I’m going to tell you about the most ridiculous productivity breakthrough I’ve ever had. And it involves a Chinese AI video tool that most people can’t even pronounce correctly. Hailuo. Not “Halo” like the video game. “Hi-LOO-oh.” Trust me, I butchered it for weeks.
But here’s the thing – this tool completely transformed how I create video content. What used to take me half an hour of trial and error now happens in literally thirty seconds. Sometimes faster. This isn’t some clickbait productivity hack. It’s a real workflow change that saved my sanity and probably my business.
My Video Creation Nightmare
Let me paint you a picture of my life before I figured this out.
It’s 9:30 PM on a Tuesday. I’ve been trying to create one simple product demo video for two hours. TWO HOURS. For a 45-second video showing how a project management tool works. My process was completely backwards:
- Open Hailuo
- Type something vague like “office worker using software”
- Get weird results that look nothing like what I need
- Try again with slightly different wording
- Get different weird results
- Repeat until I either give up or accidentally stumble onto something decent
By attempt fifteen, I had a collection of videos featuring:
- People who might be using computers (hard to tell)
- Software interfaces that looked like they were designed by aliens
- Office environments that resembled fever dreams
- One memorable clip where someone appeared to be typing on what looked like a sandwich
I was spending more time fighting with the AI than my clients were paying me for the entire project.
The Breakthrough That Changed Everything
The turning point came during what I now call “The Client Call from Hell.”
I’m on a Zoom call with this startup founder, sharing my screen, trying to create a video for their app launch in real-time. Because apparently I hate myself and make terrible life choices.
“Just show me a quick demo of someone using our productivity app,” he says. “Something simple.”
Simple. Right.
I type into Hailuo: “Person using productivity app on laptop”
What we get: Someone who might be a person doing something that could involve technology in a space that might be an office.
The client goes quiet. Then: “Um, that doesn’t really look like our app. Or any app.”
I’m dying inside. Completely mortified. But instead of my usual random follow-up prompt, something desperate makes me be incredibly specific:
“Medium shot of focused 30-year-old professional woman in modern office with natural lighting. She’s sitting at clean desk with MacBook Pro open, actively typing and clicking through a sleek project management interface. Screen shows organized task lists with colorful project tags. Her expression shows concentration and satisfaction as she checks off completed items. Camera angle over her shoulder so interface is clearly visible. Soft corporate background with plants and modern furniture. 8 seconds duration.”
Thirty seconds later, Hailuo delivers almost exactly what I described. The client goes, “Oh wow, that’s actually perfect. How did you do that so fast?”
I had no answer because I had no clue what I’d just done differently.
The Pattern I Accidentally Discovered
That night, I couldn’t sleep. Not because of caffeine (okay, partly because of caffeine), but because I kept thinking about what made that prompt work when everything else had failed.
I opened my laptop and started analyzing the difference between my failed prompts and the one that worked.
Failed prompts were like this:
- “Person using app”
- “Office worker with computer”
- “Someone doing work tasks”
The successful prompt included:
- Specific person description (30-year-old professional woman)
- Exact environment details (modern office, natural lighting, clean desk)
- Precise equipment (MacBook Pro)
- Clear interface description (sleek project management, task lists, colorful tags)
- Emotional context (concentration and satisfaction)
- Technical specifications (camera angle, duration)
The failed prompts were like asking someone to “draw a person.” The successful prompt was like giving an artist a detailed commission brief.
That’s when it hit me. Hailuo wasn’t bad at creating videos. I was bad at describing what I wanted.
My 30-Second Formula
Over the next few weeks, I developed what I started calling my “Hailuo Speed Formula.” Every prompt needed six specific elements:
- Character Details: Age, gender, profession, emotional state
- Environment Setup: Location, lighting, background elements
- Equipment Specifics: Exact devices, screen content, interface details
- Action Description: What exactly the person is doing, step by step
- Visual Style: Camera angles, shot types, aesthetic preferences
- Technical Requirements: Duration, resolution, pacing
Once I started including all six elements consistently, something magical happened. My first-attempt success rate went from maybe 10% to about 80%.
Real Examples of the Transformation
Let me show you some before-and-after prompts to demonstrate how dramatic this change was:
Before (usually failed):
“Create video of someone giving a presentation”
After (works almost every time):
“Wide shot of confident 35-year-old businessman in navy suit presenting to small team in modern conference room. He’s standing beside large wall-mounted monitor showing colorful charts and graphs. Audience of 4 professionals taking notes, nodding approvingly. Presenter gestures naturally toward screen while speaking. Bright office lighting, glass walls visible in background. Professional but relaxed atmosphere. 12 seconds duration.”
Before:
“Show customer service interaction”
After:
“Close-up shot of friendly 28-year-old woman wearing headset in bright customer service environment. She’s smiling while typing on ergonomic keyboard, dual monitors showing customer database and chat interface. Warm expression shows genuine helpfulness as she reads and responds to customer inquiry. Modern office background with team members visible but blurred. Natural window lighting creates professional but welcoming atmosphere. 8 seconds.”
