Earlier this month, Denise DeVries posted on LinkedIn that she was delivering a presentation called “Dear AI, Please Help Me With Everything!” As soon as I saw that, I knew I wanted to talk with her about how AI is helping with storytelling in her role as executive director of communications and marketing at Glen Oaks Community College in Michigan.
Q: How has AI helped strengthen your storytelling efforts?
My MarCom team is very small, and there is a tremendous amount of work to be done. So AI acts as my full-time co-worker. When I open Chrome each morning, my email, calendar and ChatGPT tabs automatically open. I use AI across nearly every part of my work, from writing and editing to research, campaign planning, data analysis, website content, accessibility and strategic thinking.
I might ask it to help me think through a communications strategy, interview me about a project I haven’t fully figured out yet, analyze survey results, challenge an idea, identify something I’ve overlooked, or turn a pile of information into something I can actually work with.
AI doesn’t replace the expertise or judgment I bring to the work, but it gives me additional capacity. Sometimes what I need isn’t someone to write something for me. I need someone to think with me.
AI has helped me move beyond simply telling people what happened and spend more time thinking about why the story matters.
In higher education, we have an enormous amount of information competing for attention: programs, events, student achievements, data, initiatives, deadlines, and institutional priorities. AI can help me look across all of that information and find connections I might not immediately see. It can help identify the human story behind a statistic, suggest questions I should ask in an interview or help me think about how the same story might matter differently to a prospective student, parent, employer, or community member.
It has also expanded what I can realistically do with a story. One interview or set of notes might become a web story, social content, an annual report piece, talking points, or part of a larger campaign. AI can help me adapt that material while I remain responsible for making sure the story is accurate, authentic, and sounds like Glen Oaks.
AI shouldn’t replace the human part of storytelling. Used well, it gives me more time and more ways to find and tell those human stories.
What I love about this answer:
I met Denise last year at the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education (If you’re going this year, let me know! I’d love to connect in person.). What jumped out to me then was how much she was already using AI as a co-worker, and it’s fascinating to hear how much more helpful AI is becoming for her.
This month’s presentation she delivered was for the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations Districts 3 & 5 Conference in Madison, Wisconsin.
So much of the conversation about AI right now is whether it will be replacing humans and the work we do, but what I love about Denise’s perspective is that she sees it as thinking support. I particularly appreciated that she stressed how she turns to AI to think with her. Not for her, but with her.
She recognizes that yes, AI can — at times — make our work a little easier, but what it really can do is help make our work more impactful. AI can help us see connections we may not see at first (or second) glance. That support can not only help you share more stories with your target audience, but make them more compelling in the process.
How are you using AI within your team, if at all? Let me know!
