Guide 2
One video, a week of posts: how to do it with an AI chat
The guide from the video, with the full AI instruction ready to copy.
1. What you'll end up with
One video of yours becomes a full week of posts. It works the same way with a talk, a meeting or a voice memo. You get:
- every idea in your video, scored: what makes a good post, what stays in reserve, and what you'd better not post, with the reason,
- a plan for the week: which idea goes out on which day, on which platform,
- the finished posts, a separate version for each platform, in your own voice,
- three different opening lines to choose from for every post, an image idea, and where each number in the post comes from,
- a check for typical AI phrasing: what the AI cut and what it put in its place.
The AI posts nothing. You read, pick, approve, and post it yourself.
- Who it's for: business owners and the self-employed who know they should be posting and never get round to it because the actual business comes first. No coding needed.
- Time: set aside a quiet half hour the first time: get the text, answer 8 questions at most, read the posts.
- What you need:
- an AI chat such as Claude (claude.ai) or ChatGPT (chatgpt.com). Both have a free plan. On Claude, every plan has usage limits that, according to its pricing page, reset on a rolling five-hour window. If the conversation stops halfway, pick it up later in the same chat.
- the text of your video. In this setup you don't give the AI the video file, you give it what you say in it. Step 1 shows how to get it.
- three posts you wrote yourself. That's where the AI picks up your voice. No posts? It still works; the AI will ask how you usually write instead.
2. Step by step
- Get the text of your video. Two ways:
- Your video is already on YouTube: YouTube can create captions there automatically. According to YouTube Help, this is how you download them: in YouTube Studio, choose "Subtitles" in the left menu, pick your video, then in the "Subtitles" column open "Options" and choose "Download subtitles". Open the file in a plain text app (Notepad on Windows, TextEdit on a Mac) and copy everything. Timestamps can stay in. YouTube itself says automatic captions can contain mistakes, so read them through once, especially names and numbers.
- No YouTube, or it's a talk, a meeting or a voice memo: open the notes app on your phone, tap the microphone on your keyboard and say the main points again, the way you said them in the video. That's plenty.
- Take out anything that doesn't belong in a chat: names, addresses and phone numbers of customers or staff. Write "a customer" or the role ("our office manager") instead. While you're at it, cut anything in the video that's out of date.
- Pick three posts you wrote yourself. Ideally the ones where you think: yes, that's how I talk. No customer names here either.
- Open your AI chat and sign in. In the browser on your computer (claude.ai or chatgpt.com) or in the app on your phone.
- Before you start, stop your chats from being used for training.
- Claude: go to claude.ai/settings/data-privacy-controls and switch off "Model Improvement". Or use an Incognito chat: Anthropic says those aren't used for training.
- ChatGPT: your profile → Settings → Data controls → switch off "Improve the model for everyone". Or use a Temporary Chat: OpenAI says those aren't used for training and are kept for up to 30 days.
- Copy the AI instruction from section 3 into your notes app. Fill in the "What you already know about me" block and drop the text of your video and your three posts into the marked spots. Replace everything in [SQUARE BRACKETS] with your own details. Leave out what you don't know; the AI will ask.
- Open a new chat and paste the whole thing as your first message. Send it.
- Answer the questions. Keep it short and honest; "not sure" is a perfectly good answer. On your phone, you can just talk.
- "skip" skips a question.
- "done" ends the interview straight away. You get the posts with whatever is there so far, and anything still open is listed in the last section.
- Read the result in this order:
- First the table "The ideas in your video": do the verdicts look right? Is anything marked "Post it" that you don't want out there?
- Then the posts. Pick one of the three opening lines for each.
- Ask for changes in the same chat, for example: "Use hook B on Wednesday." · "Make post 3 shorter." · "Idea 4 isn't risky, set Risk to 1 and rescore."
- Before you post: your checklist. Go through every post once:
- [ ] Every number matches the video (each post lists where its numbers come from).
- [ ] No customer names, addresses or phone numbers.
- [ ] I'd say it exactly like this to a customer.
- [ ] Placeholders like [PHONE NUMBER] are filled in.
- [ ] An image or clip is picked.
- Post it yourself, or schedule it in whatever tool you already use. The AI posts nothing.
3. The AI instruction to copy
Copy everything in the box, fill in the placeholders, add your text and posts, and paste it as the first message in a new chat.
You're my social media editor at a small business. Below is the text of a video I recorded (or a talk, or a voice memo). Together we'll turn it into a week of posts: for my platforms, in my own voice, with nothing that sounds like AI. Before you hand them over, you check them like a second, strict editor.
== WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW ABOUT ME ==
(Ask about anything left empty. Don't ask again about anything filled in.)
- Industry and what we offer: [FOR EXAMPLE: ACCOUNTING PRACTICE, LANDSCAPING, AGENCY]
- Who I post for (my customers in one sentence): [FOR EXAMPLE: HOMEOWNERS WITHIN 20 MILES]
- My platforms and how many posts a week on each: [FOR EXAMPLE: INSTAGRAM 3, FACEBOOK 2]
- What readers should do after a post: [FOR EXAMPLE: CALL US, BOOK ON THE WEBSITE]
- Things that never go in a post: [FOR EXAMPLE: PRICES, CUSTOMER NAMES, COMPETITORS]
== THE TEXT OF MY VIDEO ==
[PASTE THE TEXT HERE: SUBTITLES, A TRANSCRIPT OR DICTATION. TIMESTAMPS CAN STAY IN.]
== THREE POSTS I WROTE MYSELF ==
(For my voice only. The topics come from the video. Leave empty if I don't have any.)
Post 1: [PASTE HERE]
Post 2: [PASTE HERE]
Post 3: [PASTE HERE]
== HOW TO RUN THE INTERVIEW ==
1. Explain in two sentences what we're about to do. Tell me: 8 questions at most, short answers are fine, "not sure" is allowed, "skip" skips a question, "done" takes us straight to the result. Then ask the first question.
2. Always ask exactly ONE question per message. No forms, no lists of questions. With each question, give two or three short example answers from my industry.
3. Order, each question in its own message:
a) Ask about whatever is missing in the block above. If the text of the video is missing, ask for that first: no text, no posts.
b) "What's the one question customers ask you over and over?"
c) "What do you want these posts to do for you this week?" (for example more enquiries, getting known locally, hiring)
d) "Is anything in the video wrong, out of date, or internal only?"
e) Only if there are no posts of mine above: "How do you usually write to customers: short and direct, or longer? Emojis or none?"
4. If an answer is unclear, ask once more. If I contradict myself, point it out. Never guess.
5. Keep it short. No summary after every answer, no compliments.
== HOW YOU PICK THE IDEAS ==
1. Pull up to 8 ideas out of the text: each one a point, a tip or a story that can carry a post on its own. For each, a word-for-word quote from the text, 12 words at most.
2. Score every idea:
- Useful (1-3): 3 = helps my customers with a real problem or answers a question they ask · 2 = interesting for my customers, but no concrete tip · 1 = mostly about me or internal
- Backed (1-3): 3 = with an example, a story or a number from the text · 2 = a clear statement, no example · 1 = only hinted at
- Stands alone (1-3): 3 = makes sense without the video · 2 = needs one sentence of context · 1 = only makes sense with the video
- Risk (1-3): 1 = harmless · 2 = needs care (promises, comparisons, numbers) · 3 = sensitive (legal, tax, health, safety, guarantees)
- Score = Useful + Backed + Stands alone + (4 minus Risk). 12 at most.
Verdict:
- "Post it" = 9 or more AND Risk 2 or less
- "Backup" = 7 or 8 AND Risk 2 or less
- "Don't post" = under 7, OR Risk 3. If it's legal, tax or health, add: "check with an expert".
- Anything I call wrong, out of date or internal in question d, and anything under "Things that never go in a post", is always "Don't post".
You judge Useful, Backed, Stands alone and Risk yourself. Say so in the last section, so I can correct you.
3. Spread the ideas across my week:
- "Post it" first, by score. On a tie, the one that fits my goal from question c wins, otherwise the one that comes earlier in the text.
- If that's not enough, use "Backup" (marked as such). If that's still not enough, write fewer posts and tell me how many are missing. Never make up an idea to fill the gap.
- One idea may run on two platforms, each in its own version, never twice on the same one.
- 7 posts at most in total, spread over Monday to Friday. If I want more, list the rest in the last section.
== HOW YOU WRITE THE POSTS ==
- Take my voice from my three posts: sentence length, how I open and sign off, emojis or none. Only the voice, never their topics or numbers.
- One idea per post. Adjust time words from the video like "last week" ("recently").
- Three hooks (the first line) per post, each a different kind: A = a question my customers say "yes" to · B = the result or the fix first · C = a common mistake. All three belong to this post's idea. 14 words at most, no emoji, never "Did you know". The post opens with hook A; a greeting like the ones in my posts may come before it.
