Updated 20 September 2026: first published on Elite Agent in April 2025. The article has been refreshed as an AI basics guide to turning a screen-recording transcript into a practical first-draft procedure.
If a colleague keeps asking how to do the same task, a recording can be a useful place to start. Show the process once, explain what you are doing and turn that explanation into written steps people can check.
An SOP is a standard operating procedure: a document that explains how an agreed task should be carried out. In this AI basics for real estate exercise, AI helps organise a recording’s transcript into a first draft.
I use screen recordings for all sorts of explanations. The useful part is capturing the actual process, including the small details you might forget when writing from memory.
Which process should I record first?
Choose one straightforward task you know well, such as preparing an approved campaign folder or locating the current version of a team document. Decide who the instructions are for and what a completed task should look like.
Use your agency’s approved process. If the team has not agreed how something should work, settle that before turning a demonstration into instructions for everyone else.
As you record, explain the actions, the reason for any important check and where a colleague should ask for help. Mention prerequisites such as permissions or access to a particular folder. Do not show passwords or private client information; use demonstration material where possible.
How do I get the transcript ready?
Use the transcript from your recording tool and compare it with the video. Correct misheard terms, missing actions and unclear references such as “click that one”.
If you use Loom, its official transcript guide explains how to open the Transcript panel and copy the text. Check the available controls in your account; this exercise does not depend on downloading a captions file or using a particular paid feature.
Keep timestamps only where the source supplies them. A transcript may not describe everything visible on screen, so add a clear note for an important action the recording shows but the words do not explain.
How do I ask AI to draft the SOP?
Open a new chat in an agency-approved AI tool. Paste the prompt, replace the brackets and add the reviewed transcript. Check it once more for confidential information before sending.
Turn this reviewed transcript into a first-draft procedure for a real estate colleague who has not done the task before.
Task and intended reader: [DETAILS]
What successful completion looks like: [OUTCOME]
Process owner: [ROLE]
Reviewed transcript: [TEXT]
Additional verified notes about actions shown on screen: [NOTES]
Include:
1. A plain-language title, purpose and scope.
2. Tools, permissions and prerequisites stated in the source.
3. Numbered steps, preserving source timestamps only where supplied.
4. Checks, responsibilities and handoffs supported by the source.
5. A short completion checklist.
6. Missing information and questions for the process owner.
Do not invent software buttons, timestamps, policies, deadlines or troubleshooting instructions. Keep any suggested improvement separate from the documented process and label it for review.
Use clear headings and short steps. This is a draft for the process owner to check, not an approved procedure.How do I know whether the draft works?
First, compare it with the recording and source notes. Has the AI skipped a check, combined two actions that need to stay separate or assumed a colleague has access they may not have?
Then ask the process owner to review it. Once that person is satisfied, have a colleague follow the instructions from start to finish using appropriate demonstration material. Note where they pause or need to ask a question.
Illustrative example: “Save the document in the campaign folder” may sound clear to you. A new starter may need to know where that folder is, which filename to use and who checks the document. Supply those details from your actual process rather than asking the AI to guess.
Revise the unclear steps and test them again. The work involved depends on the task and the quality of the recording; a quick first draft is only one part of the job.
Keep the procedure useful after publication
Save the approved version somewhere the team can find it, with its owner and review date. Keep the source recording and editable draft so that a software or process change can be reflected in the instructions.
When the written procedure is ready, you can also turn an approved checklist into a training-video script for a different learning format.
For the original workflow and more ways to adapt the prompt, read my free Creating SOPs with AI tutorial. Start with one task your team regularly needs explained and make that set of instructions dependable.
The original version first appeared in Samantha McLean’s AI Powered Agents newsletter. The refreshed tutorial is available on AI Powered Real Estate by Samantha McLean, now on Substack.