In late 2022, along came ChatGPT. I describe it as a search engine (Google) on steroids.
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As a customer service and CX expert, I’ve written more than 3,000 articles over the years, including almost 500 articles for Forbes. I’m often asked how I get ideas for content.
I’ll admit that it’s not easy to develop new ideas week after week. I’m often pitched by PR agencies that want me to write about their clients. Once in a while, one of those pitches catches my interest, but my favorite way to get ideas is to read the titles of articles in numerous publications. While I read five to 10 articles daily, I’ll often skim through various publications and read just the titles. That’s typically enough to get my creative juices flowing, and I think to myself, “I can write about that,” and then I do, often without reading the original article.
In late 2022, along came ChatGPT. I describe it as a search engine (Google) on steroids. It delivers ideas, suggestions and more. It can even write an article for you—more on that in just a moment. So, I thought I’d share how an author/writer can use ChatGPT to support their efforts and came up with a “Top 10” list.
But first, let’s back up to the comment I made that ChatGPT can write the article for you. Even though it can, DON’T DO IT! That’s NOT how authors should use ChatGPT, and here’s why. Articles written by ChatGPT are often easy to spot. While it’s not officially plagiarism, it’s pretty close. It’s not really your work. It’s the machine’s work, and that makes you “an imposter.” If all you do is copy and paste content, you’re doing your audience—and yourself—a disservice. While ChatGPT can’t make you a thought leader, it can make you a smarter thought leader when used the right way. With that, here are 10 ways I use ChatGPT to make me a better writer and smarter thought leader:
1. Ideas for Articles: ChatGPT will help you find relevant topics to write about. Just ask something like, “What are the hottest topics in _________ (whatever the subject) that experts are writing about?” You’ll most likely get some interesting answers. Use these as a way to kick-start your creative process.
2. Title Suggestions: Once you’ve written your article, you need a good title. Just paste the article into the search engine and ask, “Can you give me five good titles for this article?” In just seconds, you’ll have titles to consider or modify to meet your needs.
3. Quotes from Famous People: You can paste your article into the search engine and ask, “Are there any famous people who may have a quote that applies to topics in this article?”
