I’m throwing out a challenge for you, friends! Your #1 summer project should be learning how to use generative AI to support your work in school communications. And I hope this blog is a great starting point to kickstart your efforts. 

You’ve been living under a rock if you haven’t heard the buzz on tools like ChatGPT. I believe if you are not leveraging this tool, you are missing out! 

I am a big believer in work-life harmony. It seems like all school communicators have too much to do but never enough time. Your answer to saving time could be learning how to use ChatGPT to increase your efficiency and effectiveness! 

How to Use ChatGPT in School PR

If you haven’t yet opened an Open AI account, head over to https://chatgpt.com/ and follow the steps. Once you’re in the program, just start chatting with the bot. Seriously… it’s that easy! You do not need to pay for anything. It is free.

Remember when you started using Google and had to learn how to ask good search queries? It’s the same with ChatGPT. Through trial and error, you will start to learn how to write good prompts in order to receive good output. 

I asked ChatGPT to explain the basics of writing good prompts – here’s what it shared: 

Writing effective prompts for ChatGPT is an art that requires a balance of clarity and specificity. To get started, think about the desired outcome or information you want from ChatGPT. Begin your prompt with a clear statement or question, making it explicit what you’re seeking. Use concise language and avoid ambiguity. If you’re seeking a creative response, provide some context or constraints to guide the model. Remember to be patient and experiment with different variations if you’re not getting the desired response. It’s also helpful to iterate and refine your prompts based on the model’s outputs. With practice, you’ll become more proficient in crafting prompts that elicit accurate and useful responses from ChatGPT.

Try not to get frustrated, it does take some practice!

Limitations of ChatGPT in School PR

Keep in mind that ChatGPT is a language model that has been created to produce conversational dialogue. According to the website, “ChatGPT was optimized for dialogue by using Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback (RLHF) – a method that uses human demonstrations and preference comparisons to guide the model toward desired behavior… These models were trained on vast amounts of data from the internet written by humans, including conversations, so the responses it provides may sound human-like.”

In other words, ChatGPT is not a Google search engine and it doesn’t fact check itself.

It’s important to note that ChatGPT is only as good as the data you input, as that same article notes: “It is important to keep in mind that this is a direct result of the system’s design (i.e. maximizing the similarity between outputs and the dataset the models were trained on) and that such outputs may be inaccurate, untruthful, and otherwise misleading at times… ChatGPT is not connected to the internet, and it can occasionally produce incorrect answers. It has limited knowledge of world and events after 2021 and may also occasionally produce harmful instructions or biased content.”

So, take what you get from ChatGPT with a grain of salt. Always double-check your work and edit, edit, edit!

Also, don’t give ChatGPT links – the free version is not connected to the Internet. You truly have to give it all the information you want it to know. So, for example, if you want it to summarize a press release into a punchy social media post, paste your entire press release into the chat. 

Ideas for Using ChatGPT in School PR

I asked my Social Media Crew for Schools members to share how they’ve been using ChatGPT to enhance their productivity and kickstart their creativity. Here are a few of their responses!

• “I’ve asked ChatGPT to come up with ideas for engaging questions to ask on social media. Good for brainstorming.” – Delaina McCormack, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
• “I use ChatGPT all the time to get my juices flowing and treat it almost like an office mate, asking questions and ‘conversing’ with it to come up with frameworks and first drafts of things. SUPER HELPFUL vs staring at a blank page. I’ve used it to help with staff recruitment plans, budget communications, social media content and other random things just to see what it can do.” – Jason P. Laz, Troy City School District, NY
• “ChatGPT has become my BFF for social media captions and some newsletter messaging. It’s a great starting point, but I do edit to make it sound more like the district voice. Pro tip: It’ll add hashtags and emojis if you ask to make your caption snappy! 😉” – Erica Chandler, Affton School District, MO
• “I have tried ChatGPT a few different times when I was stuck on how to jazz up a caption. I have found that it can be pretty wordy (even when I ask it to write a SHORT Facebook caption), but it did give me some fresh ideas!” – Melissa Marti, #SocialSchool4EDU
• “I use it to assist me in copywriting and to make my texts more concise.” – Larissa Johnson, Minneapolis Community Education, MN
• “I wrote a grant. We’ll see if I get it.” – Jamie Brace, Claremore Public Schools, OK
• “I’m creating a new Booster Club handbook for our school district. I’ve used the Magic Write to help me with the text. After 30 pages, it’s been a breath of fresh air for me! 🙂 Excited to learn more!” – Anne Blackburn, Waunakee Community School District, WI

