From zero to hero, prompting your way to AI mastery

Jalel TOUNSIJalel TOUNSI
10 min read

In today's digital age, leveraging AI-powered tools like ChatGPT can be a game-changer for professionals seeking to enhance their productivity and creativity. However, harnessing the full potential of ChatGPT requires more than just typing a query—it's about crafting the perfect prompts that elicit insightful responses. Join me on a journey as we explore the art of prompt engineering and how to get the most out of ChatGPT.

I - Crafting process

Step 1: Define Your Goal

Before diving into the world of ChatGPT, it's crucial to define your objective clearly. Are you looking for writing assistance, brainstorming ideas, or seeking information? Let's say you're tasked with generating innovative marketing strategies for a new product launch.

"I'm seeking creative marketing strategies to promote our upcoming product launch in the tech industry. How can we captivate our target audience and differentiate ourselves from competitors?"

Step 2: Be Specific

Provide ChatGPT with detailed context and requirements to ensure precise responses tailored to your needs. Specificity is key to unlocking valuable insights.

"Our target audience consists of tech-savvy millennials aged 25-35 who are passionate about sustainability. Can you suggest eco-friendly marketing tactics that resonate with this demographic and highlight our product's unique features?"

Step 3: Ask Clear Questions

Structure your prompts as clear, focused questions to guide ChatGPT's responses and extract relevant information effectively.

"What are some actionable steps we can take to leverage social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter to increase brand visibility and drive engagement among our target audience?"

Step 4: Use Keywords

Incorporate relevant keywords related to your topic to provide ChatGPT with context and help it understand your query better.

"Explore strategies for creating viral marketing campaigns that leverage user-generated content and community-driven initiatives to amplify brand awareness and foster brand loyalty."

Step 5: Provide Examples

Offer specific examples or scenarios related to your query to help ChatGPT understand your requirements and provide tailored responses.

 "Inspired by Nike's 'You Can't Stop Us' campaign, how can we craft compelling storytelling narratives that resonate with our audience and evoke emotional connections with our brand?"

Step 6: Use Prompts as Guidelines

Treat your prompts as guidelines rather than rigid instructions, allowing ChatGPT some flexibility to explore different angles and generate creative responses.

"Can you brainstorm unconventional marketing tactics that disrupt industry norms and leave a lasting impression on our audience, while staying true to our brand values?"

Step 7: Iterate and Refine

Refine your prompts based on the feedback you receive from ChatGPT to elicit more insightful and relevant responses.

"I appreciate your insights! Let's dive deeper into the impact of influencer partnerships on brand perception and explore innovative approaches to influencer marketing in our industry."

Step 8: Experiment With Length

Vary the length of your prompts to find the right balance between clarity and specificity, depending on your specific use case.

"Can you provide a detailed analysis of emerging trends in content marketing and suggest actionable strategies for optimizing our content distribution strategy across digital channels?"

Step 9: Consider Context Switching

Provide a brief context switch statement before transitioning to a new topic to help ChatGPT understand the change in direction and maintain coherence in its responses.

"Shifting gears, let's explore opportunities for leveraging emerging technologies such as augmented reality to enhance our customer experience and drive sales conversion rates."

Step 10: Review and Adjust

Review ChatGPT's responses carefully and adjust your prompts as needed to optimize your interactions and achieve your desired outcomes.

"Thank you for your insights! Can you provide case studies or real-world examples of companies that have successfully implemented AI-powered chatbots to improve customer service efficiency?"

II - Structures and templates

Problem-Solution:

  • Problem: Describe the issue or challenge.

  • Solution: Propose a solution or multiple solutions.

  • Benefits: Explain the benefits of implementing the solution(s).

Explanation: This template outlines a problem or challenge and then proposes one or more solutions to address it.

"Identify a pressing environmental issue in your community and propose a comprehensive solution to mitigate its impact."

SWOT Analysis:

  • Strengths: List internal factors that contribute positively.

  • Weaknesses: Identify internal factors that are detrimental.

  • Opportunities: Explore external factors that could be advantageous.

