When AI Composes the Soundtrack for Your Professional Development
Picture this: You join a Zoom webinar designed to teach persuasion techniques, and it kicks off with lip-syncing and dancing. This approach would be perfect for some clients, like a media company looking for creative engagement strategies, but would not be appropriate for others, such as a conservative financial institution.
Birth of an Idea
It all started during a planning call with a multinational company’s Global Executive and Talent Development manager. We were discussing an upcoming “Elevate Your Voice” speech training workshop when she suggested, “Why don’t you play the song at the beginning of the training session?”
Her idea came after I shared a song I’d created using Suno.com, an AI music generator. The prompt I had given it was simple: “Create a pop song about increasing one’s positive impact on the world by speaking more persuasively. The chorus should use the line ‘elevate your voice.'”
It’s inspiring when clients are open to injecting fun into achieving business goals. Long story short, not only did I play the song at the start of the Zoom session, but I also embraced the moment and danced. This icebreaker set a lively tone for the workshop and was a practical reminder that becoming a better public speaker often involves loosening up and being more expressive.
The Power of Letting Lose
I often advise clients to give themselves more freedom to convey that they care about something by strongly emphasizing the important word in each sentence. I usually have to ask them to overdo it. “Shout it loud,” I tell them. When they do, they don’t sound unhinged, but just right.
“Shout it loud” is one of the lines in the lyrics of the Elevate Your Voice song.
Building on this, I created a video based on the song to open group training sessions–and spread the word about Elevator Speech Training. While the song and vocals are AI-generated, creating the dance performance in front of a green screen and editing the video in Final Cut Pro required about 10 hours of human effort.
AI’s Potential in Professional Development
This experience highlights AI’s potential for introducing new possibilities into business processes. Tools like AI music generators can create engaging experiences, fostering an environment where personal development thrives. By leveraging AI creatively, we can break traditional boundaries, making learning more enjoyable and memorable and evolving how we approach professional development and team building.
While the benefits of AI in professional settings are clear, it’s important to find the right balance. AI might generate a fun ice-breaker song, but it’s the trainer’s enthusiasm, judgment, and ability to read the room that turns that song into a meaningful learning experience. However, trainers should exercise caution when implementing AI-generated content, as what works for one audience may fall flat or even backfire with another, potentially undermining the training’s credibility.
In this case, big smiles beamed on every face at the beginning of that recent training workshop after I had played (and danced to) the song. The participant feedback afterward confirmed its effectiveness–they thoroughly enjoyed the entire learning experience. This positive reception underscored the power of combining AI-generated content with human presence to create memorable and engaging learning environments.
Marc Fest is President and Founder of Elevator Speech Training.