A friend told me that “once he ran out of topics to write about, he’d just ask ChatGPT for some ideas.
ChatGPT is great but it’s not a substitute for keyword research tools. It’s better to use a free tool like Google Keyword Planner (as I describe how to here).
That made me wonder… why is ChatGPT so convincing?
I think it comes down to the way it communicates its thoughts, and there are some lessons in effective communication.
ChatGPT gives thorough answers
Lesson: when communicating, prioritize a longer answer.
By default, ChatGPT give you a long answer. Humans don’t.
If someone asked me in a online chat “why is ChatGPT so convincing,” I’d probably reply something like “It has broad knowledge, its answers are quick and the explanations are detailed.”
But if you look at the screenshot, ChatGPT gives me four paragraphs in about the same time it took me to write that human reply (above).
A longer answer like this seems credible. When you tear it apart, you’ll find filler and nonsense, but I feel that ChatGPT creates a formidable first impression by giving us a thorough answer.
To make it even better, making sure that every sentence has substance as this would enhance your ability to convince.
ChatGPT keeps you engaged
Lesson: keep someone engaged by telling them what you’re doing (“I’m on it, give me X minutes”)
People have limited attention spans but ChatGPT knows how to keep you engaged.
After submitting your prompt, ChatGPT will either give you an answer very quickly, or tell you what it’s doing — for example, it’ll say “Searching”. If you’re using the o1 model, it’ll tell you how it’s iterating on the question.
This is a key lesson. When communicating with others, make sure they know what you’re doing, especially if it’s going to take a while.
Some like to just leave it till they have an answer before replying, and that’s OK if the answer is easy to come by. If not, leaving a message that explains the scope and time needed is really helpful.
ChatGPT keeps things bite-sized through formatting of text
Have you noticed people writing like this?
- Bullet Points: Not merely bullets, but there’s capitalization and bolding before the colon. For some reason, I feel that this form of formatting is engaging to many people.
- Headers: Break up your paragraphs with headers that tease what you’re going to talk about.
ChatGPT always gives an answer
Lesson: never just say “IDK, WDYM?” Engage the questioner by referring to elements in the question, then ask a clarification follow-up at the end.
You can ask ChatGPT anything and it will either give an answer or ask you for clarification.
But how it asks the clarification is key.
Take a look at its response to this nonsensical question I posed. You’d notice that the response makes multiple references to the elements posed in the question.
- Red = refers to “king”
- Pink = refers to the location, Xylandia
- Green = Clarification at the end
ChatGPT also makes an effort to brainstorm on possibilities, which makes it seem genuine and thorough in trying to help you.
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