Don’t try to force AI. At the end of the day, it’s a piece of technology. You don’t implement a piece of technology just because everyone has it. You implement tech to solve a problem. So, assess how you go about writing or producing thought leadership.
Do you handwrite? Dictate? Use a ghostwriter?
Where do you keep your content drafts? How do you make edits? Do you have an internal approval process?
Consider improving your current workflow before changing behavior to conform to a tech tool.
Ideas to Steal
Here are some ideas to take and adapt in your content workflow.
Pre-Drafting
AI is great for deep research. Use GenAI to:
- Query what content is popular in the subject matter you’re writing about? What firms dominate the space and why? What areas are missing or need more explanation?
- Assess your existing content for patterns, themes, areas of improvement.
- Help you create audience profiles and personas.
- Break up existing content into smaller, niche pieces of content.
Drafting
For people who handwrite their content
Turn your handwritten notes into digital text.
- Take a photo of handwritten notes on your phone. Send yourself the image files (email, Slack). Upload to AI and prompt it to convert images into text.
- Instead of sending yourself the image, save the image files on a cloud drive (OneDrive, Google Drive). Use Claude Desktop to grab the files and convert images to text.
- Automate the workflow by creating a prompt or agent that sends (via MCP) the transcribed text to a new Word or Google Doc, or another draft system, like Notion.
- If you don’t have or can’t access an MCP, have AI create a new file you can save in your doc of choice. Or, have it create a markdown file (good for Notion).
- Use a prompt to take the transcribed text and create a draft based on context files.
For people who like dictating
Most genAI tools don’t transcribe audio files. There are dedicated ones, though I’m not going to touch on those here. If you work in-house, inquire about dictation/transcription tech—you may already have the technology to do this.
First thing is to capture the audio, of course. Make sure that you know how long you can talk for; otherwise, you’ll be in the middle of a thought when it cuts out.
- If you have Zoom, you can use its AI to transcribe the meeting audio.
- Use your phone’s voice memo app.
- Use the voice function on Claude.
- You could create a prompt or agent that interviews you, then respond via voice.
If you need to transcribe the audio, convert it using a free tool like AudioConvert.
You can automate pushing the transcribed audio content into another system (Word, Google Doc, Notion) by using a tool like Zapier. For example:
- When Zoom renders a new transcript, use Zapier to automate: a new transcript file triggers the creation of a new page in your document of choice, then adds the transcript for easy drafting/editing.
- Take the automation further by adding a step where the content is run through an AI prompt before landing in a doc for review.
For people who have podcasts
- If you post your podcast videos to YouTube, Zapier can automate the transcription using Gemini. The flow would be: new video posted on your YouTube channel, use Zapier’s AI function to transcribe the file, then send the text to a doc.
- Zapier also allows you to pull in a new podcast from Spotify, and then you can run it through AI transcription.
Content Processes & Workflows
Likely, the project management process for attorney content lies with the firm’s marketing department. But you can speed up the process by using a document repository, status field, and an automation to push your content draft to the next person in the workflow.
Other ideas:
- Use AI to “reverse engineer” content. Upload your content and ask questions: does this answer [my client’s questions]? Is this relevant to [X] industry?
- Use AI to find grammar and style mistakes or inconsistencies.
- Ask AI to help you create titles or check for SEO/GEO/AIO best practices.
- Develop a “Brand Bot” (agent) that reviews content for brand voice and standards. This can be done manually or automatically based on something like a status trigger.
- If you have particular words, phrases, or other details that you’re looking for, you can create an agent that flags problematic areas. For example, it flags any version of “specialize,” or it flags company names other than your firm name, and then sends you a report.
Post-Publication
The content process doesn’t end with publication.
Once it’s published:
- Have AI help you convert the post for other mediums (social posts, newsletters, client emails/alerts, podcasts, etc.).
- Create automation triggers that send the published content to your social media management tool. Example: new RSS item pushes URL and title to Buffer.
- Collect your articles via RSS in a single location to:
- Query for RFPs, pitches, or even outreach: prompt AI to review content for a topic or in answer to a question. Example: “we’re pitching [this type of client in this industry] with [these types of issues], surface content relevant to this audience.”
- Ask AI to generate ideas: “review content published in 2026 and suggest article ideas that align with [this industry’s] appetite.” Use an MCP or content files to reference relevant documentation (e.g., industry research, survey results, practice group plans).
Why stop at your own content?
- Use RSS automation to pull in your competitors’ content. Analyze their content using AI to help you position your own content or discover trends.
- Do it with publications (that aren’t behind a paywall). Use AI to surface topic ideas or ways to pitch a particular publication or journalist.
- Pull in key topics from JD Supra and use agents/AI to identify patterns or hot topics. Use prompts to suggest where your firm can fit into the conversation.
- Do this with your clients! Have AI/agents flag certain issues that align with your firm’s services.