In this short article, I want to share how I use Notion.ai (an integrated version of chatGPT within the Notion app) to help me in my volunteer work running the Swiss Service Design Network (SDN). I'll share a few examples, and for each the prompt I used in Notion.

1. Create speaker biographies

When I ask people who speak to an SDN to write their bio, it can take ages to get a response. So usually, I write a bio myself that people can then correct.

One way to get the first draft done goes like that:

I go on the Linkedin profile of the person and copy all their past job experiences and the description they've added. And then I prompt Notion.ai with the following sentence:

Turn this text into a short 4 sentences bio about Manon Philippin. Start with: "Manon is a"

2. Sort the chat history of a webinar

Sometimes the conversation in the chat of the SDN events is as insightful as what happened on the main stage. When that's the case, I ask Notion.ai to sort all the messages in different categories using a prompt like this:

Sort these chat messages into separate categories and give to each category a title.

3. Write drafts of invitation emails to guests I don't know yet

I'm not a native English speaker. So when I had to write a more formal invitation, I used Notion.ai to draft an email for me.

Write a short email inviting Terry to speak at a webinar of the Swiss Service Design Network about the life of Lynn Shostack, present her biography and answer questions. Explain that we are super interested as Lynn is the creator of the term Service Design which is our passion and work.

4. Come up with interview questions

I'm slowly learning to be someone hosting a conversation instead of being the one talking (it's still a big learning process). So when I'm lost, I use Notion.ai to draft a list of questions for me:

Make me a list of questions I could ask in an interview for a podcast to Marc Fonteijn the creator of Circle, a community of in-house service designers, about the future of in-house service design

It just helps me to get the first draft out

The end results (a bio, the categorisation of messages, an email) are obviously very different from the first draft written with Notion.ai. But at least, when you are doing this type of solo work, it feels nice to have something that gives you a first draft that you can edit and improve instead of starting from scratch.

Especially when you are not a native English speaker, and you're doing all of this as a volunteer and therefore don't have too much time you can invest in it.

This article was written on Monday 14th of August 2023 by Daniele Catalanotto