How to write your first AI prompt
A five-step framework for going from a vague idea to a prompt that actually gets you a useful answer on the first try.
Before you start
- A ChatGPT, Claude or SynaBot account (any free tier works)
- A task you already do that produces text
Tools you'll use
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- SynaBot Assistants
Steps
- 1
Pick the role
Tell the model who it should be. "You are a senior marketing manager" gets a very different answer to "You are a first-year marketing intern."
- 2
State the task in one sentence
Verb + object. "Rewrite this landing page." "Summarize this meeting." "Draft three cold email variants."
- 3
Describe the audience
Who is the output for? Their seniority, their industry, what they already know. Voice shifts massively with audience.
- 4
Specify the format
Bullet list? Paragraph? Table with these columns? Number of items? Word count? Never let the model choose.
- 5
List the constraints
What to avoid (jargon, emojis, exclamation marks, first person). What to include (product name, keyword). Constraints stop wandering.
What you'll have at the end
A repeatable five-line template you can drop any task into and get consistently good AI output.
Common questions
Do I need to say "please" or "thank you"?
No. Polite prompts do not produce better answers. Save the tokens.