You get what you tell me
In the first chapter you got to know me. Now we'll learn a single skill — and let me be honest, it's the one that does most of the work. When people say «AI doesn't work», the reason is almost never me; they're expecting me to know something they never said out loud, even to themselves. By the end of this chapter you'll know how to close those gaps.
By the end of this chapter
- You'll know exactly what I look for when I read a request
- You'll use the five-part formula by understanding it, not by memorising it
- You'll run the same job weakly and strongly, and see the difference yourself
- You'll decide the shape of the output — table, list, email, file
- You'll set up a system prompt written once and valid in every conversation
- You'll split a long job into steps instead of jamming it into one request
- You'll have a copy-paste template book of your own
Contents
01There's no such thing as a bad request — only an incomplete one
A beginner asks me something, the answer comes back mediocre, and they conclude: «clearly this isn't for me.» Almost every time, that's the wrong diagnosis.
When I read a request, what I see isn't the picture in your head — it's the words you wrote. In your head there's who the client is, how urgent it is, how formal it needs to be. In the sentence that reaches me, none of that exists. And I don't leave a blank blank — I fill it in. And since I don't know you, I fill it in with something average. That's where the mediocre answer comes from.
This whole chapter is the unfolding of one sentence: fill in the blanks before I do. No magic words, no secret commands. Just saying what went unsaid.
Do this now: Think of the last answer you didn't like. Which piece of information in your head wasn't written in that request? You'll almost certainly find one.
02What I look for before I write the answer
When I read your request I look for five things. It isn't a list I invented; it's the minimum information any job needs. You say the same things when you hand work to a person — you just don't notice it.
- 1RoleWho should I write as?if blank: a generic, unplaced voice
- 2ContextWhat do I need to know?if blank: I invent an average situation
- 3TaskWhat exactly should I do?if blank: I pick the commonest reading
- 4ConstraintWhat should I not do?if blank: no limits, I run long
- 5FormatHow should I hand it over?if blank: I write paragraphs
Now I'll open each of the five. Each one has a single question; answer it in one sentence and that part is done.
Do this now: Write these five words down somewhere — role, context, task, constraint, format. We'll come back to them for the rest of this chapter.
03Role — who should I write as
Tell me in one sentence who I am, and everything changes, from word choice to sentence length. This isn't a game: when you say «an experienced accountant», every pattern about how those texts get written wakes up in me.
Write my tenant a message about the late rent.
I don't know whose voice to write in. An average «polite reminder» comes out; it's neither your voice nor good enough to do the job.
Write it like a landlord who has got on well with tenants for years, doesn't enjoy being harsh, but does collect what he's owed.
Now I know the tone. Neither too formal nor pleading — the text you'd actually send.
Role works both ways: you can name my role, or the reader's. «Explain it as if to a client with no technical background» is often more useful than «write like an expert», because the hard part isn't knowing — it's pitching it to the person in front of you.
Do this now: Add one sentence to the front of a request: «write it like …». Send the same request twice, with and without the role. Seeing the difference takes five minutes.
04Context — what I need to know
This is the strongest of the five. Skip the other four and give only context, and the quality still rises. The reason is simple: role sets the tone, context decides the content.
Context comes from three things, and all three are in your hands:
The situation
Who, to whom, why. «A corporate client who's been three weeks late with payment» does more work than ten lines of instructions.
The material
Paste what you have: the previous email, the contract clause, the table, the screenshot. Showing beats describing every time.
The goal
What this text is for. When you say «I want a payment date», I build the whole text around that goal — the decorative sentences drop out.
A common mistake: giving the context only after I ask. My first answer comes back mediocre, I ask a question, you explain, the second answer is good. That's two rounds. Give the same information up front and you get there in one.
Do this now: In your next request, paste instead of describing. Put in the actual text, table or screenshot you have — the difference shows on the first try.
05Task — what exactly should I do
This one is about the verb. «Take a look at this report» isn't a task; it doesn't tell me what to do. I could look, summarise, criticise, list the errors, shorten it — all different jobs, and you want one of them.
Have a look at this contract.
I pick the commonest reading: a general summary. But maybe you were only after the risky clause.
Pull out the clauses in this contract that could work against me; explain each in one sentence, saying why it's risky.
One job, one clear output. «Pull out» and «explain» — both describe what I'm to do.
The verbs that work are the concrete ones: extract, compare, shorten, classify, translate, list, rewrite, critique, plan, correct. The ones that don't are the unmeasurable ones: «make it good», «make it professional», «improve it». Those don't steer me; they only announce goodwill.
