Best AI prompting tips for beginners
Just started using ChatGPT and the results are hit or miss. Sometimes its amazing, sometimes its completely off base. I suspect I'm just not good at asking it the right things. Any tips for getting better results?
Feel like there should be a class on this or something.
The biggest improvement in my results came from giving it CONTEXT. Instead of "write me an email" try "I'm a project manager emailing a client who is upset about a delayed timeline. The delay is 2 weeks and was caused by a vendor issue. Write a professional but empathetic email acknowledging the delay and proposing a new timeline."
The more context you give, the better the output. Think of it like briefing a new employee.
My 3 rules:
1. Be specific about what you want
2. Tell it who it should write as (tone, role, audience)
3. Give it examples of what good looks like if you can
Also: if the first response isn't great, don't start over. Tell it what was wrong and ask it to try again. The back-and-forth is where the magic happens.
honestly the best tip is just use it a LOT. I'm way better at prompting now than 6 months ago just from practice. you develop an intuition for what works. don't overthink it, just start using it for everything and you'll naturally get better.