Building a coaching program from scratch is one of the most time-consuming things a coach does. You need the right structure, clear milestones, weekly tasks, habit check-ins, and goals that actually move clients forward — all before you've enrolled a single person. Michelle, Coachful's built-in AI assistant, changes that. Instead of staring at a blank program editor, you can describe what you want and let Michelle draft the entire curriculum in seconds.
This guide walks you through exactly how to use Michelle to draft a coaching program, refine it, and publish it — so you can spend more time coaching and less time building.
What Is Michelle and What Can She Do?
Michelle is the AI co-pilot embedded directly inside your Coachful coach dashboard. She's not a generic chatbot — she has full context of your workspace, your existing programs, your client roster, and the platform's structure. That means she doesn't just generate text; she can execute actions across the platform on your behalf.
When it comes to programs, Michelle can:
- Draft a full week-by-week coaching curriculum based on your prompt
- Generate individual days and tasks within each week
- Suggest goals and habits aligned with your program's theme
- Rename, reorder, or restructure existing program content
- Write task descriptions, client-facing instructions, and reflection prompts
- Fill in gaps in a half-built program you've already started
Think of her as a senior curriculum designer who knows the Coachful program builder inside and out — available 24/7 and infinitely patient with revisions.
Before You Start: What to Have Ready
Michelle works best when you give her clear direction. You don't need a detailed outline, but you should have a rough idea of the following before you open the chat:
1. Your Program's Core Outcome
What transformation does a client experience by the end? For example: "lose 15 lbs and build a sustainable fitness routine," "go from zero to first paying client as a freelancer," or "rebuild confidence after burnout." The sharper your outcome, the more targeted Michelle's draft will be.
2. Approximate Length and Cadence
A 6-week intensive looks very different from a 12-week transformation program or a 90-day deep-dive. Decide upfront. Most coaches on Coachful run programs between 4 and 16 weeks, with 3–5 client tasks per week being the sweet spot for engagement without overwhelm.
3. Your Delivery Style
Do clients work through self-paced daily tasks? Do you layer in weekly group calls? Are there habit streaks to track? Knowing this helps Michelle generate the right mix of task types — reading, reflection, action, check-in — rather than a generic list.
Pro tip: You don't need a perfect brief. Even a rough one-liner like "12-week confidence coaching program for women re-entering the workforce" gives Michelle enough to produce a solid first draft you can refine from there.
How to Use Michelle to Draft a Coaching Program: Step by Step
- Open your Coachful dashboard. Sign in at app.coachful.co/sign-in and navigate to your coach workspace.
- Open the Michelle panel. Click the Michelle icon in the bottom-right corner of any page, or access her from the top navigation bar. The chat panel slides open alongside your current view.
-
Tell Michelle what you want to build. Type a prompt like:
Create a 12-week coaching program for first-time managers. Include weekly themes, 3 tasks per week, 2 weekly reflection prompts, and 1 habit per week focused on leadership habits.Be as specific or as loose as you like — you can always refine. - Review Michelle's proposed structure. She'll outline the program — typically showing week titles, themes, and a sample of task types. Read through and check that the progression makes sense for your clients.
-
Confirm or redirect. If the structure looks right, tell Michelle to go ahead and build it:
Looks good — create this program now.If you want changes, just say so:Make week 1 focus on self-assessment rather than team dynamics, and add a goal-setting task in week 1. - Watch Michelle build. She'll create the program inside Coach → Programs, populating each week and day with the tasks, descriptions, and habits you specified. You'll see it appear in real time.
- Open the program editor to review and polish. Go to Coach → Programs → [Your New Program] and click through each week. Adjust any task descriptions, tweak habit names, or rearrange days as needed. Michelle does the heavy lifting; you apply the final human touch.
-
Set your program goals. Inside the program editor, navigate to the Goals tab and either add your own or ask Michelle:
Suggest 3 measurable goals for this program. - Configure enrollment and pricing. Head to Coach → Offers to attach a price to the program — one-time, recurring, or a payment plan via Stripe Connect. Then publish when ready.
From a single prompt to a published, client-ready program can take under 10 minutes. Coaches who used to spend a full weekend building curricula are now shipping new programs the same afternoon they have the idea.
Writing Better Prompts for Better Programs
Michelle is powerful, but she's only as good as the direction you give her. Here are prompt patterns that consistently produce strong first drafts:
The Full Brief Prompt
Give Michelle everything upfront:
Build a 10-week weight-loss coaching program. Target audience: busy moms aged 30–45. 4 tasks per week — 1 mindset, 1 nutrition, 1 movement, 1 accountability check-in. 1 weekly habit. Tone should be encouraging, not intense. End each week with a reflection question.
This gives Michelle a clear persona, structure, task types, and tone. The result will be close to publication-ready.
The Skeleton Prompt
If you already have week titles in mind but need the tasks filled in:
I have a 6-week program called "Zero to Freelancer." The weekly themes are: Week 1 – Mindset, Week 2 – Niche, Week 3 – Offer, Week 4 – Pricing, Week 5 – Outreach, Week 6 – First Client. Create 4 tasks per week that match each theme.
