How to Write Better AI Prompts (With 15 Examples You Can Copy)

The 4-part prompt

Almost every good prompt has the same four parts:

1. Role. Who should the AI act as? "You are a friendly career coach."
2. Task. What should it do? "Help me rewrite my resume summary."
3. Details. What does it need to know? Your goal, your audience, what to include or avoid.
4. Format. How should the answer look? "Three short options, each under 40 words."

You are a friendly career coach. Help me rewrite my resume summary for a customer service job. I have 4 years of retail experience and I am good at calming upset customers. Give me three short options, each under 40 words.

Why this works

AI tools guess what you want from the words you give them. Short, vague prompts leave a lot of room to guess. When you add a role, details and a format, you shrink the guessing, and the answer lands closer to what you pictured.

15 prompts you can copy

Change the words in brackets to fit your life. Add your own details for even better results.

Writing and email

1. Rewrite this email so it is polite but firm. Keep it under 120 words: [paste email, without private details]

2. Give me five subject lines for an email asking a client to approve a quote.

3. Turn these rough notes into a clear message to my team: [notes]

Learning

4. Explain [topic] to me like I am 12. Then give me three quiz questions.

5. Make a 4-week study plan to learn [skill]. I have 30 minutes a day.

6. What are the most common mistakes beginners make with [topic], and how do I avoid them?

Planning

7. Turn this to-do list into a plan for my day, with the most important task first: [list]

8. Plan a 3-day trip to [place] for two adults on a modest budget. Group things that are close together.

9. Make a weekly meal plan with a shopping list. I cook for [number] people and have [time] on weeknights.

Work

10. Summarize this document in five bullet points, then list any questions I should ask: [paste text]

11. Give me an agenda for a 30-minute meeting about [topic] with [who].

12. Compare these two options in a table with pros, cons and cost: [options]

Thinking

13. Act as a tough but fair interviewer for a [job] role. Ask me one question at a time and give feedback on my answers.

14. Here is my plan: [plan]. What could go wrong, and what would you change?

15. I want to [goal] but I am not sure where to start. Ask me up to five questions, then give me a simple first step.

Follow-up phrases that work

• "Make it shorter."
• "Use simpler words."
• "Give me three more options."
• "Make the tone warmer."
• "What did you leave out?"
• "What should I double check in this answer?"

Treat the first answer as a draft. You are the editor.

Let the AI ask you questions

If you are stuck, say so. Try: "Before you answer, ask me the questions you need to do this well." This one move fixes a lot of weak prompts, because the AI gathers the details you forgot to give.

Common prompt mistakes

• Too vague. "Write something about my business" gives a generic result.
• Too many jobs at once. Ask for one thing, then the next.
• No format. If you want a list, a table or a short paragraph, say so.
• Skipping the check. AI can be wrong. Check facts before you use them.
• Sharing private details. Leave out passwords, card numbers and other people's private information.

Want to try this in a real tool? Start with our ChatGPT beginner guide, or see how three assistants compare in ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini.

Frequently asked questions

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