# The 4-part prompt that stops generic ChatGPT answers > Most people give ChatGPT one quick sentence and get back something generic: Dear Valued Customer, emoji, and blanks for your company name. Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/visual/four-part-prompt · Updated 2026-10-01 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com) [Step-by-step guide](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/visual#format-steps-carousel) · 8 slides · [ChatGPT](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/tool/chatgpt) By [Robert Breen](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about) · Published October 1, 2026 · From the free lesson [Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompt-writing-101-role-context-task-format) Most people give ChatGPT one quick sentence and get back something generic: Dear Valued Customer, emoji, and blanks for your company name. Swipe or scroll sideways for all 8 slides. The whole guide is written out below. ## The guide in text Same email, asked two ways. The 4-part prompt that fixes it, step by step. ## Step by step 1. ### Ask the vague way first "Write an email to my customers about our new service." Back comes Dear Valued Customer, emoji, and blanks like [Your Company Name]. 2. ### Role: say who is writing `Role:` You are the owner of Summit Lawn Care, a small family-run lawn company in Harrisburg, PA. That one line sets the voice for everything that follows. 3. ### Context: give it the facts it can't guess Who your customers are, what the new service is, what it costs and when it happens. In the lesson: core aeration and overseeding, $149 for most yards, done September 29 to October 17. 4. ### Task and Format: say what you want back `Task:` Write a short email announcing the new service, with one clear call to action: reply to this email to book a date. `Format:` Keep it under 120 words, friendly and plain, no emoji. Put the subject line first, then the email. 5. ### Send it and compare The company name, the real price, the real dates and one clear next step. Nothing left to fill in. 6. ### Save it as a template Swap the details for [BUSINESS], [SERVICE] and [DETAILS]. Keep it in a Prompt Templates doc, so you never start from a blank box. Businesses and people in the examples are made up. The steps, screens and wording come from the free lesson and the Stepthrough glossary and prompt library. ## Do it yourself, free **Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format**. Ask ChatGPT for the same customer email twice, once vaguely and once with a four-part prompt, and see exactly why structure gets a better answer. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, it checks your work as you go, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on. Free, and nothing touches your real accounts. [Start the free lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/prompt-writing-101) [Or read the full step-by-step guide](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompt-writing-101-role-context-task-format) ## Related terms Plain-English definitions, each with an example from a free lesson. [ChatGPT](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/chatgpt) · [Generative AI](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/generative-ai) · [Prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/prompt) · [Prompt template](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/prompt-template) · [Role, Context, Task, Format](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/role-context-task-format) · [ChatGPT memory](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/chatgpt-memory) · [Knowledge cutoff](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/knowledge-cutoff) · [Output format](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/output-format) [The full AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary) ## Related prompts - [Buyer inquiry reply prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/buyer-inquiry-reply-prompt): Reply to a buyer's listing inquiry from your facts sheet: fees, rules and showing times, with sources instead of opinions on… - [Listing description prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/listing-description-prompt): Write listing remarks and a social caption from your verified property facts, describing the home and never who should live… - [Neighborhood guide prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/neighborhood-guide-prompt): Turn neighborhood facts you checked yourself into a buyer-friendly guide with sources: parks, errands, transit and events. No… - [New service announcement email prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/new-service-announcement-email-prompt): Copy a four-part ChatGPT prompt that announces a new service to existing customers: real price, real dates, one call to action… [All free prompt templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts) ## From the blog - [AI Training for Employees: A Free Plan for Small Teams](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/blog/ai-training-for-employees): AI training for employees on a small-business budget: one rule set, three shared ChatGPT lessons, then role-based picks, all free in practice copies. - [ChatGPT Tone of Voice for Business Emails: Lines That Work](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/blog/chatgpt-tone-of-voice): Set ChatGPT's tone of voice for business emails with one Format line, a "sound like" comparison and specific fixes, using tone lines from real lessons. - [AI for Lawn Care Businesses: 3 Off-Season Projects](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/blog/ai-for-lawn-care-business): AI for lawn care and landscaping owners: three off-season projects, from ChatGPT customer emails to morning crew job emails and an online estimate form. ## More visual guides - [Mistake to Avoid: Not Setting a Length in Your Prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/visual/mistake-no-length-in-your-prompt): A visual tip: say the length in the Format part of your prompt, like under 120 words, instead of trimming a 300-word reply by hand. - [Myth: ChatGPT Already Knows My Business](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/visual/myth-chatgpt-already-knows-my-business): Myth vs fact: ChatGPT knows the current chat, its general training and what you set up. Your current prices and policies still have to come from you. - [Myth: There Is a Magic Wording for ChatGPT Prompts](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/visual/myth-magic-prompt-wording): Myth vs fact: "act as an expert" helps far less than plain facts. Say what you need, give the details only you know and say how it should look. [All visual guides](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/visual) · [All free tutorials](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content)