The Remix Prompt
Already have a program and want a variation? Ask Michelle to adapt it:
Take my existing "90-Day Business Accelerator" program and create a condensed 30-day version that hits the most important milestones. Keep the same goal structure but reduce to 2 tasks per week.
Using Michelle to Enhance an Existing Program
Michelle isn't only for building from scratch. If you have a program that's half-built, outdated, or missing key pieces, she can step in and improve it. Common use cases include:
- Writing task descriptions:
Write a 150-word client-facing description for the Week 3 task called "Map Your Ideal Client." - Adding habit suggestions:
Suggest a daily habit for each week of my Confidence Reset program that reinforces the weekly theme. - Generating reflection prompts:
Create 5 powerful journaling prompts for a program focused on career transitions. - Reordering content:
Move week 4 content to week 2 and adjust the week descriptions to match the new flow. - Filling gaps:
Week 7 of my program only has 1 task. Add 2 more tasks that align with the week's theme of accountability.
Already building your program on Coachful? Michelle lives right inside your dashboard — no switching tabs, no copy-pasting into ChatGPT and back. Every action she takes is applied directly to your workspace. See everything Coachful can do for your coaching business.
Goals and Habits: Getting Michelle to Think Like a Coach
One of the most overlooked parts of a coaching program is the goals and habits layer. These aren't just nice-to-haves — they're what clients point to when they tell others your program changed their life. Michelle can help you design this layer intentionally.
For program goals, ask Michelle to generate SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) tied to your program's core outcome. For example: Create 3 SMART goals for a 12-week fitness coaching program where the outcome is building a consistent exercise habit. She'll produce goals you can attach directly in the program's Goals tab.
For habits, think of these as the micro-behaviors clients track daily or weekly throughout the program. Michelle can generate habits that escalate in difficulty week by week — a technique known as progressive habit loading — so clients build momentum rather than feeling overwhelmed. Try: Create a 12-week progressive habit plan for a productivity coaching program, starting simple in week 1 and increasing complexity by week 8.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Michelle created the program but I can't find it
Navigate to Coach → Programs and check for a draft program with today's date. If it's not visible, scroll down — newly created programs sometimes appear at the bottom of the list. You can also ask Michelle directly: Where is the program you just created? and she'll navigate you there.
The program structure doesn't match what I asked for
Don't redo the prompt from scratch. Instead, give Michelle a correction in the same chat thread: The weeks are too short — I asked for 4 tasks per week but there are only 2. Please add the missing tasks to every week. Iterating in the same thread preserves context and gets better results than starting over.
Task descriptions feel too generic
Michelle defaults to a neutral tone when she doesn't have enough information about your brand voice. Give her a reference: My coaching tone is direct, warm, and a little irreverent — not corporate. Rewrite the task descriptions in week 1 to match that voice. You can also paste in a sample of your own writing as a style reference.
Michelle says she can't perform an action
Some complex structural changes — like merging two programs or bulk-deleting weeks — may need to be done manually in the program editor. Michelle will tell you when this is the case and usually points you to the exact setting to use. Check the Building a Program guide for manual steps.
Habits aren't showing up on the client side
Habits created through Michelle are attached to the program but need to be toggled on at the week level. In the program editor, open the relevant week and confirm the habit is enabled under the Habits tab for that week. See Habits and Goals in Programs for full details.
I want Michelle to match my existing program's style
Point her at a program you've already built: Use the same structure and tone as my "90-Day Mindset Reset" program to create a new 6-week version for teens. Michelle can reference your existing content to keep things consistent across your offer suite.
Best Practices for AI-Assisted Program Design
Michelle accelerates your build, but the best programs still have a human at the center. Here's how coaches get the most out of the combination:
- Use Michelle for structure, you for nuance. Let her generate the skeleton — weeks, tasks, habits, goals — then go through each task and add your unique frameworks, metaphors, and client stories.
- Pilot before you polish. Run the program with a small beta cohort before spending hours perfecting every task description. Client feedback will tell you where the gaps are far faster than editing in isolation.
- Save your best prompts. When a prompt produces a great draft, save it somewhere. You'll reuse it when building future programs or variations.
- Iterate in the same session. Michelle maintains context within a chat session. Build on her previous responses rather than starting fresh — the output gets progressively better.
The coaches who get the best results from Michelle treat her like a junior team member: give clear direction, review the output, and apply your professional judgment before anything goes live to clients.
Ready to Build Your Next Program in Minutes?
Michelle makes it possible to go from idea to a fully structured, client-ready coaching program in a single working session. Whether you're launching your first program or expanding a suite of offers, the combination of Michelle's speed and your coaching expertise produces curricula that would otherwise take days to build alone.
Log in to your Coachful workspace, open Michelle, and describe the program you've been meaning to build. Then watch it come to life. If you're not on Coachful yet, start your free trial and have a draft program ready before the day is out.