LESSON 2 OF 6
The four parts of a prompt that works
BY THE END OF THIS LESSON
Write a prompt that returns something usable on the first try.
Why your prompts return generic answers
A generic prompt gets a generic answer — not because the model is weak, but because you asked a question that has a thousand equally valid responses. "Write me a marketing email" is one of those. The model picks the statistical middle, and the statistical middle is beige.
You fix this by narrowing the space of acceptable answers.
Role, Task, Context, Format
Role — who it should be. "You are a copywriter for a B2B accounting firm."
Task — the single thing to do. "Write a cold email."
Context — what it cannot guess. Who the reader is, what you sell, what you tried, what to avoid.
Format — the shape of the answer. Length, structure, tone, what to leave out.
Context is the part people skip, and it is the part that does the work.
The rule of thumb
If a competent freelancer could not do the task from your prompt alone, the model cannot either. Read your prompt back and ask: could a stranger do this without asking me a single follow-up question? If not, what would they ask? Add those answers.
WORKED EXAMPLE
GENERIC
Write a cold email to get more clients for my business.
SPECIFIC
You are a copywriter for a bookkeeping firm that works with UK dental practices. Write a cold email to a practice manager at a 3-dentist practice. Context: they almost certainly already have an accountant. Our angle is that we specialise in dental — we know about associate pay, NHS versus private income splits, and equipment finance. Our clients typically save 4 hours a month on admin. Format: under 120 words. No greeting cliché, no "I hope this finds you well". One specific observation about dental practices, one line on what we do, one low-friction ask. Plain English.
The second prompt eliminates thousands of possible answers. The model no longer has to guess the industry, the reader, the objection, the angle or the length — so it spends its effort on the writing instead of on guessing.
YOUR TURN
Rebuild one of your own vague prompts using all four parts.
RUN THIS
I am going to give you a vague prompt I actually used. Rewrite it using Role, Task, Context and Format. Before you rewrite it, list the questions you would need answered to do the job properly — then show me the rewritten prompt with placeholders where my answers should go. My vague prompt was: [paste yours here]
What a good result looks like
The questions it asks you are the real output here. If they feel obvious in hindsight, that is the gap your original prompt left open.
KNOWLEDGE CHECK
Answer all 3 correctly to complete this lesson.
1. Which part of Role/Task/Context/Format do people most often leave out?
2. Your prompt returns something bland. What is the most likely cause?
3. What is the "competent freelancer" test?
REMEMBER THIS
Role, Task, Context, Format — and Context is the one that does the work.