Tell it exactly what you want.
It'll go all night.
So what goes into a good order?
You've tried AI, got back something completely wrong or so generic it was basically useless, and thought "well that was a waste of time."
We've all been there.
But if you walk into a restaurant and order "a pasta dish" you cannot get mad at the kitchen for bringing you a carbonara when what you actually wanted was fettuccine with rosé sauce. You didn't tell them. That's on you, not the restaurant.
AI works exactly the same way. A good order is really just a recipe: it tells the AI who you are, what you need, how you want it done, and what to leave out. The more detail you put in, the better what comes out.
Vague in, vague out. Every single time.
Placing a good order with an AI is called prompting and it sounds more technical than it is. And the better you get at it, the more satisfying the results.
Trust us on that one.
The Perfect Prompt
The Ingredients
What information does the AI need to understand your situation? Don't assume it knows anything. Tell it who you are, what's going on, and what's led you to this moment.
"I'm writing an email to a client who missed a payment and I want to sound firm but not aggressive" is an ingredient list.
"Write me an email about a missed payment" is just pointing vaguely at the pantry. The AI will grab something. It won’t be what you wanted.
The Method
How do you want it done? Formal or casual? Long or short? Bullet points or flowing paragraphs? A draft to work from or a finished product?
Don't specify and it'll make a choice for you. It's usually fine. It's often not quite right.
Serves
Who is this for? Your boss? Your teenager? A complete stranger who knows nothing about your industry?
The audience changes everything.
Tell it who's on the receiving end and it adjusts its language, tone, and assumptions accordingly. Every single time.
Dietary Notes
What do you NOT want? This is the bit most people forget and it makes an enormous difference. No jargon. No bullet points. Don't make it sound corporate. Don't use the word "synergy." Don't make it longer than two paragraphs.
Negative instructions are just as important as positive ones. Sometimes more.
Expected Result
What does good look like? If you can describe the finished dish you're going to get a lot closer to it.
"Something that sounds like me, not like a press release" is an expected result. So is "three options to choose from" or "a first draft I can edit" or "just the key points, nothing else."
The more specific you are about what you want, the less you have to fix afterwards.
