Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format: video walkthrough

Intro: what you'll build

0:00 Same request, far better answer. A customer email for Summit lawn care. You'll ask the vague way. Rebuild it with roll time to save for warmth, context, task, and format, and save it as a template. Let's build it.

Ask it vaguely

0:12 Let's start the way most people use ChatGPT: one quick sentence, and hope for the best. Click the message box at the bottom.

0:19 Here's our prompt. It's a real request, but it gives ChatGPT almost nothing to work with. Click Paste prompt to add it.

0:26 Send it and let's see what comes back. Click the Send button.

Start fresh

0:29 Look at that. Dear Valued Customer, emoji in the subject line, and blanks everywhere for your company name and your service. ChatGPT had to guess, so it wrote something that fits everybody and nobody. Let's ask again, the right way. Click New chat.

Build the prompt

0:43 This time we'll build the prompt in four parts: role, context, task, and format. Watch each part stack up in the message box. Click the message box.

0:51 First, the role. Tell ChatGPT who it's writing as. That one line sets the voice for everything that follows. Click Paste role.

0:58 Next, the context. This is everything ChatGPT can't know on its own: who your customers are, what the new service is, what it costs, and when it happens. Click Paste context.

1:08 Now the task. Say exactly what you want back, and what the reader should do next. One email, one clear call to action. Click Paste task.

1:17 Last, the format: length, tone, and layout. This is where you rule out the emoji and the fluff before they ever show up. Click Paste format.

Save the template

1:25 Role, context, task, format. Same request as before, just with the details ChatGPT was missing. Click Send.

1:32 Now that's an email you could actually send. Your company name, the real price, the real dates, and one clear next step, all in under a hundred and twenty words. You'll want this prompt again, so let's save it in a Google Doc. Click the Google Docs tab at the top.

1:46 This Google Doc is called Prompt Templates. Keep the prompts that work in here, so you never start from a blank box again. Click into the document.

1:53 Start with a heading, so you can find this one later. Click Paste heading.

1:57 Here's the same prompt, with blanks where the details change: your business, the service, and the details. Next time, copy it into ChatGPT and fill in the brackets. These four parts work for social posts, ads, and replies to customers too. Click Paste template.

2:13 Simple as that. We show you and you do it. Sign up below to learn AI automation for free.