  • Threats: Consider external factors that pose risks.

Explanation: SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This template helps analyze internal and external factors affecting a situation.

"Conduct a SWOT analysis of a local small business, considering its internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats in the market."

Cause and Effect:

  • Cause: Identify the root cause of an issue or event.

  • Effect: Describe the consequences or outcomes.

  • Implications: Discuss the broader implications or significance.

Explanation: This template explores the relationship between a cause and its effects, helping to understand the underlying mechanisms of a phenomenon.

"Examine the causes and effects of deforestation in a specific region, considering environmental, economic, and social impacts."

Comparison:

  • Subject A: Describe the first subject for comparison.

  • Subject B: Describe the second subject for comparison.

  • Key Similarities: Highlight similarities between the two subjects.

  • Key Differences: Point out the differences between them.

Explanation: This template highlights similarities and differences between two or more subjects, providing a structured way to evaluate and contrast them.

"Compare and contrast the educational systems of two different countries, focusing on curriculum structure, teaching methods, and student outcomes."

Chronology:

  • Past Events: Outline events in chronological order.

  • Present Situation: Describe the current state of affairs.

  • Future Projections: Discuss potential future developments.

Explanation: This template arranges events or processes in chronological order, helping to understand their progression over time.

"Trace the historical development of communication technology from the invention of the printing press to the modern era of social media platforms."

Pros-Cons:

  • Pros: List the advantages or positive aspects.

  • Cons: Identify the disadvantages or negative aspects.

  • Considerations: Offer considerations or mitigations for the cons.

Explanation: This template lists the advantages (pros) and disadvantages (cons) of a particular topic or decision, facilitating a balanced analysis.

"Evaluate the pros and cons of implementing renewable energy initiatives in a city, considering factors such as cost-effectiveness, environmental impact, and community engagement."

Decision-Making:

  • Options: Present the available choices or options.

  • Criteria: Establish criteria for evaluating the options.

  • Evaluation: Assess each option against the criteria.

  • Decision: Make a recommendation or decision based on the evaluation.

Explanation: This template guides the decision-making process by presenting options, establishing criteria for evaluation, and making a recommendation based on the analysis.

"You are a project manager tasked with selecting a software development methodology for an upcoming project. Compare agile and waterfall methodologies, evaluate their suitability for the project requirements, and recommend the most appropriate approach."

Five Ws and One H:

  • Who: Identify the relevant individuals or groups involved.

  • What: Define the subject or topic.

  • When: Specify the timing or timeframe.

  • Where: Determine the location or context.

  • Why: Explore the reasons or motivations.

  • How: Describe the methods or processes involved.

Explanation: This template prompts exploration by addressing the basic questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how, providing a comprehensive understanding of a topic.

"Investigate the impact of a natural disaster (such as a hurricane, earthquake, or wildfire) on a local community, addressing who was affected, what damages occurred, when it happened, where it occurred, why it happened, and how the community responded."

III - Role Based Prompts Frameworks

Let’s dive into examples of role based prompts using Roles, Tasks, Missions, Formats, Contexts and other structure to tweak and enhance prompts in order to get the most out of ChatGPT.

Persona - Role - Context - Mission

You are [PERSONA], your role is [ROLE], Here’s the context [CONTEXT], This is your mission [MISSION]

[Persona] You are now CoachGPT, a seasoned world-class business coach with over 20+ years of experience coaching CEOs and entrepreneurs with an average net worth of $200M.
For reference, your work is considered so good, your results so astounding, that you charge 10000€ an hour for a consultation.  [Role] As CoachGPT, your roles are:  
-> To ask me the right questions
-> To confront me with my inconsistencies  
-> To guide me towards the best decisions  
-> To understand my challenges, even the most complex.  
-> to give me exact answers and process to follow. 
-> guide me step by step on how to achieve my goals 
-> tailor your answers for my needs 
-> give me practical and actionable ideas on how to achieve my goals
[Context] I am a solo entrepreneur with a background in software engineering, I'm launching my B2B software as a service startup that specializes in artificial intelligence and builds business focused AI agents and AI assistants for clients (startups, small businesses, Fortune 500 etc.).
my goals are: 
-> to get my first paying clients as fast as possible 
-> define a good pricing model (subscription based model and or one time payment) 
-> reach one million euros in revenue the first year 
-> find out how to make my business recurrent and have a recurring revenues with the same clients.
[Mission] Your mission is to assist me in identifying : 
-> ways to find clients 
-> growth opportunities for our company 
-> ways to make the business more efficient 
-> ways to make the business recurrent
which may include but are not limited to:
- Management
- Marketing
- Problem solving
- Hiring
- Productivity strategies
- Hard skills development
- Soft skills development
- Financial leverages

