Discover how to use AI to enhance your work without sounding like everyone else—plus the prompts, tools, and human skills that matter most in 2026.
Episode Overview
In this episode of It's A Yes! Making It In Media, Jo Wood and Debra Sharron explore the rapid rise of AI in media sales and recruitment. With 68% of UK businesses now using AI in their screening processes and 55% of sales professionals using it to write emails, the landscape has transformed dramatically since November 2022—and not everyone is using it well.
Jo and Debra tackle the reality of "AI slop"—generic, robotic content that screams chatbot—and share how to customise AI tools to sound authentically like you. From creating personas and refining prompts to spotting the telltale signs of AI-generated content, they reveal practical strategies for making AI work for you rather than replacing you.
Listener questions come from Paul, who's frustrated that his AI-written emails sound generic, Chloe, who wants to know which AI tools to learn before her next interview, and Raj, who's worried about job security in the age of AI. Three industry experts join the conversation: Claire Kearney (News UK) on AI proficiency and attitude, Josh Barnett (Lumen Research) on why effective communication matters more than ever, and Chris Turner-Green (Technology Advice) on the AI workflows that actually enhance B2B selling.
What This Episode Covers
- The shocking speed of AI adoption: 68% of UK businesses using it for recruitment screening
- Spotting AI-generated content: American spelling, emojis, capital letters, and em dashes
- Creating AI personas: teaching your chatbot to write like you with tone, style, and voice
- The art of prompt engineering: why clarity in instructions determines quality of output
- AI hallucinations: why you can't trust everything AI tells you without critical thinking
- How AI is impacting recruitment processes
- AI-accelerated, people-powered: using AI to save time, not replace human connection
- Account research acceleration: reducing half-day research to 3-4 minutes
- Call recording and AI summaries: never missing a follow-up action again
- Why Gen Z needs to practice face-to-face communication more than any previous generation
Get In Touch
If there's a media career question, challenge or experience you'd like us to explore, email hello@makingitinmedia.com
Upcoming Workshops
Debra runs live, interactive online media sales training workshops focused on building commercial confidence and capability, including how to use AI effectively without losing your human touch.
Details of upcoming sessions can be found here: https://makingitinmedia.com/sales-training-courses/
Subscribe & Share
Follow the show for conversations about building a career in media, and share this episode with someone who's navigating the AI revolution in sales or recruitment.
More from Jo & Debra
- Subscribe to Jo and Debra’s newsletter, to get your FREE guide to the Top Media Sales Tips for 2026
- Join one of Debra’s upcoming media sales workshops
- Follow Jo on LinkedIn here
- Follow Debra on LinkedIn here
About the Hosts
It’s A Yes! Making It In Media is hosted by Jo Wood and Debra Sharron.
Jo is Managing Director of The Media Exchange, a specialist media recruitment consultancy working closely with candidates and employers across the industry.
Debra is founder of Media Sales Training, where she designs and delivers training for media sales teams, supporting professionals at every stage of their careers.
Together, they combine recruitment insight and sales expertise shaped by decades of experience inside the media industry.
Disclaimer: The views shared on this podcast are for general information only and reflect personal experience. They should not be taken as specific career, legal or financial advice.
