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Prompt Coach

How to write ChatGPT prompts that get it right the first time

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The fundamentals of a great prompt don’t change between assistants: role, context, goal, examples, format. What changes are a few structural habits and the features each tool offers. This guide focuses on ChatGPT.

Break the prompt into labeled sections

When a prompt has several parts, headings keep ChatGPT from blending your background info into your instructions:

### Role
You are a customer support specialist for subscription boxes.

### Context
We ship monthly snack boxes. A carrier delay means March boxes
will arrive 5 days late. Customers are emailing to ask why.

### Task
Write a template reply for these emails.

### Format
Under 80 words. Empathetic, no long excuses.
End by offering a free extra snack pack in April.

The exact headings don’t matter. What matters is that each block does one job.

Custom instructions: context you don’t want to retype

ChatGPT lets you save information about yourself and how you like answers, so it applies across conversations. That’s the right home for things that rarely change: your job, your skill level, whether you prefer short answers. Each prompt can then focus on the task at hand.

Review those settings now and then. Old details from a previous project can quietly skew unrelated answers.

Ask for the exact format

ChatGPT likes bullet points and headings even when you didn’t ask. If you want something else, say it: “One paragraph only,” “Just the table, no intro,” “Paste-ready text, no commentary before or after.”

Refine in the same thread

Treat the first answer as a draft. Specific feedback works best:

  • Instead of “I don’t like it,” try “Version 2 is close. Shorter, and drop the last sentence.”
  • Instead of “be more creative,” try “use a metaphor from cooking.”

If the thread has drifted, start fresh with a new prompt that includes everything you’ve learned.

Common ChatGPT pitfalls

Trusting facts you didn’t provide. For prices, dates or statistics, either supply the data or ask it to flag anything it can’t verify.

Pasting a long text with no instructions. Say what to do with it: summarize, edit, extract, critique.

“Make it better.” Say what better means to you. More fixes in 7 prompt mistakes.

Gemini and other assistants

Everything here also applies to Gemini and most AI assistants: clear sections, concrete context, explicit format. If you use Claude, a few specific practices are worth knowing; they’re in prompting Claude.

In the coach, choose “ChatGPT” as the target and your prompt comes out organized into headed sections.

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