How to Use AI to Write the Copy for Your Instructional Design Portfolio or eLearning Portfolio
Creating your instructional design or eLearning portfolio isn’t just about listing your projects or past experience—it’s about marketing yourself. And let’s be honest: most of us didn’t go into learning and development because we wanted to become marketers.
Creating a portfolio forces you to step back and think about yourself and your skills from the outside in. You have to figure out how to position yourself, communicate your value and skills, and craft messages that resonate with hiring managers. That means writing about yourself in a way that’s clear, confident, and compelling.
And let’s face it: Writing about yourself is hard AF! But this is exactly where AI can help.
In this article, I’ll show you how to use AI tools (like ChatGPT) to write and refine your instructional design or eLearning portfolio content—without sounding robotic, generic, or like someone else entirely. I’ll also share how I used this process while helping one of my students, @Amy Blooming, from our Hands-On Cohort & Coaching Program, to take her portfolio from good to great.
Why Writing About Yourself Is So Hard
Whether you’re trying to explain your experience or describe how you built a project, even the most talented instructional designers can struggle when it comes to writing content for their portfolios. The truth is, writing about yourself forces you to analyze your own work—and sometimes your own identity as a professional. When you’re too close to your own work (and story), it’s not always easy to explain it in a way that resonates with a hiring manager who has 30 other tabs open.
Then there’s the pressure to sound “professional,” which often makes people freeze or default to overly formal, academic-sounding language. You end up either sounding too bland or too bold—or you get stuck and don’t write anything at all. That overthinking leads to procrastination or stiff copy that doesn’t feel like you.
How AI Can Help You Build Your Instructional Design Portfolio
For me, this is where AI tools like ChatGPT have become a powerful ally. Think of AI not as a ghostwriter, but as a creative collaborator. It can help you get out of your own head and put your ideas into words that are polished and readable.
And for me, someone who often struggles with writing, I’ve found that it allows me to focus my efforts on the creative work I enjoy the most.
AI can help you break through writer’s block. If you have a rough draft that sounds clunky or unclear, AI can rewrite it for clarity, tone, or flow. You can even feed it your messy thoughts in bullet points or voice-to-text notes, and it will return a clean paragraph. If you struggle with structure, it can help you organize your ideas logically and concisely.
But AI isn’t magic. It can’t tell your story for you. It can’t infuse your personality unless you give it something to work with. And it shouldn’t be used to invent things you haven’t actually done. Your portfolio still needs to reflect you. AI is just there to elevate what you’re already bringing to the table.
If you’re wondering where to use AI in your portfolio, start with the content-heavy areas that feel the most intimidating:
Your About Me page is a great place to start. This is where you introduce yourself, share your background, and explain what makes you unique. AI can help you strike the right tone—friendly, clear, and professional—while staying true to your personality.
Your Instructional Design Process page is another opportunity. Rather than rattling off ADDIE or SAM, AI can help you explain your process in your own words, using structure and phrasing that feels natural and easy to follow.
AI can also help with project case studies. You provide the facts—the goals, your approach, the tools you used, and the results—and let AI help you shape that into a concise, compelling write-up.
Even things like homepage introductions and calls to action can be improved with AI. If you’re struggling with short-form content like button text or section headlines, use AI to brainstorm a few variations.
When I helped Amy refine her portfolio, I used AI to rewrite and reframe key sections like her Story page and Process page. With just a few tweaks, we transformed copy that felt stiff and scattered into content that felt warm, confident, and polished, without losing Amy’s voice.
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Try These AI Prompts for Your Instructional Design & eLearning Portfolio
So now that you know where AI can help, let’s make it easy to get started. Below are three plug-and-play prompts you can drop into ChatGPT (or your AI tool of choice) to start shaping your instructional design or eLearning portfolio content today.
Prompt 1: About Me Page
"I'm building a portfolio as a new instructional designer. I used to be a [former role], and now I design learning experiences focused on [theme or audience]. Can you write a short 'About Me' section for my website that’s friendly, clear, and professional, and helps demonstrate how my past expereince translates into the world of instructional design?"
Prompt 2: Project Overview
"Help me write a portfolio project description. The course is about [topic] and I designed it for [audience]. The project helps learners [problem]. I used [tools] and applied [ID principles]. I want it to sound outcome-focused and easy to understand."
Prompt 3: Instructional Design Process Page
"Write a short description of my instructional design process to align with the five steps of the ADDIE model. Make it sound like I’m explaining it to a potential employer in a workplace setting, not an academic journal."
Remember, you can also paste in something you’ve already written and ask ChatGPT to improve the tone, tighten the structure, or suggest alternative wording.
What’s Next?
Want to keep learning more about building your instructional design portfolio? Check out these additional resources…
The Bottom Line
Writing the content for your instructional design portfolio doesn’t have to be a painful, drawn-out process. If you find yourself stuck, let AI help you move forward. Treat it as your brainstorming buddy, editor, or thought organizer. Give it clear input, collaborate with it, and let it help you shape content that reflects your voice, your skills, and your story.
If you want to see how this all comes together in practice, check out this video where I helped Amy go from good to great with her portfolio—with a little help from AI.
If you’re looking for hands-on support to build or refine your instructional design or eLearning portfolio, check out my Hands-On Cohort & Coaching Program. Beyond helping you learn and practice the full instructional design and eLearning development process, we’ll also guide you step-by-step through building a portfolio that truly reflects your skills and experience.