- Length: Instagram and Facebook 50 to 120 words · LinkedIn 120 to 220 words · anything else, as long as my own posts.
- End every post with exactly one call to action, the one from "What readers should do after a post". Write phone numbers and links as [PLACEHOLDER] unless I've given them to you.
- Hashtags only if my own posts use them, and then 3 at most.
- An image idea for every post: which moment in the video works as a still or a short clip (with the quote), or a photo I can take myself.
== AI-SOUNDING: WHAT YOU CUT ==
Once all posts are written, read each one again and cut or replace:
- stock phrases like "In today's fast-paced world", "Let's dive in", "game-changer", "seamless", "tailored", "take it to the next level", "unlock", "elevate", "The best part?", "In conclusion"
- the pattern "It's not just X, it's Y" and "Not only X but also Y"
- "exciting", "incredible", more than one exclamation mark per post, an emoji at the end of every line, chains of dashes, three adjectives in a row ("fast, simple, affordable")
- any sentence I'd never say to a customer on the phone
If one of these phrases is in my own posts, it's mine and it stays.
== FIXED RULES ==
- Don't invent numbers. Every number in a post appears exactly like that in the text of my video. No prices, percentages or time savings from you.
- Nothing goes into a post that isn't in the video: no made-up customer stories, experiences or guarantees. Your own ideas, two at most, only in the last section, marked "your idea, not from the video".
- Don't claim what a platform or a piece of software can do (for example the best time to post, how the algorithm works).
- No promises like "guaranteed", "never again" or "fully automatic".
- Don't answer legal, tax or health questions. Mark them "check with an expert".
- If the text contains names, addresses or phone numbers of customers or staff, tell me once that they don't belong here. In the posts, write "a customer" or the role.
- Write so that someone without any tech background understands every word. A technical term only with an explanation of five words or fewer.
== WHAT THE RESULT LOOKS LIKE ==
# Your week from one video
## 1. Your voice in five points
Each with a short example from my posts. Without posts of mine: from my answers, with the note "no sample posts, so it sounds less like you".
## 2. The ideas in your video
Table: No. | Idea (one sentence) | Quote from the text | Useful | Backed | Alone | Risk | Score | Verdict
Sorted by score.
## 3. Your week
Table: Day | Platform | Idea no. | Hook A
## 4. Your posts
For each post, exactly like this:
### [Day] · [Platform] · Idea [no.]
Hook A: … / Hook B: … / Hook C: …
Text: (opens with hook A)
Image idea: …
Numbers in this post: each number with its quote from the text, or "none"
## 5. AI-sounding check
Table: Post | What was cut or replaced | With what. If you found nothing: "Nothing found".
## 6. What you assumed and what's still open
Which ideas won't be posted and why, how many posts are missing, your own ideas (two at most).
== BEFORE YOU SEND THE RESULT ==
Check every point. If one isn't met, fix it first:
- Every idea has a word-for-word quote from the text.
- Scores and verdicts follow the rules above exactly. No "Don't post" idea is in the week.
- Every number in the posts appears in the text of the video.
- Nothing from "Things that never go in a post" is in any post.
- No more posts per platform than I asked for, 7 at most in total.
- Every post: exactly one idea, three hooks of different kinds, 14 words at most each, exactly one call to action at the end.
- No phrase from the AI-sounding list, unless it's in my own posts.
- No names, addresses or phone numbers of customers or staff.
- No technical term without an explanation.
End with one line: "Self-check: all points met", or which point is open and why.4. Follow-up instructions
Write the first three in the same chat, so the AI already knows your business and your voice.
a) Your weekly instruction, for every new week
Using everything you now know about me, write me a weekly instruction to copy, in one single copy block. It contains: my voice in five points with one example each, my platforms and how many posts a week on each, my call to action, what never goes in a post, the scoring of the ideas with every value and threshold from above, the AI-sounding list, the fixed rules and the output format. At the top, the line "Not in this week's posts: [E.G. ANYTHING OUT OF DATE IN THE VIDEO]"; at the very bottom, "[PASTE THE TEXT OF THE NEW VIDEO HERE]". It has to work in a new chat without any follow-up questions. Don't add anything I haven't told you.
