How to write an AI prompt that actually works
The 4-part recipe we use for every prompt in our library.
Most people get mediocre results from AI because they type a question the way they'd type a Google search. AI is not a search engine — it's more like a very fast, very literal assistant who has never met you.
The 4 parts of a great prompt
1. Role. Tell the AI who to be. "You are a career coach." "You are my copyeditor." This anchors tone and expertise.
2. Task. Say exactly what you want it to do. "Rewrite this email so it sounds warm but firm."
3. Context. Give it what it needs to know. Who's the audience? What have you already tried? Any constraints?
4. Format. Tell it what the output should look like. Bullets? A table? 3 options? A single paragraph under 100 words?
An example
Bad: "Write me a LinkedIn post."
Better: "You are a friendly B2B marketer. Write a LinkedIn post announcing that our small team just shipped a new feature. Audience: small business owners who aren't technical. Tone: excited but grounded, no buzzwords. Format: 4 short paragraphs, ending with a soft call-to-action to reply. Under 200 words."
The second one takes 20 more seconds to type and saves you 10 minutes of editing.