Show ChatGPT how you write instead of describing it: paste two or three of your real past pieces, each fenced off with a line of ###, add one line that says "copy my style, not the facts", and then give it the new job. That is called a few-shot prompt, and the free lesson Give Examples: Few-Shot Prompts walks you through it in six minutes.
Describing a style is hard. "Friendly but professional" means something different to everyone, and ChatGPT turns it into the same polite template it gives everyone else. Your real examples carry the things you would never think to list: how long your sentences are, whether you use first names, how you sign off.
What are the steps?
- Pick two or three real examples. Choose pieces you were happy with and that do the same job as the new one: review replies for a review reply, listing descriptions for a listing.
- Write the ask first. Say who is writing and what you need, then "here are examples of my style".
- Paste the examples between ### lines. If each example answered something (a review, an email, a set of notes), paste that too, so ChatGPT sees what you were replying to.
- Add the guard line. "Copy my style, not the facts." Without it, ChatGPT may borrow a detail from an example, like a feature of another house.
- Give the new job and its facts. Paste the new review, notes or email after the examples.
- Read it like your customer would. Fix any line that does not sound like you, and check every fact.
- Save the prompt as a template. Ask ChatGPT to turn it into a template with blanks for the examples and the new details.
The post on few-shot prompting in ChatGPT goes deeper on choosing examples.
What does this look like in a real lesson?
In Give Examples: Few-Shot Prompts, a bike shop owner named Marcus asks ChatGPT to reply to a five-star Google review with no examples. The reply is fine but generic: it speaks as "we", talks about Marcus instead of as Marcus, and is not signed by him.
Then you start a new chat and send the prompt in three parts: the ask, three of Marcus's real past replies (each with its review) separated by ### lines, and the same new review. This time the reply is short, uses the customer's first name and is signed by Marcus, and you never told it to do any of that. Next you try a two-star complaint in the same chat, with the guard line "Copy my style, not the facts", and get an honest apology in his voice with nothing borrowed from the examples. You finish by asking ChatGPT to turn the prompt into a reusable template.
The real estate version does the same with listing descriptions. Without examples you get "comfortable living space" and "added peace of mind". With three of the agent's past descriptions you get her way of leading with the best feature, and the guard line keeps another home's river view out of the new post.
How do I make it stick across chats?
Pasting examples every time gets old. Put the style somewhere ChatGPT reads on its own:
- A Project. In ChatGPT Projects: Your Brand Voice in One Place, a made-up cleaning company writes voice instructions in Project settings and uploads a brand voice guide as a source, so every new chat inside the project already writes in that voice.
- Custom instructions. For your personal style across all chats, add a few lines about tone in your settings. Keep them short.
- Claude Projects work the same way: instructions plus files that every chat in the project uses.
If your business has written style rules, those are your brand voice. The post on ChatGPT tone of voice shows how to turn them into instructions.
What mistakes should I avoid?
- Describing instead of showing. Three examples beat a paragraph of adjectives.
- Mixing example types. A sales email teaches nothing about how you reply to a complaint.
- Leaving out the guard line. Facts leak from examples into the new piece.
- Using examples with private details. Replace client names and numbers with placeholders before you paste.
- Sending without a read. Anything going to a customer gets checked by you first, every time.
If what you really want is an inbox tool that drafts email replies in your voice, see which AI email assistant writes replies that sound like me.
Key takeaways
- Show two or three real examples between ### lines instead of describing your style.
- Add "copy my style, not the facts".
- Choose examples that do the same job as the new piece.
- Put your voice in a Project so every chat starts with it.
- Read and fact-check before anything reaches a customer.
Frequently asked questions
- How many examples should I give ChatGPT?
Two or three is usually enough. More can help for longer pieces, but pick quality over quantity.
- Will ChatGPT learn my style forever?
Not from one chat. To reuse it, save the prompt as a template, or put your examples and rules in a Project or your custom instructions.
- Does this work in Claude too?
Yes. The same few-shot prompt works in Claude, Gemini and Copilot, because it only relies on the examples you paste.