17 Prompt-Writing Tips To Make The Most Of Generative AI

I’ve had mixed success with ChatGPT, until I read and followed these 17 steps!

1. Treat It Like a Real Person  
When talking to Generative AI like ChatGPT, act as if it's a real person, like a smart intern. Give clear information and be polite to get better responses.

2. Check for Clarifications  
After giving your prompt, ask the AI if it needs more information before responding to make sure it gives you a better answer.

3. Assign a Role  
Provide context and give the AI a role, like "act as a digital marketing manager," to get more specific results. Build on your conversation over time for better responses.

4. Start Small
Break down your prompts into smaller steps that the AI can easily handle and then combine the results for a final answer.

5. Be Specific and Clear
Specify the style, tone, and key points you want in the response. This helps the AI give you relevant and accurate answers.

6. Use for Manual Tasks
Use AI for repetitive tasks, like creating lists of zip codes, rather than for generating marketing copy to avoid copyright issues.

7. Define Its Role
Clearly define the AI’s role, like "You are a Harvard Ph.D. student helping me with research," to guide its responses.

8. Provide Detailed Context  
Write your prompt with as much detail as possible, including the intended audience and author style, to help the AI understand your needs.

9. Use Scenarios  
Create scenario-based prompts by summarizing who you are, your goals, what you want the AI to analyze, and the format you need the output in.

10. Detail Requirements and Constraints 
Clearly state your needs, context, and any limitations. For example, specify the type of analysis and any focus areas to tailor the AI’s response.

11. Ask Specific, Open-Ended Questions 
Ask detailed, open-ended questions about specific ideas to encourage in-depth and creative responses from the AI.

12. Describe Your Audience  
Provide context about your audience, their industry, role, pain points, and goals to make your message more relevant and effective.

13. One Question at a Time
Break down complex tasks into smaller parts and ask one question at a time to ensure the AI can provide detailed and accurate responses.

14. Avoid Ambiguity  
Make your prompts clear, concise, and specific. State your query clearly and provide relevant details to guide the AI in generating accurate content.

15. Use Website Content 
Provide content from the website you are writing for to help the AI use the correct language and tone in its responses.

16. Give Style Examples 
Provide examples of the style you want the AI to mimic. For instance, share past social media posts and ask the AI to match that style.

17. Define Its Perspective
Start by telling the AI its role and perspective. For example, "You are an experienced HR professional" and include details about the task to get a more focused response.