Don't ever write a prompt on your own again!
Your new cheat code when using gen AI
You’ve tried asking ChatGPT to write a project brief.
Or maybe you asked Claude to analyse some media data.
You got back something unspecific. Generic. Basically useless.
So you spent a couple of hours rewriting it yourself anyway.
Sound familiar?
Here’s the thing: AI only as good as the prompt that you give it. Even then, it’s a first draft.
Most of us don’t know how to ask for what we need. We type a quick sentence (or 5) and hope for the best.
There’s a better way. Get AI to write your prompts for you.
I’m serious. This is the cheat code that will 10x your results and get you closer to the output that you wanted in the first place.
What actually makes a good prompt?
Google and Anthropic (the company behind Claude) publish detailed guides on prompt engineering.
They’re brilliant. BUT, they can go pretty deep and unless you’re really interested in digging into things (like me), then I’m pretty sure you don’t have the time.
The short version? Google has an acronym: “Thoughtfully Create Really Excellent Inputs.”
That stands for: Task, Context, References, Evaluate and Iterate.
Translation: if you want good results, you need to give AI the proper input.
With AI that means:
Giving the AI a role and what you’re trying to do
Providing background information (and as much context as possible)
Being specific about format and tone
Including examples of the sort of output you want
The difference between “write me a project brief” and a properly structured prompt is night and day.
But who has time to write detailed prompts when you’re already drowning in work?
Let AI do the work
Here’s what I do now.
I ask my LLM to become a prompt engineer for me.
Try this:
“I need you to help me create a detailed prompt for [task]. Ask me questions about what I need, then write me a comprehensive prompt using best practice prompt engineering techniques so I can use it to get the best results.”
What happens:
The AI asks you clarifying questions
You answer in plain English
It writes you a detailed, structured prompt you can then use in any LLM
You save that prompt and reuse it whenever you need
Real example. Try this right now:
“I need you to help me create a prompt for writing client status reports. Ask me questions about my reporting needs, then write me a prompt I can reuse every week.”
The AI will ask about your clients, project types, what needs to be included, preferred format, all that.
Then it writes you a proper (reusable) prompt template.
Why this matters
One 5-minute conversation gets you a prompt you’ll use for months.
Do this for your most common tasks:
Project briefs
Meeting agendas
Risk assessments
Client emails
Timeline updates
Retrospective notes
<Insert next boring task here>
Build your own library of prompts that actually work.
Stop wasting your time getting outputs you can’t really use.
Don’t forget to iterate!
Tim
P.S. Start with the task that frustrates you most. The one you keep putting off. Get AI to write you a prompt for that first. You’ll be amazed at the difference.