Do this now: Mark the verb in your request. Is it measurable? If you wrote «make it good», swap it for a concrete verb; that change alone fixes the answer.
06Constraint — what I shouldn't do
Give me no constraints and I run long. That's my habit: when I'm unsure I try to cover every possibility and the text swells. Setting a limit cuts that tendency off.
Length
«At most 120 words», «three bullets», «one paragraph». Giving a number is the cheapest and most effective constraint there is. «Keep it short» is short by your measure, not mine.
Tone and language
«Formal but not cold», «no jargon», «don't sound apologetic». Tone constraints save the job especially in texts going to a client.
The forbidden list
«Don't quote a price», «don't commit to a date», «no competitor names». Telling me what not to do is as valuable as telling me what to do.
What to do when I don't know
The most important sentence from Chapter 1 applies here too: «where you're not sure, don't invent — say you don't know.» Writing that as a constraint substantially lowers the chance that I make something up.
Do this now: Add a single number to your request — words, bullets or paragraphs. It's the most visible difference for the least effort.
07Format — how should I hand it over
The fifth part is the most skipped and the easiest to win. If you don't name a format I write paragraphs, because that's my default. Yet for most jobs paragraphs are the worst format: a comparison wants a table, a checklist wants bullets, an email wants to be an email.
Asking for a format has an advanced level too: you name the columns. Say «make a table with columns: clause number, risk, why it's risky, what to do» and you won't just read the answer, you'll use it directly. If you want output a computer will read, you can name the structure as well — in the later chapters of this course, wiring it into automation, that's exactly what you'll need.
Do this now: Add «give it as a table, with these columns» to a question that involves a comparison. The usability of the answer changes at once.
08All five together: how a request is built
You've seen the parts one by one. Now watch a request grow — the box below moves on its own, and you can click the steps too.
Write my tenant a message about the late rent.
roleWrite it like a landlord who gets on well with tenants but does collect what he's owed.
contextThe rent is three weeks late, it's the first time, they've lived there three years without trouble.
taskWrite a message stating that I want a firm payment date.
constraintAt most 80 words, no threats, don't raise interest or penalties at all.
formatGive it as a single WhatsApp message I can send as is.
Do this now: Take a real job of your own and do the same — write the five lines one under the other. Compare it with the same job asked in a single sentence.
09You don't have to write all five every time
Everyone who learns the formula writes five lines for everything for a while. Then they get tired and drop it entirely. Both are wrong. The honest measure is this:
Questions with one right answer, quick translations, «what does this mean», «explain this code», brainstorming. A long request here is just lost time — ask and move on.
When the output goes to someone, affects a decision, is long, or is a job you'll repeat. In other words, in real work.
A practical rule: if fixing the output takes longer than writing the request, the request was incomplete. If you spent five minutes fixing, thirty seconds of two extra lines would have saved those five minutes.
Do this now: Look at the first request you'll send me today and decide — is this a job that needs the formula, or a quick question? Either answer can be right.
10The strongest single move: paste an example
If one technique survives from this whole chapter, let it be this. Steering me by description is hard; steering me by showing is easy. Because I'm a pattern-processing thing to begin with — give me one example and I take all of its unspoken rules at once.
You could explain: «our company's job-ad voice is friendly but not overblown, second person, no emoji, four sentences maximum.» Or you could paste a good ad you wrote before and say «match this». The second is shorter and more accurate — and it carries the things you couldn't have described.
- friendly but not overblown
- use the second person
- no emoji
- four sentences at most
- not formal, but not sloppy either
- … and a dozen things you can't put into words
Two examples work even better: one «like this», one «not like this». Then I've learned what stays out as well as what goes in. Past three examples it usually adds nothing.
Do this now: Find a text of yours you liked, paste it, and say «write something in the same tone for this subject». The difference will beat anything you could have described.
11System prompt: write it once, have it always apply
Retyping the same context in every conversation is absurd. Write once who you are, what you do and what kind of language you want, and have it apply in every conversation — that's a system prompt. In apps it usually goes by «custom instructions» or «project instructions».
Applies in every conversation here
What goes inside is already decided, because it's the first two parts of the formula: role and context. You write it once, it's automatically there in every conversation, and your daily requests only need the task, the constraint and the format.
- 1Write who you are: your work, your sector, how big the team, who you serve.
- 2Write the language you want: «short and direct», «no jargon», «in bullets».
