Artificial intelligence is a tool. ChatGPT is a tool. As with all tools, if you don’t know how to use them, they are fairly useless. You wouldn’t pick up a complicated kitchen appliance and expect miracles without reading the manual and learning how to use it. This is no different. Instead of punching keys into ChatGPT, learning how to prompt it effectively will mean far better results, for you and your business.
Lasse Linnes is founder of Insidr.ai, a website and tool database finding the best AI tools to supercharge your business, on a mission to share useful knowledge regarding artificial intelligence, including how to use AI most efficiently. The directory currently holds over 250 of the best AI tools (the ones that are the most useful, not the ones you don’t really need) split across categories including customer support, copywriting and ecommerce. Within three months, Linnes has built a community subscriber base of 35,000 as well as over 60,000 social media followers. The website gets over 200,000 hits per month, and “this is just the beginning,” he said.
Linnes is fascinated with effective prompting and is explaining everything so we can benefit. Here are Linnes’ 4 types of prompt and exactly how to use each one, with examples of the output each can produce.
The 4 types of prompt to use for large language models (LLMs)
1. Information prompts
When you prompt ChatGPT, or your large language model of choice, with an informative prompt, you are asking it to provide information in a specific format. “Use an information prompt when you want to be educated about a specific topic,” said Linnes.
Learning something faster, receiving a summary, or understanding a topic in more detail are all achieved with information prompts typed into ChatGPT. For example, Linnes recommends this prompt to learn something faster, “I want to learn about [insert topic]. Identify and share the most important 20% of learnings from this topic that will help me understand 80% of it.’’ What follows will be a high-level account of the topic in question, broken down into a relatable, memorable structure. A similar prompt, to ask ChatGPT to explain a specific topic, is, “Explain [something about] [topic] in [format],” for example, “Explain the benefits of using solar energy in 100 words.”
You should also use an information prompt when asking for information you input in a different format. Linnes gives the example of summarizing a book, but this could also be a transcript, meeting notes, article or complex document. Depending on which version of ChatGPT you use, you can insert the text and ask for a summary, or simply name the text and author and the internet-powered version will find it for you. Here’s the prompt suggested by Linnes: “Summarize the book [book name] by the author [author name] and give me a list of the most important learnings and insights.”
With every information prompt, think about what you’re looking to achieve and ensure what you’re asking does this. If the purpose is to educate someone else, say so. If you want the output to be memorable, say so too. Know the purpose behind what you generate.
2. Creative prompts
“These prompts encourage the AI to generate imaginative, engaging content, such as stories, poems, or scripts.” You can have fun with these prompts. Think of information prompts as your study guide or researcher and creative prompts as your inspirational copilot. Linnes shared three main creative prompts to try in your business, script, message and blog.
Creative prompts, used effectively, can output scripts for YouTube videos, keynote speeches, even examples of what to say in your next team meeting. The key is in effectively setting scene and describing what you want. Linnes gives this prompt example for a YouTube script, for you to edit as you see fit. “Write a script for a YouTube video. The video is a how-to guide on creating your first Facebook ads as a beginner. The video should be no longer than 5 minutes and be so simple that a 10-year-old would understand it.”
Similarly with writing a blog post, here’s Linnes’ example prompt. “Write a [length in words] blog post on [topic in detail]. Use [specify the type of] tone, targeting [your target audience]. Include the following sections [specify subheaders], targeting the primary keyword of [primary keyword] [number] times, and including secondary keywords [secondary keywords], to be used [number] times[BC1] each.”
For each example above, experiment and see what comes out. If in doubt, add more information. More context, more guiding. Think of ChatGPT as a hungry and fast-learning work experience student who is happy to process large amounts of information to apply to their work.
3. Instructional prompts
Use instructional prompts when you want to learn how to do something. “These prompts request step-by-step guidance or tutorials on a particular subject,” said Linnes. By scraping the entire web, LLMs can format words in this way. They can cut through reams of information to give you bite-sized instructions that walk you through what to do.
You might use instructional prompts for creating a guide you can follow yourself. You might give the guide to a team member or freelancer to follow a process for a specific outcome. Example prompts for how-to guides, ads and social media campaigns include, “Explain in a step-by-step guide how to set up a Facebook ads campaign for a company.” Replace Facebook ads campaign for Google ads, Twitter ads or LinkedIn ads. Replace company with brand, influencer, local business. Similarly for a social media campaign, Linnes gave the prompt: “Provide a step-by-step guide on how to create a social media campaign for a [type of] business selling [type of products] to [target audience].”
If you want an entire script creating, use a creative prompt. If you want someone to create the script from a set of instructions, use ChatGPT to get the instructions. for example, “Provide a guide on how to write a short ad script for promoting [type of company].” Your creative partner of choice can then write ad scripts based on this guide.
Remember that ChatGPT is a language model, not a complex thinking machine. It has been known to make things up if it doesn’t know the answer, so fact check and be prepared for errors to creep in.
4. Problem-solving prompts
Problem-solving prompts hold similarities with creative prompts, but with a more specific purpose: solve a problem. “These prompts seek solutions to specific problems or challenges,” said Linnes. When using problem-solving prompts, think of ChatGPT as your helpful business mentor. Your ads specialist, your finance guide. For everything they suggest, you will consider, test and verify, but the suggestions themselves are useful in sparking new ideas and hearing options for your way forward.
Use a problem-solving prompt whenever you’re stuck. When you seek change and progress but you’re not sure where to go. When your website traffic is stalling, say, “Suggest ways to increase organic traffic to my website,” said Linnes, and explain your site’s size and purpose. Give specifics to make the suggestions more relevant. For a marketing plan example, Linnes adds the following, “My ecommerce beauty company has $5,000 to spend on marketing activities over the next three months. Suggest 3 different marketing strategies for how we could use the budget.”
Similarly, use the internet-powered version of ChatGPT to find the most up-to-date options for things like financing. Linnes suggested that the model could generate a useful plan in response to this prompt: “Create a comprehensive guide to small business financing options, including loans, grants, and equity financing.’’ You don’t have to do everything the model says, but it may well be effective in steering you in the right direction.
When prompted in the right way, ChatGPT can break complex problems down into smaller parts and use its collective internet knowledge to come up with ways to solve it. Add more prompts to tell it which options you like, and keep going until you have a plan you’re happy with.
Information prompts, creative prompts, instructional prompts, problem-solving prompts. Which are you using and why? Understand the four types to select the right one for your challenge. In business and in LLMs, the better you ask for what you want, the better your results will be.
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