AI Foundations
How to Talk to AI: The One Skill That Changes Everything
Most people who feel like AI isn’t working for them have the same problem — they’re asking it the wrong way. They type a vague question, get a generic answer, decide AI is overhyped, and move on. But change how you ask, and everything changes. This post teaches you the single most important skill for getting real value out of ChatGPT or Claude: how to write a good prompt.
What’s a Prompt?
A prompt is just what you type to the AI. It’s your instruction. The better your instruction, the better the output. Simple as that.
Think of it like briefing an assistant — the more context you give them, the better the result. A vague brief gets vague work. A specific brief gets specific, useful work.
The same principle applies here, every time.
Why Most Prompts Fail
Here are three prompts that land in AI tools every day:
Write me an emailHelp me with social mediaWrite something for my website
These fail for the same reason: the AI has no context. It doesn’t know your business, your customer, your tone, or what “something” means. The output is generic because the input was generic.
This isn’t a technology problem. It’s a briefing problem. And it has a simple fix.
The 4-Part Formula
Good prompts have four components. You don’t have to use all four every time — but the more you include, the better your output.
Part 1: Role — Who should the AI be?
Giving the AI a role helps it produce more relevant, targeted output. It’s not magic, but it helps the AI calibrate its tone and expertise.
Example:
“You are an experienced customer service manager for a small Australian trade business.”
Keep it simple. You’re not writing a backstory — just giving the AI a frame.
Part 2: Context — What does the AI need to know?
This is the most important part. Tell it about your business, your customer, and the situation you’re dealing with.
Example:
“I run a small electrical business in Perth. I just completed a job for a residential client who hasn’t left a Google review yet.”
The more relevant context you include, the more specific — and useful — the output becomes.
Part 3: Task — What do you want it to produce?
Be specific. “Write something” is not a task. “Write a friendly text message asking them to leave a Google review” is.
Example:
“Write a friendly text message asking them to leave a Google review.”
One task. One clear output. Don’t combine four things into one prompt unless you know what you’re doing.
Part 4: Format — How should it look?
Length, tone, structure. The more specific, the better.
Example:
“Keep it under 60 words, conversational, not pushy. End with a direct link placeholder.”
Full Assembled Prompt
Here’s all four parts put together:
You are a customer service manager for a small Australian trade business.
I run a small electrical business in Perth. I just completed a job for a
residential client who hasn't left a Google review yet.
Write a friendly text message asking them to leave a Google review.
Keep it under 60 words, conversational, not pushy. End with a direct
link placeholder.And here’s the kind of output that produces:
Hi [Name], thanks again for having us out — really glad we could sort that out for you. If you’ve got two minutes, we’d love a Google review — it really helps small businesses like ours. [Google review link]. Thanks so much! — [Your name]
That’s a real message you could send today. It took 30 seconds to prompt and 20 seconds to review.
Before vs. After: Two Examples
Example 1: Social Media Post
❌ Weak prompt:
Write a social media post about my café
Result: Generic, could be anyone’s café, probably unusable.
✅ Strong prompt:
I run a café in the Melbourne CBD, open Monday to Saturday. Write an Instagram post announcing our new weekend brunch menu. Friendly and warm tone. Under 100 words. Include a call to action to book a table.
Result: A specific post about your café, your new menu, your location — ready to use with minor edits.
Example 2: Email Subject Line
❌ Weak prompt:
Write me an email subject line
Result: Something generic like “Monthly Update” — possibly worse than what you’d write yourself.
✅ Strong prompt:
Write 5 email subject lines for a newsletter about our end-of-financial-year sale. Our customers are small business owners. Keep each under 8 words. Make them feel urgent but not spammy.
Result: Five distinct options — some curiosity-driven, some direct, some urgency-based — you pick the one that fits.
4 Power Tips
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Ask for options. Add “give me 3 versions” to almost any prompt. Especially useful when you’re unsure of tone — you can pick the version that sounds most like you.
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Iterate, don’t restart. If the first result is close but not quite right, don’t retype the whole prompt. Just reply with what needs changing — “make it shorter,” “make it warmer,” “remove the last sentence.” The AI retains the context from your original prompt.
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Save what works. Keep a running Google Doc called “My AI Prompts.” When a prompt produces something great, save the full prompt in there. That’s the beginning of your prompt library — and it gets more valuable every week you add to it.
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Tell it what you DON’T want. Negative constraints help a lot. “Don’t use exclamation marks,” “Don’t mention price in this email,” “Avoid corporate language” — these narrow the output in ways that matter for your brand.
You’ll Get Noticeably Better Within a Week
The good news: this isn’t a skill you need a course to develop. Most business owners find their prompts go from “okay” to “really useful” within 5 to 10 sessions of regular use. The pattern clicks fast once you understand why the 4-part formula works.
If you’ve already tried the 30-minute quick-start guide, you’ve already started building this instinct. The template pack below is designed to speed up the early phase — 15 prompts already written in the 4-part format, across the tasks most small business owners need most.
Download the Template Pack
🎁 Free Download: 15 Prompt Templates for Busy Business Owners
Skip the trial-and-error. Download my prompt template pack — 15 ready-to-use prompts across client communication, marketing, admin, and business writing. Each one is already written in the 4-part format with [BRACKET PLACEHOLDERS] — just fill in your details and go.
[Download the free template pack →]