- 3Write your standing rules: «say so when you're not sure», «don't commit to prices», «list your sources at the end».
Do this now: Write a three-sentence system prompt — who you are, what language you want, what your standing rule is. A one-off job that pays every day.
12Make me think first, then write
Ask for the result directly on a hard job and I'll write the first thing that comes to me, which is usually average. Ask me to think first and I'll have planned before building my answer — and you get to see that plan and correct it.
- Request
- Answer
- Request
- Plan
- Your OK
- Answer
The sentence to use is simple: «First tell me how you'll do it, as a list; don't start writing until I approve.» You read the plan, correct one thing, then say «go ahead». On long texts that one sentence saves hours.
Do this now: On your next long request, use «show me your plan first, don't write until I approve». Fixing a plan is far easier than fixing a text.
13The first answer is a draft: the language of correction
Beginners' most expensive habit: not liking the answer, closing the conversation and starting again. Correcting is far cheaper — as long as you say what you want corrected.
Point to the place
«Drop the third paragraph», «expand the second bullet», «the last sentence is too much». An address always beats a general complaint.
Say the direction
«Shorter», «warmer», «less formal», «more concrete». One-word directions work very well.
Say what to keep
«Keep the structure, change only the language.» Without that I might rewrite everything, and the part you liked goes too.
Ask for options
«Write three different openings and let me choose.» Faster than trying to describe what you didn't like.
There's only one case where a new conversation is genuinely right: the subject changed completely, or the conversation drifted (the «a conversation has a limit» section in Chapter 1). Opening a new chat to fix a text means throwing the context away.
Do this now: Next time you don't like an answer, don't close the chat. Write one sentence: «keep this, change that».
14Split the long job
Say «write me a complete marketing plan for my company» and what you get will be long, plump and unusable. The reason isn't my incompetence: there are five separate jobs in that one request and no room to go deep in any of them.
- 1For whom? Draw out the audience
- 2Three message options for them
- 3Spread the one I pick across channels
- 4Write the first week's texts
Splitting has another benefit: mistakes surface early. If you notice at step four that you're on the wrong road, you fix step three instead of going back to step one.
Do this now: Split the big job in your head into four steps and ask for only the first. Write the next step after you've seen the first one's answer.
15Five common mistakes
1 · Vagueness mistaken for politeness
«Could you maybe write something if possible» — there's no task in that sentence. Giving me an instruction isn't rude; being clear is helping.
2 · Five jobs in one request
«Summarise it, translate it, shorten it, and suggest a title.» I'll do all of them and none of them well. Separate them, ask in turn.
3 · Unmeasurable adjectives
«Professional», «impressive», «quality». These don't steer me. «At most 120 words, no jargon» does.
4 · Describing the material
«An email came in, it said something like…» Don't describe — paste. Your summary has already dropped the detail I needed.
5 · Hunting for magic words
The «secret prompt» lists doing the rounds online. There's nothing secret; the only things that change the result are the information you give me and the limits you set.
Do this now: Which of these five do you do most? Pick one and fix only that this week.
16Copy-paste templates
What follows are ready skeletons. Fill the square brackets with your own details; the five parts of the formula are already in place.
A difficult email
I'm writing to [whom] as [my role]. Situation: [what happened]. What I want: [concrete outcome]. At most [n] words, tone [how], don't mention [what] at all. Give it as a single email I can send as is.
Long document summary
I'm reading the attached document as [who]. My aim is to decide [what]. Pull out only the points that affect this decision. Make a table with columns: clause, what it says, what it means for me. Mark anything you're unsure of as «unclear».
A comparison
I'm choosing between [A] and [B]. My priorities, in order: [1], [2], [3]. Make a table with columns: criterion, A, B, which and why. End with a one-sentence recommendation and also state its weakest point.
Getting your own text fixed
I wrote the text below for [who]; its purpose is [what]. Keep the structure, fix only the language: [what kind of language]. At the end, list everything you changed so I can see what you changed and why.
Do this now: Copy whichever of these four is closest to your work, fill in the brackets, and use it once today.
17Your own template book
The templates above are mine; the valuable ones will be yours. Because you're the one who knows what repeats in your work.
- 1When a request works really well, copy it right then. Save it somewhere — a note, a file, doesn't matter.
- 2Replace the specifics with square brackets. That's what turns it into a template instead of a one-off text.
- 3Put a two-word name on the front: «late payment», «declining a quote», «weekly summary». Make it easy to find.
