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Personas - Create with AI

Describe the people your learners should practice with, and get up to 20 editable personas written for you at once, ready to use in your roleplays.

Written by Dewey Levi

Overview

Personas - Create with AI writes a set of personas for you from a short description, and you review them before they're added to your library.

  • Org Owners, Org Admins and content space admins open it from Roleplays > Personas > Create new.

  • You describe the personas you want. You can add up to 5 files and one web link for context.

  • Yoodli decides how many to make from your description (up to 20 at a time). It fills in each persona's name, job title, company, demeanor, background, behavior, voice and avatar.

  • You review each persona, edit or remove it, then click Save N personas. Until you save, they don't appear in the Personas list or in any roleplay's persona picker.

  • Saved personas go into the content space you had selected, and work like personas you build by hand.

What it looks like when it's done

Here is one organization that used Personas - Create with AI, so you can see what the steps below produce.

The business case

  • Acme trains its account executives to negotiate with procurement teams.

  • Acme wants learners to practice with three different procurement buyers: one friendly, one skeptical, one blunt.

  • Acme has a PDF of buyer profiles (1 file) that the personas should follow.

What Acme entered

Content space: Sales Enablement

Description

Three procurement buyers at mid-size manufacturing companies, evaluating our software
against a competitor. One friendly, one skeptical about price, one blunt and short on time.
They should push back on discounts and ask about implementation timelines.

Files: Buyer profiles.pdf (1 file)

What Yoodli generated

Name

Demeanor

Role

Dana Whitfield

Friendly

Procurement Manager at Ridgeline Fabrication

Marcus Oyelaran

Skeptical

Senior Buyer at Corbel Industrial

Helen Strand

Blunt

Director of Purchasing at Northgate Components

  • These names and companies are an example. Yoodli writes new ones each time.

  • Acme edited Marcus to add a behavior, then clicked Save 3 personas.

  • All 3 personas now appear in the Personas list for the Sales Enablement space, and in the persona picker of every roleplay in that space.

Using Personas - Create with AI

You need to be an Org Owner or Org Admin, or an admin of the content space the personas are for.

Step 1: Select the content space for your personas

  1. In the sidebar, find Content.

  2. Open the content space switcher under it (it shows your current space's name) and select the space you want the personas in.

    The Content section of the navigation with the content space selector ringed

Personas - Create with AI saves your personas into the content space you select here.

Not sure which space to pick? Personas are only listed in the space they were made in. Pick the space whose roleplays will use them.

Step 2: Open the Personas - Create with AI page

  1. Click Roleplays in the sidebar, then the Personas tab.

    The Roleplays page with the Personas tab ringed

  2. Click Create new. The Personas - Create with AI page opens.

    The Personas list with the Create new button ringed

Seeing a blank persona form instead? See Create new opens a blank persona form instead of the Personas - Create with AI page under Troubleshooting. To build one persona by hand, click Build manually under the description box.

Step 3: Describe the personas you want

  1. Under Describe your persona, type your description (5,000 characters at most).

    The Personas - Create with AI page with a description typed in the Describe your persona box

  2. Include their role, personality, and what you want them to do in the conversation.

  3. Say how many personas you want, if you have a number in mind (20 at most).

Not sure what to write? See What makes a good description? under FAQs.

Step 4: Add files or a link (optional)

  1. Click the + in the description box (Add context from files or links), then choose Use docs, audio, or video or Use link.

    The + button in the description box with its Add context menu open, showing Use docs, audio, or video and Use link

  2. For files, pick from Choose files, or Upload a new one (5 files at most).

  3. For a link, paste it under Add a reference URL and click Add (1 link at most).

  4. Wait for files to finish processing.

Not sure what you can add? See Which files can I add? and Which links work? under FAQs.

Step 5: Generate the personas

  1. Click Create with AI.

  2. Keep the page open while Hang tight... shows.

    The Hang tight screen with its progress checklist

Want to change your description partway through? Generation runs to the end once it starts. See Can I stop generation once it starts? for how to start over.

Step 6: Review, edit and save

  1. Read each persona card. It shows the name, demeanor, and job title and company.

    The review screen with All set and the persona cards

  2. Open a card's menu to Edit, View Details or Remove it. Remove deletes that persona permanently.

    A persona card menu with Edit, View Details and Remove

  3. Click Save N personas at the top of the page. You return to the Personas list.

Not sure whether editing saves the persona? It doesn't. See Does editing a persona on the review screen save it?

FAQs

How many personas will I get?

Yoodli decides the number from your description, up to 20 at a time.

  • Say the number you want in your description. Yoodli reads it when it decides how many to make.

  • If you ask for more than 20, you get 20.

  • To make more than 20, generate again.

What makes a good description?

Describe each persona's role, personality, and what they should do in the conversation.

  • If you name a person or company, Yoodli uses it. Job titles are based on the roles you describe. Anything you don't give, Yoodli makes up.

  • Name the demeanor you want, such as friendly, skeptical or blunt. Each persona gets one of Yoodli's standard demeanors.

  • Files and links add detail, such as buyer profiles or a company's About page.

What happens if my description or files name a real person?

The persona uses that person's name and the details you gave.

  • Yoodli doesn't remove or replace real names.

  • Only include information about real people that you're allowed to use.

Which files can I add?

PDF, Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx) and PowerPoint (.pptx) files, plus audio and video with spoken words.

  • You can't add images, older Word (.doc) files, or audio and video with no speech.

  • You can add up to 5 files.

  • Files you upload here stay in your content space's files, even if you don't save the personas.

Which links work?