ChatGPT is great for brainstorming ideas, creating first drafts, giving you punchy article titles and email subject lines and more. Check out this article from my friend Jason Wheeler for more ideas on using ChatGPT in your school communications role!

Using ChatGPT to Write a School Social Media Post

Ready to see this in action? Let’s use ChatGPT to write a couple of social media posts for my school district in New Auburn, Wisconsin!

The high school track coach sent me this text:

Andrew Gotham moved on to sectionals with a 1st place finish in the shot put and a 2nd place finish in the discus. Everyone else finished their seasons last night. There were a lot of personal records set last night and everyone performed well.

Congrats to Aliya North for finishing her senior season. Aliya was a 4 year letter winner and excelled in the sprints and jumps. She was also chosen as the Most Valuable Runner at our very own Hailey Reed Invitational for winning the 100m and the 4 x 100 relay. She also won the triple jump.

Jace North came out this year as a senior and gave it his all. He tried many different events including 100, 200, 4 x 100 relay, long jump and pole vault.

Congrats to both of our seniors and good luck!

I plugged this into chatgpt.com and typed, “Write me a Facebook post using emojis about [pasted text from above].” Here’s what it spit out: 

Exciting news from the track and field team!

Andrew Gotham has advanced to sectionals with a fantastic 1st place finish in shot put and a 2nd place finish in discus! He will compete on Thursday in Cameron for a shot at the state competition.

Monday night marked the end of the season for everyone else, and boy did they go out with a bang! Many athletes achieved personal records and gave outstanding performances. Way to go, team!

A huge congratulations to Aliya North on finishing her senior season with a flourish! Aliya, a four-year letter winner, showcased her incredible talent in sprints and jumps. She even took home the prestigious title of Most Valuable Runner at the Hailey Reed Invitational, winning the 100m and the 4 x 100 relay, and dominating the triple jump. Aliya, you’re a true star!

Let’s also give a round of applause to Jace North, who made his senior year count! Jace pushed his limits and took on various events, including the 100m, 200m, 4 x 100 relay, long jump, and even pole vault! Your dedication and versatility are commendable, Jace!

Congrats again to both of our amazing seniors! We’re so proud of your achievements and wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors!

Now that’s a pretty long post, but it’s a good starting point. I could either edit it down myself or simply type “make this shorter” in the ChatGPT thread, and it would rewrite the post for me. You can get really specific with your prompts by giving the program a word count if you prefer. Or try giving it a character limit, which is especially handy when posting to Twitter.

Here’s an example where I asked for a shorter post on another topic: “Write me a short Facebook post with emojis about the last day of school and kids got to play games and have ice cream outside!”

Instantly (within 2 seconds), it wrote:

🎉🚌🎓 It’s a wrap! The last day of school was an absolute blast! 🥳✨ The kids had a blast playing games and enjoying the sunshine ☀️ outside. 🎮🏃‍♂️ And the cherry on top? 🍨🍦 We all indulged in delicious ice cream! 🍧🤤 What a perfect way to celebrate the end of another amazing school year. 👏🎉 Bring on summer adventures! 🌞🌴 #LastDayOfSchool #GameTime #IceCreamParty #SummerFun 🎉🚌🎓🥳✨☀️🎮🏃‍♂️🍨🍦🍧🤤👏🌞🌴

Now, I would absolutely clean this up by adding in my school hashtag and taking out some of these excessive emojis! I would also space out the text so it isn’t one big paragraph.

So, what do you think? Are you ready to get your feet wet in the exciting world of ChatGPT? Tweet at me and let me know what you create – I can’t wait to hear about your success!