AI Writing, CHATGPT, Checklist
How to Write Instructional Prompts with Examples
Nov
In our previous article, we explored complex prompts and how they can help you manage layered tasks. Now, let’s shift gears to focus on instructional prompts—a technique to get more sophisticated outputs.
Before we dig into it, let’s go back a step. Last Tuesday, I needed to write a formal thank-you email to a new client, but I couldn’t get the tone right. The text felt off. I was also struggling with the flu, so struggling to find the energy to write the text.
I asked ChatGPT: “Write a formal thank-you email to my client, mentioning our appreciation for their business and excitement to start working together again. Take into consideration they are based in [city/country] so I don’t have any cultural faux-pas.”
The draft text popped up in a flash, as it does. After a few tweaks, it was good to go. Satisfied, I popped off to bed with my hot water bottle.
Why Use Instructional Prompts?
Imagine you had a deluxe super smart expert at your fingertips to wordsmith emails, add more depth and insight to reports, or even rewrite your drafts for clarity?
Instructional prompts make this possible. By giving super specific directions, you can tell ChatGPT exactly what you want—and it delivers.
Instructional prompts are all about precision. They help ChatGPT act as your editor, assistant, or creative collaborator, ensuring polished, professional outputs every time.
What Are Instructional Prompts?
Instructional prompts are unambiguous, actionable directions that ensure you get a more contextual output. Whether you’re refining a draft or crafting more formal emails, instructional prompts bridge the gap between what you want to achieve and what ChatGPT delivers.
Instructional prompts tell ChatGPT how to approach a task. Think of it as giving your AI assistant a job description. Instead of just saying, “Help me with this,” you specify what you need and how you’d like it done.
Analogy
Imagine you’re renovating your house and ask a friend to help. If you only say, “Paint the room,” you might get something unexpected—maybe a wild shade of red when you wanted beige. Instructional prompts are your way of saying, “Use this soft beige paint, start with the north wall, and cover any furniture to avoid splatters.” With precise directions, the results are exactly what you envision.
Remember, ChatGPT cannot read your mind. The challenge for you is to help it understand, often by iteration, what you want to achieve. Paradoxically, often you may not know exactly what you have in mind when you start. For this reason, use an iterative approach to navigate your way to the ‘answer.’
Examples of Instructional Prompts
Polishing Drafts
- Prompt: “Act like a technical editor and rewrite this specification for clarity and flow.”
- Real-Life Win: This is perfect for refining messy drafts, improving tone, or ensuring grammatical perfection.
Writing Professional Emails
- Prompt: “Write a formal letter in US English requesting a meeting, including availability for next week.”
- Real-Life Win: Save time while crafting emails that strike the right tone, whether formal or conversational, and account for cultural nuances.
Creating Presentations
- Prompt: “Draft an introduction for a presentation on increasing sales through Instagram, highlighting key benefits for small businesses.”
- Real-Life Win: Generate well-structured, engaging content for presentations in minutes.
Summarizing Complex Content
- Prompt: “Summarize this 120-page document into three bullet points, focusing on challenges, solutions, and recommendations.”
- Real-Life Win: Perfect for condensing lengthy materials into digestible summaries.
Tailoring Content to Your Needs
- Prompt: “Rewrite this article in a conversational tone suitable for non-technical readers.”
- Real-Life Win: Adjust tone and style to match your audience effortlessly.
Use Cases for Instructional Prompts
1. Emails
Craft word-perfect, grammar-checked emails for any purpose.
- Example Prompt: “Write a thank-you email to an Asian client for their business, mentioning your excitement to work with them again.” You can follow-up by asking it to take cultural sensitivities into consideration.
2. Reports
Generate detailed, formatted reports.
- Example Prompt: “Draft a one-page executive summary for this sales report, focusing on quarterly growth and future strategies.”
3. Presentations
Create slide content (with images) tailored to your audience.
- Example Prompt: “Write the opening for a presentation to executives about improving customer retention rates in the US North region.”
4. Writing Social Media Captions
- Prompt: “Create a 150-character Instagram caption for a bakery’s new cinnamon rolls, highlighting freshness and taste.”