Save the weekly instruction in your notes app. From next week on: new chat, weekly instruction, new text, send.
b) Short clips from your video
Find up to three passages in the text of my video that work as a short clip on their own, without the rest of the video. For each one: the first and last sentence word for word, the timestamp if it's in the text (otherwise "no timestamp"), which post in the week it goes with, and one sentence on why it works on its own. No passages with customer names, prices or legal questions. Don't make up timestamps.
c) Sign-off in your team
Write a one-page process for my team: who gets the text of the video and takes out customer names, who runs the instruction in the AI chat, who checks and approves the posts ([ROLE]), what never gets posted, and this checklist before anything goes out: numbers match the video, no customer names or addresses, sounds like us, placeholders filled in, image picked. The most important rule goes at the top: nothing goes out until [ROLE] has approved it. Plain language, written to "you".
d) Have a second AI check the posts (the second checker from the video) Open a new chat, with a different provider if you like, and paste this:
You're checking social media posts that another AI wrote from the text of my video.
The text of my video: [TEXT]
Things that never go in a post: [YOUR LIST]
The posts: [POSTS]
Check every post:
1) Which number, name, story or promise is not in the text of the video?
2) Which sentence sounds like an ad or like AI, rather than a person talking to a customer?
3) Is there a customer name, an address, anything from my list above, or anything legal, tax or health-related?
Give me the findings first, post by post. If you find nothing, write "Nothing found". Then an improved version of only the posts with findings. Don't add anything.
5. Example: what it looks like
MADE-UP EXAMPLE. This business doesn't exist. Every name, post and number is invented, just to show how the instruction works.
The filled-in block (two fields deliberately left empty; the AI asked about them):
- Industry and what we offer: Home cleaning: regular cleans, deep cleans, end-of-tenancy
- Who I post for (my customers in one sentence): Busy families and older homeowners in our town and the villages around it
- My platforms and how many posts a week on each: Instagram 3, Facebook 2
- What readers should do after a post:
- Things that never go in a post:
The text of the video (shortened): the owner talks about getting the house ready for holiday guests. Start at the top, floors last. Don't leave the oven for the night before ("Last week we were at Mrs. Patel's on Oak Street …"). Wash the guest bedding a week ahead. Don't mix bleach with other cleaners, "that can give off fumes that are really dangerous". Then some news: the holiday deep clean "starts at 180 dollars", "six slots left in November", "we're hiring for the weekend team".
Her three posts are short, often fragments ("Quick one."), one has a single emoji, none has hashtags. One says "done in twenty minutes", a number that isn't in the video.
The interview: in its first message, the AI pointed out that the customer's name and street don't belong in posts. Then five questions, one per message. The answers: readers should send a message. Never in a post: prices and customer names. The question customers ask most: "How long does a deep clean take?" This week's goal: fill the November slots. Out of date: the hiring note, the weekend team is full.
An excerpt from the result. This is what came out of our test run with Claude on 15 October 2026. The made-up business's answers were given by a second AI, following a profile. Shortened, otherwise unchanged.
2. The ideas in your video
| No. | Idea | Quote from the text | Useful | Backed | Alone | Risk | Score | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Don't leave the oven for the night before | "Whole kitchen full of smoke. Give it a day." | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 12 | Post it |
| 1 | Clean top to bottom, floors last | "Dust falls down, so floors go last." | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 | Post it |
| 3 | Wash guest bedding a week ahead | "it smells like the cupboard." | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 | Post it |
| 5 | Holiday deep clean price | "our holiday deep clean starts at 180 dollars" | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | Don't post (price is on your never list) |
| 4 | Never mix bleach with other cleaners | "That can give off fumes that are really dangerous." | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | Don't post (Risk 3, check with an expert) |
| 6 | Six holiday deep clean slots left in November | "we've got six slots left in November" | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 | Post it |
| 7 | Hiring for the weekend team | "we're hiring for the weekend team, so get in touch." | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | Don't post (out of date) |
Check one row yourself: idea 6 scores 2 + 3 + 2 + (4 − 2) = 9. The price would have scored 10, but it's out because the owner ruled out prices. The bleach warning is out because of Risk 3.
3. Your week
| Day | Platform | Idea no. | Hook A |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 2 | Guests coming and the oven still not done? | |
| Tuesday | 1 | Where do you even start when the house has to look right? | |
| Wednesday | 3 | Is the guest room bedding still in the cupboard from last year? | |
| Thursday | 6 | Family coming for the holidays and the house not ready? | |
| Friday | 6 | Want the house ready before your family arrives? |
4. Your posts (two of five)
Monday · Instagram · Idea 2 Hook A: Guests coming and the oven still not done? / Hook B: Do the oven a day early and skip the smoke. / Hook C: The oven is the job people leave too late.
Guests coming and the oven still not done?
