What makes a good (or bad) ChatGPT prompt?

ChatGPT is a powerful chatbot that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to generate text based on the input you give it. You can use ChatGPT for all kinds of purposes, such as writing blogs, emails, social media posts, product descriptions, SEO copy and much more. But how do you make sure ChatGPT does exactly what you want? That depends almost entirely on the prompts you use.

A prompt, simply put, is the instruction ChatGPT receives to carry out its task. A prompt can be a sentence, a question or a reference; anything you ask or request in text is a “prompt”. It is an instruction, or it consists of several instructions.

Writing good prompts is essential to improve the quality and accuracy of ChatGPT’s output. A good prompt makes clear what the purpose of the text is, what the subject is, what the tone and style are, and what the constraints are. A bad prompt, on the other hand, is vague, unclear, contradictory or too complex. A bad prompt can lead to unwanted or nonsensical results.

Different types of prompts

There are different types of prompts you can use with ChatGPT models, depending on the kind of text you want to generate. Here are some examples:

• Instruction prompts: these prompts give the model clear instructions about what to generate. This can range from writing a news article to translating a text from one language into another. Instruction prompts are often very specific and contain a lot of detail about the desired result.

• Creative prompts: these prompts are meant to challenge ChatGPT models to generate something new and interesting. They can be used for creative writing, such as short stories or poems, and can range from specific themes to more general subjects. Creative prompts are often less specific than instruction prompts and give the model more freedom to be creative.

• Conversation prompts: these prompts are designed to instruct ChatGPT models to generate a conversation between the model and the user. They can range from general questions, such as “How are you?”, to more specific topics, such as “What is your favourite book?”. Conversation prompts are meant to simulate a natural conversation between the model and the user, but can also be used for things like quizzes or interview practice.

To give you a better idea of how to write good prompts for ChatGPT, below are four prompts for different texts with different purposes: a blog post, an email, a social media post (LinkedIn) and a product description. You can copy these prompts as they are and adapt the content to your specific question, company and context.

ChatGPT prompt for blog posts

“Write a blog post with the following characteristics:

• Title: How AI can help increase customer satisfaction

• Subject: Using AI tools such as ChatGPT to answer customer questions, collect feedback and make personalised recommendations

• Target audience: Companies interested in improving their customer service and loyalty with the help of AI

• Tone: Professional, informative, persuasive

• Style: Formal, businesslike, clear

• Length: About 600 words

• Structure: Introduction, three main points with examples and supporting evidence, conclusion and call to action”

ChatGPT prompt for emails

“Write an email with the following characteristics:

• Sender: Your name

• Recipient: A potential customer who has shown interest in your product

• Subject: An invitation to a free demo of your product

• Goal: Encouraging the potential customer to become a paying customer

• Tone: Friendly, enthusiastic, professional

• Style: Informal, personal, clear

• Length: About 100 words

• Structure: Greeting, reminder of the earlier interaction, explanation of your product’s benefits, offer of a free demo, request for a reply, closing”

ChatGPT prompt for LinkedIn

Write a social media post with the following characteristics:

• Platform: LinkedIn

• Sender: Yourself

• Target audience: Your professional network and potential customers

• Subject: An announcement of a new feature of your product

• Goal: Increasing visibility of and interest in your product

• Tone: Proud, enthusiastic, inviting

• Style: Informal, short, catchy

• Length: About 50 words

• Structure: Announcement of the new feature, explanation of its value for users, request for feedback or suggestions, link to your website or product page

ChatGPT prompt for product descriptions

Write a product description with the following characteristics:

• Product: An AI tool that can automatically generate reports from data

• Target audience: Companies that spend a lot of time and effort producing reports

• Subject: The main features and benefits of the AI tool

• Goal: Persuading the target audience to buy or try the AI tool

• Tone: Informative, persuasive, reliable

• Style: Formal, businesslike, clear

• Length: About 200 words

• Structure: Introduction of the problem the AI tool solves, presentation of the main features and benefits of the AI tool, comparison with other solutions on the market, call to action to buy or try the AI tool

These prompts give ChatGPT enough information to generate texts that are useful for business people. They are specific, clear and consistent. They also state what the purpose of the texts is and what the reader should do after reading them. Do you have questions or suggestions? Feel free to get in touch with us!

Getting started

Want to learn to prompt like a pro? In our AI training courses you practise straight away with strong prompts for your own work, tailored to your sector.