One Piece of Content, Ten Different Formats
Here is a common scenario in the modern workplace: you have created something valuable, a detailed report, a comprehensive guide, a webinar recording, or a thorough analysis. The content is great. But it only exists in one format, which means it only reaches one audience through one channel.
The same information that lives in a 40-page report could become a two-page executive summary for leadership, a 15-slide presentation for a client meeting, an 800-word LinkedIn article for thought leadership, and five social media posts for engagement. The problem is not a lack of content. It is that reformatting takes so much time that most of it never happens.
The Claude Cowork AI agent is built for this kind of work. It can read your source material, understand the core message, and reshape it for different audiences, formats, and channels, all while maintaining accuracy and adapting the tone appropriately.
This guide covers 10 content repurposing workflows you can use with this AI agent today.
For a broader overview of all agent use cases, check out our complete guide to AI agent use cases.
What You Need Before Starting
This guide uses Claude Cowork. If you have not set it up yet, start with our setup guide. Content repurposing requires minimal setup:
- Grant folder access: Select the folder containing your source content when starting a Cowork session.
- No connectors required. All content repurposing works through local file access.
- Supported input formats: Cowork reads .docx, .pdf, .xlsx, .pptx, .csv, .txt, and most common file types.
- Supported output formats: Cowork creates .docx, .xlsx, .pptx, .pdf, and plain text files.
1. Long-Form Report to Executive Summary
Executives need the key insights without wading through the full analysis. An executive summary distills the essential findings into a format that respects their time.
"I have a 40-page research report on renewable energy trends in 'Renewable_Energy_Report_2026.pdf'. Create a two-page executive summary that captures: the three most important findings, the most significant data points (with specific numbers), strategic implications for our company (we are a mid-size utility company), and recommended next steps. The audience is our C-suite leadership team who need to understand the bottom line without reading the full report. Use a professional format with clear section headings. End with a one-paragraph recommendation that connects the findings to a specific business decision we should make. Save as both a Word document and a PDF."
The key is specifying your company context and audience. A generic summary is far less valuable than one tailored to your specific strategic position.
2. Written Report to Presentation Deck
Reports and presentations serve fundamentally different purposes. Reports document everything; presentations highlight what matters and tell a story visually.
"Convert our quarterly business review document ('QBR_Q1_2026.docx') into a PowerPoint presentation of no more than 15 slides. Structure it as: a title slide, a one-slide executive summary with the three key takeaways, three slides on financial performance with the data presented visually (pull the specific numbers from the report), two slides on operational highlights, two slides showing progress against our strategic initiatives, one slide on key risks and mitigations, one slide on priorities for next quarter, and a closing slide with discussion topics. Keep text on each slide minimal, five bullet points maximum, and use the speaker notes to include the supporting detail that should be verbalized but not shown on screen. If the report contains any data tables, convert them into chart descriptions (bar charts, line charts, or pie charts as appropriate)."
The speaker notes are a critical detail. They ensure no information is lost in the transition from report to presentation, while keeping the slides themselves clean and impactful.
3. Internal Documentation to Client-Facing Content
Internal documents often contain exactly the information a client needs, but the tone, level of detail, and structure need to change significantly before sharing externally.
"We have an internal technical specification for our new analytics API in 'API_Internal_Spec.docx'. Rewrite this as client-facing API documentation. Remove all internal references (team names, internal project codes, development timelines, and any comments about known limitations we are still working on). Keep the following: endpoint descriptions, request and response formats with practical examples, authentication requirements, error codes and what they mean, and rate limiting information. Add a 'Getting Started' section at the top that walks a new user through their first API call in three steps. Change the tone from technical and internal ('We implemented this because...') to helpful and customer-focused ('You can use this to...'). Organize by use case rather than by endpoint. Save as a Markdown file and a PDF."
This is a common but tricky transformation because you need to remove the right things (internal context) while preserving the right things (technical accuracy). Specifying exactly what to remove and what to keep makes the result much better.
