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Practical AI in Depth

Lesson 1 of 1 · Beginner

How to write a ChatGPT prompt for work

About 25–35 minutes, including the practice

You will need. The Job Brief from AI for Everyday Work, or a fresh one on paper. A chat such as ChatGPT is useful for the optional try-out. You can finish the lesson without opening one.

What you will be able to do

  1. Explain what people mean by a ChatGPT prompt, without treating it as a spell
  2. Turn a five-part Job Brief into one prompt you could paste
  3. Spot a prompt that asks for magic, a fake expert, or facts you did not supply
  4. Score the prompt before you trust whatever comes back

AI for Everyday Work taught you to brief a job. This lesson is the next step people actually look up: how to write the prompt. A prompt is the text you paste into a chat such as ChatGPT, or into a similar tool with another name. The box looks empty. The search results look like treasure. Most of them are wishes with a heading.

You do not need a secret prompt. You need the same five parts you already practiced, written so the chat can follow them in one pass. ChatGPT is the name in the title because that is the name people type. The habit works in any chat that answers from your instructions. This site is not that product, and this lesson is not a manual from its maker.

What a prompt is, and what it is not

A prompt is a job handed over in writing. It is not a personality you rent, and it is not a list of clever lines copied from a stranger. If the prompt does not contain your facts, the answer will borrow someone else’s, or invent them.

Two ways people start

A prompt that is still a wish

  • “Act as a world-class marketer.”
  • “Write a viral post.”
  • “Use these 50 power words.”
  • No price, no audience, no limit

A prompt that is a brief

  • Who is speaking, and who will read it
  • The one job for this message
  • Facts that must stay, and inventions to refuse
  • The shape of the answer you will check
  1. 1ContextWho speaks, and who will read or use this
  2. 2GoalWhat the work is for
  3. 3ConstraintsWhat must stay true, and what to avoid
  4. 4StyleA sentence you like, or a clear note
  5. 5OutputThe exact shape you want back
The prompt is these five parts, in order. You do not add a sixth part called “be brilliant.”

Paste the brief. Do not decorate it.

Open with one plain line so the chat knows the format: “Follow this brief. If a fact is missing, write [NEED A FACT] instead of guessing.” Then paste Context, Goal, Constraints, Style, and Output. That opening line is the only new sentence. It does not replace the brief.

Skip “act as an expert” unless you can say which expert, which task, and which rules. A fake job title does not know your Saturday hours. Your constraints do.

Hypothetical: Mateo’s hardware counter

Mateo runs a neighborhood hardware counter. He searched “ChatGPT prompt for a Facebook post” and found a line that told the tool to sound like a famous brand. His real job is smaller. This Saturday the store has exterior paintbrushes in stock. He does not want a discount, a prize, or a claim that the brushes are the best in the city. He wants neighbors to know they can come for that one item.

Act as a world-class copywriter and write a viral Facebook post about paintbrushes that will explode my sales.

That prompt names no reader, no true fact, and no limit. A fluent answer can invent a 20% off sale, a five-star review, and a closing time. Convincing and true are still not the same thing.

Hypothetical · The same job, as a prompt

First line
Follow this brief. If a fact is missing, write [NEED A FACT] instead of guessing.
Context
I am Mateo. I write to neighbors who already stop at Ferretería Sol for ordinary hardware.
Goal
Tell them exterior paintbrushes are in stock this Saturday, so they can come if they need one.
Constraints
4 to 6 sentences. It is true that the brushes are in stock. Do not invent a price, a discount, a giveaway, a customer quote, an award, or store hours. Do not say we are the best shop in town.
Style
Like a note on the counter. Plain and warm. No hashtag pile.
Output
One post I can copy, plus a two-sentence backup.

Hypothetical answer, still not a result

What a usable reply can look like

Exterior paintbrushes are in stock this Saturday. If that is what you came for last time, they are on the shelf again. We are not announcing a discount or a prize. Come by if you need one.

Check it the way Lesson 3 of the first course taught you: facts, voice, claims, and whether you could post it. If the chat adds a price, delete the price. Do not shop for a luckier regeneration.

Prompts you should not collect

  • A prompt that promises virality, income, or “exploding sales.”
  • A prompt that asks the chat to invent reviews, awards, or scarcity.
  • A prompt that pastes a customer’s name, phone, or private message. Leave the person out. The earlier lesson on judgment still applies.
  • A prompt so long that you cannot see which sentence is a fact and which is decoration.

Recap

Search for a prompt if you want. Then write one that is a brief: who you are, who reads it, the job, the limits, the voice, and the shape of the answer. Ask the chat to mark missing facts instead of filling them in. Score the prompt before you score the prose.

Hands-on task

15 minutes

Write one prompt. Do not collect ten.

Option A (preferred)

Use a real task from your week: a post, a short email, or a notice. Use only facts you can stand behind. Do not paste anyone’s name or contact details.

Option B

Use Mateo and Ferretería Sol. Stay inside his facts: brushes in stock on Saturday, no price, no discount, no prize, no award, no invented hours.

Do this

  1. Write the opening line that forbids guessing.
  2. Add the five parts: Context, Goal, Constraints, Style, and Output. Constraints need one fact that must stay and one invention to refuse.
  3. If you use a chat, paste the prompt once and keep the first answer. If you do not, write 4–6 sentences describing what a good answer must include and must not invent.
  4. Run the one-minute check from the first course. Score the prompt with the rubric. A pass is 8 out of 10. If you miss, revise the prompt, not only the paragraph.

This exercise is practice. It does not enroll you, certify you, or promise customers, followers, or income.

Answer rubric

Score the prompt. Be stricter about missing facts than about elegant wording. Partial counts as half the points.

Your own tally

Choose a level for every row. The band is a guide for your revision, not a grade anyone else records.

Partial counts as half the points for that row.

The prompt is a real task, not “act as an expert,” “go viral,” or “explode sales” · 2
Context names who is speaking and who will read the result · 2
Constraints include one fact that must stay and one thing the answer must not invent · 2
The style note is concrete · 1
The output names a format or length you can check · 1
The answer you received, or the one you described, stays inside the facts · 2

Answer every row to see a total.

This number stays in this browser if you save it. Nobody else sees it, and it is not a credential.

9–10: Save this prompt next to the brief. It is the one you will reuse.

8: Pass. Cut any leftover magic line, then keep it.

5–7: The prompt is still partly a wish. Add the missing reader, fact, or output shape and try once.

Below 5: Start from the five headings. Write short true sentences. Do not decorate.

If you used Option B, a passing prompt must not invent a price, a discount, a prize, a quote, an award, or store hours for Ferretería Sol.

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