with insights into remote work, entrepreneurship, and leadership.
See if you can come up with a similar description for your own style.
Can I write my style document with ChatGPT?
You can use ChatGPT to analyze your writing style and help you write a writing guidelines document.
I would do this by using by getting ChatGPT to interview me and using all my answers to create the document.
Here’s an example prompt:
Please ask me the following questions one by one. Wait for me to respond before moving on to the next question.
You and your brand
- Describe yourself, your role, your experience and your background.
- Now describe the personality and values you want to convey through content.
- Are you writing for a personal brand or for your company? Please give details.
- What is the purpose of your content? Examples: to become a thought leader, promote a business etc.
Topics 5. What are the main topics you will cover in your content? List 1-3 main topics. 6. What sub-topics will you cover within each of those? Provide 3-5 sub-topics for each main topic. 7. What unique insights and expertise do you have on these topics to set you apart from other creators? 8. Do you have any controversial opinions or beliefs around any of your topics?
Content style 9. Which of the following would you use to describe your content? a - Actionable b - Motivational c - Inspirational d - Curation of Expertise e - Comparative f - Contrarian Please list all that apply and any others you wish to add. 10. On which platforms will you share content? Please list all including social media sites, your own blog, other websites etc.
Your audience 11. Describe the target audience for your content. Include information about their knowledge level in your chosen topic - are they experts, professionals, beginners, etc. 12. How would you like your audience to engage with your content? i.e. sharing, commenting, responding etc. 13. What action do you want to inspire in your audience? i.e. subscribing to your newsletter, downloading a free ebook, buying your course.
Tone of voice 14. How would you describe your voice? Please select any of the following: a. Friendly b. Humorous c. Professional d. Warm e. Powerful f. Serious g. Playful h. Direct i. Quirky j. Respectful k. Excited l. Matter-of-fact Add any more that apply.
- Look at the list of adjectives in question 13 again, now list any words you would never use to describe your tone of voice. Add any more that may apply.
Other notes 16. Please include any other special notes about your style. For example: ”use analogies” or “include occasional puns or phrases related to the sea and sailing”.
Once I have answered all the above questions, please draft a style guide for my tone of voice which includes a short summary of my style plus a longer detailed description.
Prompting ChatGPT to write in your style
Now, here comes the fun part - teaching ChatGPT to write in your style. We’ll do this by designing a prompt you can use time and time again whenever you want to create a new piece of content.
Open a new chat window with ChatGPT - always use this same chat when writing content to keep your results more consistent and stay organized.
Use a prompt like the following:
Description of me and my brand: [insert description of you and your brand here]
Brief description of my tone of voice and style: [insert short version of your tone of voice description here]
My complete writing style guidelines: [paste in your entire writing guidelines document here]
Examples of my best content that truly represents my brand [add 2-3 examples here]
Do not write anything yet, just confirm that you have read and understood the writing instructions.
After providing this prompt, you can follow up by asking ChatGPT to write the content you want, such as a LinkedIn post, blog article, etc., and include the exact topic and angle you want to convey in the post.
Next steps: Create your own personal content creation GPT
Using the approach above is effective, but you will have to keep repeating the first prompt to make sure ChatGPT stays within your writing style guidelines.
Want to master the next level? Upgrade to paid (if you haven’t already) and build yourself a custom content-writing GPT.
What is a GPT?
GPTs are customized versions of ChatGPT with preset instructions that can be used for specific purposes.
You don’t have to repeat the same prompts over and over, as they have a series of prompts pre-configured. GPTs are currently only available to paid ChatGPT users. You can browse the marketplace of GPTs or create your own.
How to create your own content writing GPT
I have my own Content Creator GPT, which I built to help me write content in my style.
Here’s how to build a GPT based on the prompts above:
- Go to Explore
- Click “Create a GPT”
- Use the “Create” tab to explain to the GPT builder exactly what you want to build. ChatGPT will ask you questions, and on the right side, you’ll see your GPT coming together in real-time.
- To further edit the specifics of your GPT go to the “Configure” tab. Add all your tone of voice and writing guidelines into the “Instructions” box
- Create some conversation starters, which could be content pieces you create regularly. Example - “Draft a LinkedIn post”
When you save your GPT you’ll be pin it to your sidebar for easy access anytime you want to write something new.
General tips for writing content with ChatGPT
Teaching ChatGPT your writing style through careful prompting allows you to combine the power of AI with your own creativity and perspective.
Here are a few tips for writing in your with ChatGPT:
- Provide a structure for your posts — Always give plenty of information about what you want to write, including post structure. For example, you could tell ChatGPT your post should begin with an analogy or story, then transition to professional insight and end with a question to boost engagement.
- Give positive and negative feedback — Wherever possible, give ChatGPT feedback about the content it produces to highlight what you like and dislike. This will help you get better results over time.
- Refine your results — Keep asking ChatGPT to refine results and change aspects of your content or writing style until you are happy, or just do the final editing and revisions yourself to ensure every piece of content fully aligns with your brand and style.
Now it’s your turn to try out the prompts in this guide and teach ChatGPT to help you write content that resonates faster.