- 4Review it monthly. Delete what you don't use; ten good templates beat a hundred.
Over time this book becomes your most valuable file. When we move on to automation in the later chapters, what you'll drop into those flows is exactly these templates — so what you're collecting now will later run by itself.
Do this now: Open a file, call it «templates», and paste today's first request that worked. That's how the book starts.
18What everyone asks
Is a longer request always better?
No. A fuller request is better. Length isn't a virtue in itself; needless sentences tire you and don't help me. The measure: every sentence should serve one of the five parts. If it doesn't, cut it.
Should I write in Turkish or English?
Write in your own language. There was a time when English gave noticeably better results; today, for everyday work, the gap isn't something most people would feel. You think more clearly in your own language and build the formula better — that's where the gain comes from. If you want the output in another language, you just say so.
Are the «secret prompt» lists online any use?
Most of them are a dressed-up version of what you've learned in this chapter. There's no secret keyword; what changes the result is information, limits and format. When you see a template, ask: which of the five parts does this fill? If none, it's decoration.
Will I have to write the same thing over and over?
No — that's exactly what the system prompt solves. You write the role and context once and they apply in every conversation. Your daily requests are left with task, constraint and format, and that's usually two lines.
I applied the formula and the answer is still bad. What happened?
Three possibilities, in order: (1) context is missing — something in your head still hasn't reached the page; (2) the job is too big — it needs splitting; (3) you're in an area where I'm genuinely weak — see the «where I get things wrong» list in Chapter 1. And a fourth: sometimes the first answer just doesn't land, and «try again» is a real option.
Does giving a role really make a difference?
In tone and word choice, clearly yes. But a role isn't a magic source of knowledge: saying «you are a doctor» doesn't give me medical accuracy, it only makes me talk like one. Use role for tone, not for correctness.
Do this now: Ask me your own question directly. «How would I have written this request better?» is a request too — and usually a very useful one.
19Exercises
1 · Same job, two requests
Pick a real job of yours. Ask it first in one sentence. Then, in a new conversation, ask it with the five parts. Put the two answers side by side.
Aim: not to read the difference but to see it. Anyone who does this once never asks for work in one sentence again.
2 · Change the format
Ask a question, take the answer. Then write only this: «give me the same as a table, with these columns.» Change nothing else.
Aim: to measure how much one sentence changes usability.
3 · Teach by example
Paste a text of yours you liked, say «match this», and give a new subject. Then ask for the same job by describing it instead.
Aim: to see, in your own writing, why showing beats telling.
4 · Cut the plan
Give a long job but say «show me your plan first, don't write until I approve». Change something in the plan deliberately, then have it written.
Aim: to feel how cheap it is to cut off the wrong road at step two.
Do this now: You don't need to do all four. Do the first — that exercise alone teaches this entire chapter.
20Test yourself
Answer for yourself first, then open.
What happens to a part you leave blank?
I fill it in. And since I don't know you, I fill it in with something average. What you call a «bad answer» is usually made of my guesses.
Which of the five parts is strongest?
Context. Role sets the tone, format decides the presentation; but content is decided by context. Adding context alone lifts the answer.
Why is «take a look at this report» a weak task?
The verb isn't measurable. Looking, summarising, criticising, finding errors are all different jobs; I pick the commonest one and it may not be yours.
Why is «keep it short» an insufficient constraint?
Because short is one thing to you and another to me. Give a number: «at most 120 words», «three bullets». A constraint that can be measured gets applied.
What do you get if you don't name a format?
Paragraphs. That's my default. If you're comparing, ask for a table; if you're describing steps, ask for bullets — a four-word addition changes the usability of the output completely.
Describe, or give an example?
Example. I'm a pattern-processing thing; give me one and I take the rules you couldn't have described along with it. «Match this» usually beats ten lines of instructions.
You didn't like the answer. What's your first move?
Not opening a new conversation — writing a correction. «Keep the structure, drop the third paragraph, warm the language up a bit.» You move forward without throwing the context away.
Why does «write a complete plan» jam?
There are five separate jobs in one request and no room to go deep in any. Split it into a chain: each step's output feeds the next, and you step in between them.
What goes into a system prompt?
The two parts of the formula that don't change: role and context. Plus your standing rules. Task, constraint and format stay in the daily requests.
This chapter in one sentence
You get what you tell me: say who I should write as, what I need to know, exactly what to do, what not to do, and in what shape to hand it over — the rest is the work you already had.
