10 Top Ways to Collaborate With Your AI

1. Start Broad, Then Sharpen

✅ What to Do: Begin with the concept or goal. Let the AI create a rough shape, then refine.

⚠️ What to Watch Out For: Jumping in with laser-specific requests and getting frustrated by off-mark results. AI needs direction before precision.

🧠 Example:

You: “Give me a high-level description of our product’s value to customers.”

AI: “Our platform helps businesses automate workflows and improve outcomes.”

Progression: “Make it more formal — this is for an investor pitch.”

Revised AI: “Our platform delivers workflow automation that drives operational efficiency and measurable ROI.”

2. Treat It Like a Conversation

✅ What to Do: Talk to the AI like a teammate. Ask questions, iterate, build on replies.

⚠️ What to Watch Out For: Treating it like a vending machine: one prompt in, one answer out. That leads to flat, one-dimensional results.

🧠 Example:

You: “Summarize this report in plain English.”

AI: [Summarizes in 4 bullet points]

Progression: “Now turn it into a short executive summary for the CFO.”

3. Clarity In = Quality Out

✅ What to Do: Make your goal clear. Be specific about length, tone, audience, or format.

⚠️ What to Watch Out For: Vague prompts like “make this better” or “write something good.” AI doesn’t know what good looks like without guidance.

🧠 Example:

You: “Write something about SEO.”

AI: [Generic info]

Progression: “Make it a 150-word explainer on why SEO matters for local businesses.”

4. Let the AI Do the Heavy Lifting First

✅ What to Do: Use AI to generate the structure or draft — you do the final finesse.

⚠️ What to Watch Out For: Starting from scratch every time or expecting perfection in one shot.

🧠 Example:

You: “Outline a competitive comparison deck between us and Competitor X.”

AI: [Delivers a slide outline]

Progression: “Add a pro/con column and a call-to-action slide at the end.”

5. Loops Are Normal — But Don’t Get Stuck

✅ What to Do: Embrace iteration, but recognize when it’s time to pivot.

⚠️ What to Watch Out For: Getting caught in endless refinements of a single sentence or idea.

🧠 Example:

You’re stuck rewording the same sentence.

Progression: “Give me 3 alternate ways to phrase this — formal, conversational, punchy.”

6. Make it Personal, Then Make it Real

✅ What to Do: Bring in real-world relevance and brand tone to personalize AI output.

⚠️ What to Watch Out For: Using bland AI language without tailoring it to your audience or purpose.

🧠 Example:

AI: “Our solution streamlines operational workflows across verticals.”

Progression: “Add the impact on manual tasks and include a thought about growth.”

You revise: “We help small businesses stop wasting time on manual tasks — and start growing faster.”

7. Don’t Fear the Weirdness

✅ What to Do: Let surprising outputs lead to creative opportunities.

⚠️ What to Watch Out For: Dismissing unusual responses too quickly — sometimes the oddball is the standout.

🧠 Example:

You: “Give me a few event marketing ideas.”

AI:

Virtual product launch with Q&A

Partner pop-up booth with an influencer

Product-themed escape room

Progression: “That last one is wild — build it out a bit.”

Now you’ve got a buzz-worthy concept.

8. Use It Like a Tool, Not a Threat

✅ What to Do: Let AI handle heavy lifting so you can focus on insight and strategy.

⚠️ What to Watch Out For: Wasting time doing work the AI can do faster and more consistently.

🧠 Example:

You: “Summarize customer feedback from 50 survey responses.”

AI: [Groups insights into 5 themes]

Progression: “Highlight the top 2 themes related to product improvement.”

9. Align on the Goal — Not the Output

✅ What to Do: Get team alignment on what success looks like before debating phrasing.

⚠️ What to Watch Out For: Endless copy debates when the goal is unclear or unspoken.

🧠 Example:

Team: “Should we say ‘robust’ or ‘intuitive’?”

Progression: “What’s the goal of this line?”

Goal: “To get people to book a demo.”

Now you can test phrasing that actually drives the outcome.

10. Iterate Toward Awesome

✅ What to Do: Treat AI output as a draft that gets better over time.

⚠️ What to Watch Out For: Assuming version 1 is as good as it gets — or worse, giving up after version 1.

🧠 Example:

V1: “Too stiff.”

V2: “Closer, but not quite our tone.”

Progression: “Blend the clarity of V1 with the tone of V2. Aim for friendly but confident.”