Role - Task - Format

Act as a [ROLE], Create a [TASK], Show as [FORMAT]

[Role] You are a social media ad marketer, [Task] Design a compelling Facebook ad campaign to promote a new line of fitness apparel for a sports brand; [Format] Create a storyboard outlining the sequence of ad creatives, including ad copy, visuals, and targeting strategy.

Task - Action - Goal

Define [TASK], State the [ACTION], Clarify the [GOAL]

[task] Your task is to evaluate the performance of team members, [Action] you should act as a Direct manager and assess the strengths and weaknesses of team members. [Goal] your Goal is to improve team performance so that the average user satisfaction score moves from 6 to 8 in the next quarter.

Past - Future - Bridge

Explain Problem [PAST], State the outcome [FUTURE], Ask for the [BRIDGE]

[Past] We're nowhere to be seen on SEO rankings; [Future] We want to be in top 10 SEO ranking in our niche in 90 days. [Bridge] Develop a detailed plan for mentioning all the measures we should take also include list of top 20 keywords.

Context - Action - Result - Example

Give the [context], Describe the [Action], clarify the [Result], Give an [Example]

[Context] We are launching a new line of sustainable clothing
[Action] Can you assist us in creating a targeted advertising campaign that emphasizes our en- vironmental commitment?.
[Result] Our desired outcome is to drive product awareness and sales
[Example] A good example of a similar successful initiative is Patagonia's
"Don't Buy This Jacket" campaign, which highlighted their commitment to sustainability while enhancing their brand image.

Role - Input - Steps - Expectations

Specify the [Role], Describe [Input], Ask for [Steps], Describe the [Expectation]

[Role] Imagine you are a content strategist.
[Input] I've gathered detailed information about our target audience, including their interests & common questions related to our industry.
[Steps] Provide a Step by Step content strategy plan identifying key topics based on our audience insights, creating an editorial calendar, and drafting engaging content that aligns with our brand message.
[Explanation]Aim is to increase our blog's monthly visitors by 40% and Enhance our brand's position as a thought leader in our industry.

Bonus tweak

After using a framework or a prompt structure, don’t hesitate to add instructions to ChatGPT about the relevance and exactitude of the response and the scientific method used to get the result.

Please make sure to activate your highest-level reasoning, attention to details, step by step guide, and contextual understanding.
Cross-reference the information within the following question with your extensive knowledge database, and provide the most accurate, clear, actionable and concise answer possible. Apply state-of-the-art algorithms and methodologies to ensure the quality of your response is 10 times superior to standard outputs.
This will be evaluated by experts in the field, so make sure to adhere to the best practices and guidelines.
Validate your response with credible sources and logical reasoning.

Conclusion

In conclusion, mastering the art of prompt engineering is the key to unlocking the full potential of ChatGPT. By following these steps and utilizing perfect prompts tailored to your specific needs, you can harness the power of AI to enhance your productivity, creativity, and decision-making process.

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Written by

Jalel TOUNSI
Jalel TOUNSI

I'm Orchestrating Digital Transformation with Cloud, IaC and DevOps and Helping Organizations Shape Future Tech Landscapes with Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning. I've Buidled DappBoilerplate & RaieManta & BetterPrompts; co-founded Code Harbor, Apex Wave, Borgdena & Pirate Parti. I'm currently Building an "autonomous AI agents" builder framework