4. Single Source to Multi-Channel Content
Creating original content for every platform is unsustainable. Smart content strategy starts with one thorough piece and adapts it for each channel.
"I have written a comprehensive 3,000-word guide to project management best practices in 'PM_Best_Practices_Guide.docx'. From this single source, create the following: First, a LinkedIn article of about 800 words focusing on the top five actionable takeaways, with a professional but engaging tone and a hook that makes senior managers want to read it. Second, an email newsletter version of about 400 words with a more conversational tone, structured as 'three things you should know this week' with a clear call to action to read the full guide. Third, a series of five social media posts (each under 280 characters) that each highlight one key insight with a hook that encourages engagement and discussion. Fourth, a one-page infographic brief that outlines the key points and data in a format a designer could use to create a visual. Save each piece as a separate document in a folder called 'PM_Guide_Repurposed'."
One piece of source content becomes five channel-specific assets. The infographic brief is an underused format. Giving a designer a structured brief (rather than asking them to read your full guide) dramatically speeds up visual content creation.
5. Updating Materials Across Versions
When a key piece of information changes (pricing, team members, company data), it often needs to be updated across multiple documents. Doing this manually is error-prone.
"Our pricing has changed as of March 1, 2026. The new pricing sheet is 'New_Pricing_March_2026.xlsx'. Find and update all pricing references in the following documents: 'Proposal_Template.docx', 'Service_Overview.docx', 'Client_FAQ.docx', and 'Sales_Deck.pptx'. For each document, replace every instance of old pricing with the corresponding new pricing from the new sheet. Create a detailed change log document showing: the filename, the page or slide number, what the old text said, and what the new text says, so I can verify every change before distributing the updated versions. Save the updated documents with '_UPDATED' appended to each filename and keep the originals untouched."
The change log is critical. It gives you an audit trail of exactly what changed, which is essential when updating financial or contractual information across multiple documents. Keeping originals untouched provides a safety net.
6. Meeting Transcript to Blog Post
Meeting recordings and transcripts contain valuable insights that rarely get shared beyond the attendees. Converting them into published content extends their reach significantly.
"I have a transcript from our recent webinar on AI adoption in healthcare in 'AI_Healthcare_Webinar_Transcript.docx'. The webinar was two hours long and featured three speakers. Convert this transcript into a polished blog post of approximately 1,500 words. Focus on the most insightful and surprising points rather than trying to cover everything. Structure the blog post with: a compelling headline, an introduction that sets up why this topic matters now, three to five key sections organized by theme (not by speaker), pull quotes from the speakers (attributed by name), and a conclusion with practical next steps for the reader. Clean up any verbal filler, repetition, and conversational tangents. Add subheadings that make the post easy to scan. The tone should be informative and accessible to a non-technical healthcare audience."
Transcripts are messy by nature. The agent handles the tedious work of extracting signal from noise, reorganizing by theme rather than chronology, and polishing conversational speech into readable prose.
7. Data Tables to Visual Briefing
Raw data tables are information-dense but hard to interpret quickly. Converting them into a narrative briefing with chart recommendations makes the data accessible to non-analytical stakeholders.
"I have a spreadsheet of customer acquisition data from the past 12 months in 'Customer_Acquisition_2025.xlsx'. The spreadsheet has tabs for each channel (organic search, paid ads, social media, referrals, and partnerships). For each channel, the data includes monthly spend, leads generated, customers acquired, and cost per acquisition. Create a visual briefing document that: summarizes the performance of each channel in plain language (not just numbers), recommends the best chart type for each comparison, provides the data formatted for easy chart creation, identifies the three most important trends across all channels, highlights the best-performing and worst-performing channels with specific evidence, and concludes with a budget reallocation recommendation based on the cost-per-acquisition data. The audience is our VP of Marketing who wants to understand channel performance without digging into the spreadsheet. Save as a Word document."