The difference isn’t subtle. It’s night and day.
The Unexpected Benefits
As my Hailuo prompts became more precise, some unexpected benefits started showing up:
Client Presentations Got Easier: Instead of hoping I could create something decent during meetings, I could reliably generate exactly what clients wanted to see.
Project Planning Improved: Writing detailed prompts forced me to think through video concepts more thoroughly upfront.
Creative Ideas Flowed Better: Having a systematic approach freed up mental energy for actual creativity instead of technical wrestling.
Quality Became Consistent: Instead of getting lucky occasionally, I could produce professional-looking content reliably.
Time Estimates Got Accurate: I could actually quote realistic timelines to clients instead of hoping projects wouldn’t spiral.
Where I Was Getting It Wrong
Looking back, my fundamental mistake was treating Hailuo like a mind reader instead of a highly capable tool that needed proper instructions.
I was essentially walking into a restaurant and saying “bring me food,” then getting frustrated when they didn’t magically know I wanted Thai curry with medium spice, brown rice instead of white, extra vegetables, and no cilantro.
Hailuo is incredibly good at creating exactly what you describe. It’s terrible at guessing what you might want based on vague hints.
The Psychology Behind Why This Works
There’s something weird about how our brains approach AI tools. We know they’re not human, but we still expect them to fill in context like humans do.
When I tell my business partner “we need a video for the Johnson presentation,” he knows our client, our usual video style, the presentation context, and what kind of content works for that audience.
But Hailuo knows none of that. It’s starting from zero every single time.
The 30-second formula works because it provides all the context I was unconsciously expecting AI to already have.
Platform-Specific Quirks I Discovered
Through hundreds of tests, I learned that Hailuo has some specific preferences that make prompts work better:
- Lighting descriptions matter more than you’d think: “Natural window lighting” produces much better results than “good lighting.”
- Emotional context is crucial: Describing how people feel (focused, satisfied, confident) dramatically improves the realism of generated expressions.
- Equipment specifics help a lot: “MacBook Pro” works better than “laptop.” “iPhone 14” works better than “smartphone.”
- Environmental details create consistency: The more specific you are about backgrounds and settings, the more professional the results look.
- Duration matters for pacing: Shorter durations (6-10 seconds) tend to produce tighter, more focused content.
These aren’t magic tricks – they’re just ways of communicating more clearly with the AI.
Common Mistakes That Kill Productivity
After helping other people implement this approach, I’ve seen the same mistakes repeatedly:
- Being too vague about people: “Business person” vs “confident 32-year-old marketing director in casual business attire”
- Ignoring environmental context: “Office” vs “modern open-plan office with natural lighting and plants”
- Skipping emotional details: “Person working” vs “focused professional showing concentration and satisfaction”
- Forgetting technical specs: No duration specified vs “8 seconds, medium shot”
- Overlooking interface details: “Using software” vs “navigating clean dashboard with visible task lists and progress indicators”
Each of these mistakes adds iteration time and reduces first-attempt success rates.
The Broader Lesson About AI Tools
This experience taught me something important about working with AI in general: Specificity is productivity.
The more precisely you can describe what you want, the more likely you are to get it quickly. This applies beyond just Hailuo – I’ve started using similar approaches with ChatGPT, Midjourney, and other AI tools.
The investment in learning to write better prompts pays off exponentially. Instead of fighting with tools, you start collaborating with them effectively.
My Current Workflow
Here’s exactly how I create video content now:
- Define the concept (30 seconds): What’s the video’s purpose and key message?
- Build the prompt (2 minutes): Use the six-element formula to describe everything specifically
- Generate and review (30 seconds): Run the prompt and evaluate results
- Minor adjustments if needed (1-2 minutes max): Usually just tweaking duration or camera angle
Total time: 3-4 minutes per video concept, with 80%+ success rate on first attempt.
Compare that to my old process: 30-45 minutes of random iteration with maybe 50% success rate.
Why This Actually Matters
This isn’t just about saving time (though saving 25+ minutes per video adds up fast). It’s about reliability and creative confidence.
When you can consistently create what you envision, you start taking on more ambitious projects. When clients see you can deliver exactly what they describe, they trust you with bigger budgets and more creative freedom.
Productivity isn’t just about speed – it’s about predictability and quality consistency.
Ready to Try This Approach?
If you’re using Hailuo (or any video AI tool) and feeling frustrated with inconsistent results, the problem probably isn’t the tool. It’s the prompts.
Start with the six-element formula: Character, Environment, Equipment, Action, Visual Style, Technical Requirements. Include specific details for each element instead of generic descriptions.
Your first few detailed prompts will feel slow and awkward. But once you internalize the pattern, you’ll be creating exactly what you want in seconds instead of stumbling around for half an hour.
That’s not just a productivity hack – it’s a complete workflow transformation.
What’s your biggest frustration with video AI tools? Share your experience below – I’d love to help you.