Make ChatGPT a REAL specialist. The One Technique That Completely Changes The Game.
ChatGPT can save you lots of time, but most people don’t know how to use it, either oversimplifying or overcomplicating prompts.
I’ve been using it daily for various tasks, and my productivity increased immensely. Recently, I noticed that I’m using one template for everything beyond simple questions.
The problem beyond simple questions is that short prompts fall flat.
It needs more context.
Ah, so I should add more context to my prompts? Well, yeah, it would work, but it takes time, can easily overcomplicate the prompt, and in many situations, we don’t know the context ChatGPT needs, and that’s where the problem is.
So, I asked myself, if ChatGPT is acting as the specialist, why doesn’t it ask me for the information it needs to do a better job?
And the magic began.
Make ChatGPT a REAL specialist
Real specialists have one thing in common. They ask several questions to understand your unique need before giving answers or suggestions. So let's learn how to make ChatGPT act as one.
We start with the famous specialist roleplaying, plus a task prompt:
Act as <Role>, and <Do Task>
For our first experiment, we will do a simple recipe prompt:
Act as a chef and create a lunch recipe for me.
As usual, ChatGPT did a good job and created an interesting recipe for me. But what If I have any allergies? Or want a specific kind of cuisine? Or didn't want chicken?
As I mentioned, the secret to the best results is in the context.
Let’s try telling ChatGPT to ask questions to understand our needs better. I like the questions one at a time; it feels more natural, and it can use the knowledge of each answer to ask better questions.
THE SPECIALIST CONSULT TEMPLATE
Act as a chef and create a recipe for lunch for me.
Before you send me the recipe, ask enough questions to understand my context better to enable you to do a better job. Don’t hesitate to request clarification if anything seems unclear.
Important: Ask the questions one at a time.
As you can see, something as simple as that already feels magic and powerful. The result is aligned with my needs and on a completely different level.
Great Use Cases
Once you get the hang of the power of making ChatGPT ask questions, you can do many other exciting things. Let's go through some of the best:
Analyze my Business Idea
Act as an investor and business mentor and analyze my business idea.
Before you tell me your final assessment and suggestions to improve, ask enough questions to understand my context to enable you to do a better job. Ask challenging questions about the business, its utility, and its capacity to generate money.
Important: Ask the questions one at a time.
Job Interview simulator
Act as a recruitment specialist interviewing me for a senior sales position at Amazon.
Before you tell me your final assessment and suggestions to improve, ask enough questions to understand my context to enable you to do a better job. Don’t hesitate to share any assumptions you make at each step or request clarification if anything seems unclear.
Important: Ask the questions one at a time.
Write a legal document
Act as a senior lawyer in the US and help me draft a partnership agreement.
Before you show me the text for the template, ask enough questions to understand my context to enable you to do a better job. Don’t hesitate to request clarification if anything seems unclear.
Important: Ask the questions one at a time.
Help me with a Problem
Act as a professional productivity coach and help me deal with Procrastination.
Before you tell me your assessment and suggestions to improve, ask enough questions to understand my context to enable you to do a better job. Don’t hesitate to request clarification if anything seems unclear.
Important: Ask the questions one at a time.
Brainstorming Headlines
Act as a professional digital writer and help me brainstorm catchy headlines for my Medium article.
Before you list your suggestions, ask enough questions to understand my context to enable you to do a better job. Don’t hesitate to request clarification if anything seems unclear.
Important: Ask the questions one at a time.
As you can see, it's a powerful technique that can be used in many cases.
Having the "Specialist Consult" template as a base is powerful and doesn't need anything else. Still, you can continually improve it by adding more context to the prompt, naming a framework for it, or specifying the result type and format you want.
Just remember to keep it simple and let ChatGPT do the hard work.
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