5. Customer Support Scripts
- Prompt: “Write a polite response to a customer complaint about delayed shipping, apologizing and offering a solution.”
Klariti Checklist for Writing Instructional Prompts
This checklist provides practical tips to help you create clear and effective instructional prompts, ensuring precise and professional outputs from ChatGPT.
- Be Clear and Direct
Bad: “Fix this email.”
Good: “Rewrite this email in US English to sound more professional and confident.” - Specify the Format
Bad: “Summarize this.”
Good: “Summarize these emails into three bullet points, focusing on challenges, solutions, and recommendations.” - Provide Context
Bad: “Write an introduction.”
Good: “Write an introduction for a B2B blog post about time management tips for WFH workers.” - Define the Audience
Bad: “Rewrite this.”
Good: “Rewrite this article for a non-technical audience who is new to this topic.” - Iterate and Refine
Example: If the first output isn’t perfect, follow up: “Simplify this further and use a more conversational tone.”
5 Common Mistakes When Using Instructional Prompts
Even with the best intentions, instructional prompts can go astray if not crafted properly. Here are five common mistakes and how to avoid them:
1. Being Too Vague
Mistake: Giving generic or unclear instructions.
Bad: “Write a better email.”
Why It’s a Problem: ChatGPT won’t know what “better” means—better grammar? A different tone? More concise?
Solution: Be specific about what you want ChatGPT to do.
Good: “Rewrite this email to sound professional and concise while maintaining a friendly tone.”
2. Overloading the Prompt
Mistake: Asking ChatGPT to perform multiple, unrelated tasks in a single prompt.
Bad: “Summarize this report, write a follow-up email, and create a presentation outline.”
Why It’s a Problem: ChatGPT may produce incomplete or disorganized responses.
Solution: Break your request into smaller, focused prompts.
Good:
“Summarize this report into three key points.”
“Write a follow-up email based on the summary.”
“Draft an outline for a presentation using the summary.”
3. Ignoring Context
Mistake: Failing to provide necessary background information for the task.
Bad: “Draft an introduction for my presentation.”
Why It’s a Problem: ChatGPT won’t know the audience, topic, or tone required.
Solution: Include key details about the purpose and audience.
Good: “Draft an introduction for a presentation on customer retention strategies, targeting senior executives in the retail industry.”
4. Not Specifying the Desired Format
Mistake: Leaving the output format up to ChatGPT’s interpretation.
Bad: “Summarize this data.”
Why It’s a Problem: ChatGPT might return a paragraph when you needed bullet points or a table.
Solution: Clearly state the preferred format in your prompt.
Good: “Summarize this data into a table with three columns: ‘Category,’ ‘Value,’ and ‘Trend.’”
5. Skipping Refinement
Mistake: Accepting the first response without tweaking it.
Bad: “This email looks fine; I’ll send it as is.” (even though it may not fully capture your intent)
Why It’s a Problem: The first output might need polishing for tone, clarity, or accuracy.
Solution: Use iterative prompts to refine the response.
Good: “Make this email more concise.” → “Add a friendly closing line.” → “Adjust the tone to be more formal.”
Bonus Tip
If you’re unsure about your prompt, imagine you’re giving instructions to a colleague. Would they know exactly what you want? If not, refine your prompt for clarity and detail.
By avoiding these common mistakes, you’ll ensure your instructional prompts produce accurate, tailored, and polished results every time.
Challenge: Create an Instructional Prompt
Think of a task you’ve been postponing—maybe writing a tricky email or summarizing a report. Use an instructional prompt like:
“Summarize this report for a remote team meeting, highlighting 3 key takeaways in bullet points.”
Instructional prompts offer a framework to tap into ChatGPT’s full potential by making its responses precise and tailored.
If your aim is to refine drafts, summarize technical documents, or craft more professional emails, use this technique to save time and improve quality. It takes practice but is definitely worth it.
Next Tutorial
I hope you found this useful. Now that we’ve discussed instructional prompts, you’re ready to take the next step: few-shot prompts. These prompts allow you to guide ChatGPT by providing examples, making it even better at replicating the tone, style, or format you want. In the next tutorial, we’ll explore how few-shot prompts can improve your results and give ChatGPT the opportunity to be an even more helpful assistant.