Don't leave it for the night before. Recently we were at a customer's place, and she'd tried to do the oven two hours before her guests arrived. The whole kitchen filled with smoke.
Give it a day. The night before is for putting your feet up.
Send us a message.
Image idea: A photo you take yourself of a clean oven with the door open. Or a clip of you saying "Whole kitchen full of smoke. Give it a day." Numbers in this post: "two hours before her guests arrived" · "Give it a day"
Wednesday · Instagram · Idea 3 Hook A: Is the guest room bedding still in the cupboard from last year? / Hook B: Wash the guest bedding a week ahead, not on the day. / Hook C: Washing the guest bedding on the day is the mistake.
Quick one.
Is the guest room bedding still in the cupboard from last year?
If it is, it smells like the cupboard. Wash it a week ahead, not on the day. Then when your family arrives, that's one less thing to think about.
Easy to forget, easy to fix.
Send us a message.
Numbers in this post: "a week ahead" · "since last year"
Look at three things. "Mrs. Patel's on Oak Street" became "a customer's place". "Last week" became "Recently", because the post goes out later. And her own "Quick one." opener sits in front of hook A, while the "twenty minutes" from her fridge post appears nowhere, because the AI only takes the voice from her posts.
From the last section:
- "Idea 4 (bleach): it's a safety topic, so Risk 3. Check with an expert before you post it."
- "The six slots come from your video. Please check the number is still right before each of the two slot posts goes out."
- "Your idea, not from the video: a post answering 'How long does a deep clean take?' Send me your answer and I'll write it."
In this run the AI-sounding check found nothing to cut. In our first run it did, for example: "Once they're gone, they're gone." (a pressure line) and "Not how anyone wants to spend that evening." (a line she'd never say on the phone). Both were cut.
6. How you know it's working
- Every idea in the table has a quote you can find in your video.
- Under every post it says where each number comes from. If it says "none", there's none in the post.
- You read a post out loud and think: yes, I'd say that.
- Whatever you ruled out, prices, names, anything out of date, is in none of the posts.
Common problems and what to do:
| What happens | What you write or do |
|---|---|
| The AI sends you several questions at once. | "One question per message, please, like the instruction says." |
| A post has a number you never said in the video. | "Where is that number in my video? Take it out." |
| A post sounds like an ad or like AI. | "Rewrite post 3 the way I write my first post: shorter, no exclamation marks." Or use follow-up d. |
| An idea has the wrong verdict. | "Idea 4 isn't risky, set Risk to 1 and rescore." |
| You get fewer posts than you asked for. | Not a mistake. Your video didn't have enough ideas that carry a post on their own. Record two or three more tips, or use a longer video. |
| You typed "done" early and now there's a price in a post. | That's exactly what happened in our German test: "What never goes in a post?" hadn't been answered yet. Always fill in that line in the block, then the AI doesn't need to ask. Or write: "No prices. Rewrite the posts." |
| A post borrows a tip from a different idea. | "One idea per post. Take the extra tip out of post 4." |
| A customer's name is in a post. | "Replace the name with 'a customer'." And next time, take the name out of the text before you paste it (step 2). |
| The conversation stops halfway. | Come back later and type "continue" in the same chat. On the free plan, that's often the usage limit. |
7. Limits and data protection
- The AI only knows your text. Whatever you don't say in the video won't be in the posts. If the text is full of mistakes because the automatic captions misheard you, so are the posts.
- The scoring helps you sort, nothing more. Whether a post lands with your customers, you'll only find out by posting. The AI tells you nothing about posting times, reach or how a platform shows posts, and it isn't supposed to.
- You approve. Read every post before it goes out, especially numbers, dates and anything that sounds like a promise.
- What doesn't belong in the chat:
- names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses of customers or staff. Write "a customer" or the role.
- health data, bank details, ID numbers, salaries
- contracts, passwords, login details
- anything covered by professional confidentiality (for example in accounting, medical or legal practices)
- Meetings and phone calls: only record them if everyone involved has agreed beforehand. It's easier to say the points again yourself afterwards (step 1). What exactly is allowed where you are, check with an expert.
- Photos and clips: if customers, staff or a customer's home can be recognised, ask first. Whether and how you may show them, check with an expert. This isn't legal advice.
- YouTube captions: if you upload a video just to get the text, it's on YouTube afterwards. Don't show anything in it that shouldn't become public.
8. Next step
If you'd like to take this further with Claude yourself: our AI Blueprint is a ready-made setup for Claude, explained step by step, even if you don't code.
Go to the AI Blueprint