Why this matters
You need a job posting, a proposal cover letter or a client FAQ. You ask ChatGPT in one line, and back comes something that looks finished but is not: blanks like [Company Name], requirements you never asked for, and "competitive salary" where the real pay should be.
The four-part prompt fixes that when you know every fact up front. Often you do not, or you forget half of them. So ChatGPT guesses, and you rewrite.
In this module you flip it around. The interview prompt has ChatGPT ask you up to five questions, one at a time, sum up what it understood, and only then write. You only have to answer questions, and the answer comes back with your real details.
What you’ll build
A job posting for Red Oak Plumbing, a small made-up company hiring an apprentice. The one-line request gets a posting for an experienced, licensed plumber with no real pay. The interview prompt gets four short questions, a summary you check, and a posting with the real job: an apprentice role with training, $20 to $24 an hour, Monday to Friday, and a number to call.
You finish by saving the interview prompt to your Prompt Templates doc, with two blanks to fill next time.
What you need
- Nothing to start the practiceChatGPT and Google Docs are practice copies. Nothing is sent to OpenAI or saved to Google.
- A ChatGPT account, to do it for realA free account at chatgpt.com works. The prompt also works in Claude or Gemini.
- Your Prompt Templates docThe Google Doc from Prompt Writing 101. No doc yet? Go to docs.new and name it Prompt Templates.
- One writing job you keep putting offA posting, an FAQ, a proposal intro or a follow-up email. You will answer questions about it in plain, short sentences.
Concepts
3 ideas you’ll use in the practice.
Let the AI find what is missing
A one-line request leaves ChatGPT to fill every gap with the most common answer. For a job posting that means a generic company, years of experience and no pay. None of it is wrong in general. It is just not your job.
The interview prompt hands ChatGPT the job of finding the missing facts. You do not have to remember everything up front. You only answer what it asks.
One question at a time
Ten questions at once feels like a form, and most people skip half. "Ask me up to 5 questions, one at a time, and wait for my answer" keeps it a short conversation, and each answer can shape the next question.
Check the summary before it writes
The prompt ends with "sum up what you understood and wait for my OK". That summary is your one quick moment to catch a misunderstanding before it ends up in the answer.
Read every line. If one is wrong, say so. When it is right, reply "Looks right. Go ahead."
Practice
Do every step yourself in a practice copy of the real tool. It checks your work, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on.
Do it for real
Now repeat it in your own account. Tick each step as you go.
Downloads
- Interview prompt template (.txt)The exact prompt from the lesson, with the two blanks to fill in.
Quick check
3 questions to check you’ve got it.
1. When does the interview prompt help most?
- When you already wrote every fact into the prompt
- When you are not sure which details the AI needs
- Only for job postings
Show the answer
When you are not sure which details the AI needs. It makes the AI find the missing facts by asking. It works for almost any writing job.
2. Why "one at a time"?
- It keeps it a short conversation, so you actually answer every question
- ChatGPT can only ask one question
- It uses fewer words
Show the answer
It keeps it a short conversation, so you actually answer every question. A wall of questions feels like a form. One at a time gets real answers.
3. ChatGPT sums up what it understood. What do you do?
- Skip it and wait for the answer
- Check every line and fix anything wrong before you say go ahead
- Ask it to start over
Show the answer
Check every line and fix anything wrong before you say go ahead. The summary is the cheapest place to catch a misunderstanding.
Give Examples: Few-Shot Prompts
Your answers now have the right facts. Next, make them sound like you: paste three of your own past examples into the prompt and ChatGPT copies your style.
Start module 3 →