Hey friends,
A couple of years ago, I was just like most people discovering ChatGPT for the first time.
Curious.
Amazed.
Completely overwhelmed by how to get great results.
Fast forward 36+ months later, 3,000+ prompts in, time spent marketing for multiple AI startups and leading AI operations as part of my work today. I've seen it all.
Now, I work with AI daily, and prompt “engineering” feels second nature.
But I don’t want you to spend months figuring this stuff out. I want to help you skip the struggle and start prompting like a pro today.
Here are 5 of my go-to prompt strategies, the exact ones I wish someone had handed me at the start.
Let's get started:
1. Be Painfully Specific
The more vague you are, the more weird the results.
If you want to experience magic, be specific like you’re giving instructions to a kid going to the store to get your groceries.
Instead of:
“Write a blog post about time management.”
Try:
“Write a 600-word blog post in a friendly tone for busy solopreneurs. Focus on time-blocking, with 3 actionable tips and a personal story intro.”
🧠 Why it works: ChatGPT does best when it knows the who, what, and how. Specifics = better output, every time.
🚫 Common mistake: Leaving out the format, tone, or audience. That’s like asking a chef to “make food” without saying what you want to eat.
2. Tell It What Not to Do
ChatGPT doesn’t know your pet peeves, unless you tell it. So help it avoid what you don’t want.
Instead of:
“Give me a headline.”
Try:
“Give me a headline, but avoid using clickbait or emojis. Keep it professional.”
🎯 Real-world win: I once asked for “engaging Threads” and got.. super lame dad jokes. Then I added “avoid jokes or cheesy wordplay”. Problem solved.
🧱 Think of it like: Guardrails on a bowling lane. They keep your prompt from falling into the gutter.
(I low key love bowling btw, and I bet I’ll kick your ass 🎳)
3. Include the “Why” Behind Your Ask
If ChatGPT understands your reason, it can give you smarter, more relevant answers. This is what I call ‘context’.
Example:
“I’m writing a sales webpage for a new course, and I want people to feel confident they can do this. Can you help me phrase it that way?”
💡 Why it matters: Motivation shapes language. Adding context about your goal will improve your output 10x. If the AI knows your goal, it will write toward it, not just fill space with words (AI does that a lot btw).
4. Give Examples of Good Responses
ChatGPT learns fast from your favourites. Show it what “good” looks like, and you’ll get more of it.
Example prompt:
“Write a blog intro like this: ‘Have you ever felt like you’re stuck in idea overload? Me too..’ Keep that personal, friendly tone.”
🪞 Think of it like: Giving your AI a mirror to reflect the kind of voice and vibe you want.
🔥 Pro tip: Paste in a line, paragraph, emails, blogs or whatever you’re trying to write with ChatGPT, from your past content you liked. Watch how much better and aligned your AI outputs get.
5. Stop Using “Make This Better”
“Make this better” is vague, subjective, and often leads to robotic edits. Be clearer.
Instead of:
“Make this better.”
Say:
“Make this more persuasive for someone on the fence. Use plain language and shorter sentences.”
🔧 Why it flops: “Better” could mean anything. Smoother? Longer? Shorter? Punchier? The AI guesses and usually guesses wrong.
🔥 Pro tip: Provide feedback in bullet points of what you liked, but more importantly what you didn’t like. Let AI actually ‘make it better’ by using your exact thoughts on what needs to be improved.
Bonus: The Prompt Before the Prompt
Here’s one that’s changed the game for me: Before I write any big prompt, I write a “starter” prompt to design the real one.
Try this:
“Help me design a perfect prompt for [goal]. Ask me questions if needed.”
It’s like hiring ChatGPT as your own prompt coach. And yes, it works so damn well.
I use a Custom GPT for exactly this use case, and it takes the headache out of crafting solid prompts. If you want access to that, just hit reply and I’ll send it over.
That’s it. Your quickstart guide to better prompts.
What’s your #1 prompt trick?
Hit reply and let me know.
I read every response, and your tips might make it into a future issue.
Need some help with getting started with AI?
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To better prompts (and better results),
Nahid