Public web pages that show their text without signing in.

  • Pages behind a sign-in, and pages that load their text only after opening, usually can't be read.

  • For a video link, Yoodli reads the page's text, not what's said in the video. To use a video's speech, upload the video as a file.

  • If a link can't be read, Yoodli tells you and removes it.

What language are the personas written in?

Yoodli writes them in your Yoodli display language.

  • With English selected, a description written in another language may get English names or a mix of languages.

  • To get personas in another language, change your display language before you click Create with AI.

Reviewing personas before you save

Use these to know what happens to generated personas before you click Save N personas.

Can learners or other admins see the personas before I save?

No. Unsaved personas don't appear in the Personas list or in any roleplay's persona picker.

  • They become visible to everyone with access to the content space when you click Save N personas.

Does editing a persona on the review screen save it?

No. Editing changes the persona, but it stays unsaved until you click Save N personas.

  • Click Done in the editor to return to the review screen.

  • If you then leave the page and choose to discard, every unsaved persona is deleted, including the ones you edited.

What happens if I leave the page before saving?

Yoodli asks whether to discard the unsaved personas. Discarding deletes them permanently.

  • Click Save N personas before you close the tab or browser. A closed tab doesn't reopen the review screen, so unsaved personas from it can't be saved.

  • Unsaved personas you leave behind are deleted automatically after a while without changes (7 days).

Can I stop generation once it starts?

No. Once it starts, generation runs until your personas are ready.

  • Personas from a run you leave aren't shown anywhere and are deleted automatically (after 7 days).

  • To change your description, wait for the review screen, click Personas at the top of the page, discard, and start again.

Can I undo Remove or Discard?

No. Both delete the persona permanently.

  • Remove and Discard never delete a persona that was in your library before you clicked Create with AI.

  • If some personas failed to save, see I see "Some personas could not be saved. Please try again." before you remove anything.

After you save your personas

Use these once your personas are saved.

Where do my saved personas show up?

In the Personas list of the content space you had selected, and in the persona picker of roleplays in that space.

  • They don't show in other content spaces. To find them, select their space in the content space switcher under Content in the sidebar.

Are generated personas different from personas I build myself?

No. Once saved, they're ordinary personas, and nothing marks them as generated by AI.

  • You can edit every field: Name, Job Title, Company (optional), Demeanor, Background (optional), Persona Behavior (optional), Avatar and Voice.

  • Yoodli picks each avatar and voice from its standard sets. You can upload your own avatar image or pick another voice.

Can a generated persona have the same name as one I already have?

Yes. Yoodli doesn't check new names against your existing personas.

  • Names are always different within one generation.

  • Rename a persona from Edit if it matches one you have.

Who can use Personas - Create with AI, and from where

Use these to check whether you can use Personas - Create with AI, and where else you can start.

Who can use Personas - Create with AI?

Org Owners, Org Admins, and admins of a content space can use Personas - Create with AI for the spaces they manage. If your organization allows it, members can also make personas for their own practice.

  • Group admins and members can't open Roleplays > Personas.

  • Members make theirs from Builder > Create > Persona. That version takes a description and a link, but no files.

Can I use Personas - Create with AI from inside a roleplay?

Yes. On the roleplay's persona card, choose Create with AI.

  • From a roleplay, Yoodli can also suggest personas you already have in your library.

  • When you save, the personas are added to the roleplay, up to the number of personas it can hold.

Troubleshooting

Create new opens a blank persona form instead of the Personas - Create with AI page

  • If: you're on Global Content > Personas. Then: this is expected. Global Content holds personas every content space can use, and Create new there opens the blank form. Select a content space in the content space switcher under Content in the sidebar, go to Roleplays > Personas, then click Create new.

  • If: you're in a content space and still see the blank form. Then: Personas - Create with AI isn't turned on for your organization or account. Contact [email protected].

I see "We could not complete that request! Please try again."

  • If: it happened once. Then: click Create with AI again.

  • If: you generated many times in a short period (more than 20 in a minute). Then: wait a minute and try again.

  • If: you're not an admin of the content space you have selected. Then: switch to a space you manage, or ask an Org Admin.

  • If: a file you added was deleted from your content space. Then: remove it from the attachments and add it again.

  • If: it keeps happening. Then: contact [email protected].

I see "We were not able to generate personas using the link you provided"

Use a different, public link, or upload the content as a file. Yoodli removes the link it couldn't read. Pages behind a sign-in usually can't be read. See Which links work?

I see "This video has no spoken audio"

  • If: you added a video. Then: Yoodli already removed it from your attachments. Add a video with spoken words instead.

  • If: you added an audio file. Then: this message also appears for an audio file with no spoken words. Remove that file from your attachments, then add one with spoken words.

Create with AI is greyed out

  • If: the description box is empty. Then: type a description.

  • If: a file is still processing. Then: wait for it to finish.

  • If: a file failed to process. Then: remove that file.

I see "Some personas could not be saved. Please try again."

Click Retry Failed. Some personas saved and some didn't. Once this message appears, don't click Remove on any card on this screen, even after retrying.

I saved personas but can't find them

  • If: a different content space is selected now. Then: select the space you had selected when you generated them, in the content space switcher under Content in the sidebar.

  • If: you left the review screen without clicking Save N personas. Then: they weren't saved. Generate them again.

I asked for more than 20 personas but got 20

This is expected. Personas - Create with AI makes 20 at most at a time. Generate again for the rest.

If you're still stuck

Email [email protected] with your organization name, the content space, roughly when you generated the personas, and any message you saw.

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