This transforms a spreadsheet that only the analytics team can interpret into a narrative that any executive can act on. The chart type recommendations are practical: they help whoever creates the final visuals choose the right format.
8. Technical Documentation to Customer FAQ
Technical documentation is written for people who already understand the product. Customers need the same information presented as answers to the questions they are actually asking. This transformation is a perfect repurposing workflow.
"We have our full product documentation in 'Product_Documentation_v3.docx' (45 pages). Our support team also keeps a log of the most common customer questions in 'Support_Common_Questions.xlsx'. Using both files, create a customer-facing FAQ document. Organize it into sections based on the customer journey: Getting Started, Account and Billing, Core Features, Integrations, Troubleshooting, and Security and Privacy. For each section, write 8 to 12 questions in the natural language a customer would actually use (not technical jargon). Keep each answer concise, three to five sentences maximum, and link to the relevant section of the full documentation for readers who want more detail. If the support log mentions a question that the documentation does not clearly answer, flag it in a separate 'Documentation Gaps' section so our team can address it. Save as both a Word document and a Markdown file for our help center."
This is high-leverage repurposing because the source material already exists in two places. The AI agent bridges the gap between how your team writes about the product and how your customers think about it. The documentation gaps section is a bonus that improves your product docs over time.
9. Webinar Notes to Training Guide
Webinars and workshops contain structured educational content that can be repurposed into reusable training materials. This extends the value of a one-time event into an ongoing resource.
"I have detailed notes from our three-hour internal training workshop on data visualization best practices in 'DataViz_Workshop_Notes.docx'. The notes cover five main topics that were taught during the workshop. Convert these notes into a self-paced training guide that someone who missed the workshop could use independently. Structure it as: a course overview explaining what the learner will know by the end, five modules (one per topic from the notes), each module containing a learning objective, key concepts explained clearly, practical exercises the learner can try (create these based on the concepts taught), and a quick-reference checklist. Add a 'Common Mistakes' section at the end compiling any warnings or pitfalls mentioned in the notes. Include a glossary of key terms. The guide should be useful for new team members onboarding months from now. Save as a Word document."
This is a high-leverage transformation. A three-hour workshop becomes a permanent training resource that can onboard new team members indefinitely, without requiring anyone to repeat the training.
10. Annual Report to Stakeholder Updates
Annual reports contain comprehensive information, but different stakeholders care about different parts. Tailored versions ensure each audience gets what they need.
"Our 2025 annual report is in 'Annual_Report_2025.pdf'. Create three different stakeholder-specific versions: First, a Board Summary (two pages) focusing on financial performance, strategic progress against goals, risk factors, and governance highlights. Use formal language and focus on metrics and strategic direction. Second, an Employee Update (one page) focusing on company growth, team achievements, new initiatives that affect employees, and the outlook for 2026. Use a warm, inspiring tone that makes people feel proud of what we accomplished. Third, an Investor Brief (two pages) focusing on revenue growth, market position, competitive advantages, profitability trends, and forward-looking statements. Use precise financial language and focus on value creation. Save each as a separate document with clear labeling. Maintain consistency in the core facts across all three versions while adjusting emphasis and tone for each audience."
One source document, three tailored outputs, each speaking directly to what that audience cares about. The instruction to maintain consistency in core facts while adjusting emphasis is important for credibility.
Tips for Better Content Repurposing
Always specify your audience. The same content reformatted for executives, for customers, and for your internal team should look and sound different. Tell the AI agent who will read it and what they care about.
Preserve accuracy when changing format. When condensing a 40-page report into two pages, there is a risk of oversimplifying. Ask Cowork to preserve specific numbers and data points rather than generalizing them.
Create a content repurposing workflow. Whenever you publish a major piece of content, run a standard set of repurposing prompts. Over time, this becomes a repeatable process that multiplies the value of everything you create.
Keep source files organized. Cowork works best when your source materials are in clearly named files within the granted folder. Invest a few minutes in file organization before starting a repurposing session.
