A wise man once told me: If you want a better answer…….ask a better question
Over the past year, I’ve heard many people express frustration with tools like ChatGPT, or Copilot. They’ll say, “It’s not giving me what I wanted,” or “It took so long to get something useful, I just gave up.”
And honestly? I get it. These tools can feel like magic – or madness – depending on how you use them.
But here’s the thing: most of the time, it’s not the AI that’s the problem. It’s how we’re talking to it.
In this 5 minute guide we’ll help you master the art of prompting, so you can get better results from AI.
What Is Prompt Engineering?
There’s actually a simple, powerful way to dramatically improve the quality of the responses you get from AI. It’s called prompt engineering – a fancy term that simply means there is a formula to how you ask the AI for help.
Yes, you can type anything into ChatGPT and it’ll give you something back.
But if you want a great result? Well, you need to spend a little time creating a thoughtful, structured prompt.
How to Brief Your AI Assistant
I’ve spent over 25 years in marketing and communications, and one of the most valuable skills I’ve learned is how to write a clear brief.
Imagine you were asking a web design agency to build a website for your company. You wouldn’t just say, “Build me a website”.
Sure, they could create a website, but without more information, you’d likely end up with a generic site that doesn’t fit your brand, doesn’t speak to your audience, and doesn’t meet your goals. You’d then need to spend a lot of time going back and forth to get the design you wanted.
To get something truly useful, you need to give them context such as:
- What is your business about?
- Who is your target audience?
- What do you want people to do when they visit the site?
- What should it look and feel like?
- Are there any must-have features or content?
- What other website designs have you seen that you like? And what other designs have you seen that you don’t like!
All of this upfront detail helps them design something that’s not just functional, but effective and aligned with your vision.
Talking to an AI is no different, but instead of briefing a website design team, you’re now briefing your AI assistant.
The AI is capable, fast, and endlessly flexible – but it needs your direction first.
The clearer you are, the better the output.
Helpful Acronyms for Writing Great Prompts
There are some simple acronyms that can help structure your prompts. Here are a few of my favourites:
1. GUIDE
- Goal – What are you trying to accomplish?
- User – Who is the AI representing or assisting?
- Instructions – What exactly should it do?
- Details – Any background, data, or examples?
- Expectation – What should the output look like (format, tone, length)?
Use GUIDE for detailed, outcome-driven tasks where precision matters.
2. P.R.O.M.P.T.
- Purpose – What’s the reason for the request?
- Role – What expertise should the AI adopt?
- Outcome – What should the result include? What format do you want the output?
- Method – How should it go about the task? Are there any examples you can provide?
- Parameters – are there any rules or constraints? What should it NOT do?
- Tone – How should it sound (formal, casual, fun)?
I like this one for obvious reasons – I can remember it easily!
3. CLEAR
- Context – Set the scene with background info.
- Lead – Provide a strong instruction up front.
- Examples – Include one or two sample outputs if you can.
- Asks – Be specific about what you want.
- Refinements – Add any tone, style, or formatting requests.
CLEAR is great for quick, concise task briefs – especially for content creation.
There are many other acronyms I’ve heard. Ultimately, it’s whichever works for you. The net result is the same – once the AI has a clear understanding of what you want, then it can really shine and you’ll start getting the output you want much faster.
Free Prompt Guide
We’ve created a handy downloadable prompt-guide that outlines all of this – including a practical use-case example – so you can see it in action and start crafting better prompts straight away.
Final Thoughts
AI isn’t just for tech experts or developers. With a little structure and a good prompt, anyone can get amazing results from tools such as ChatGPT and Copilot.
Once you learn how to “talk to AI,” you’ll never look at your old workflow the same way again.
Thanks for reading and if you found this guide helpful, please share it with someone else who might benefit too.
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