Goal
Say exactly what you want completed.
Not "help with email" — say "write a short reply asking for a later deadline". One clear finished thing.
“Write a short reply asking my landlord to fix the kitchen tap.”
Our signature framework
The G.U.I.D.E. framework
Five small parts that turn “uhh, help?” into a result you can actually use. You don't need perfect English or one perfect prompt — you just need these five.
Hi, I'm Pip. Learn these five letters and I'm basically out of a job. (I'll stay anyway.)
Useful context
Explain the situation, who it is for, and what matters.
This is where ordinary sentences win. Who reads it? What happened? What are you worried about? Talk like you would to a helpful neighbour.
“It has been dripping for two weeks, I have asked once already, and I want to stay on good terms.”
Inputs
Give it the raw material: screenshots, files, examples, links.
Paste the message you received, drop in a photo of the screen you are stuck on, or share the notes you already wrote. Leave out private details you do not need to share.
“Here is the message I sent last time, plus a photo of the tap.”
Directions
Set the tone, format, length and limits.
Polite or firm? Bullet list or paragraph? Under 100 words? One step at a time? Say so — it costs you one sentence.
“Polite but clear, under 100 words, and give me two versions.”
Evaluate
Read it, check the facts, say what's wrong, and keep going.
This is the step most people skip. You are allowed to say "that's too formal", "you invented that detail", or "where did that number come from?" A conversation beats one perfect prompt every time.
“That's a bit stiff — make version 2 sound more like how I actually talk.”
You can do this in your own language
You don't have to write to ChatGPT in English. Write your instructions in whatever language feels natural, speak the way you normally would, and mix languages if that's how you think. You can even ask ChatGPT to translate or polish your wording — just tell it to keep your meaning and your personality exactly the same.
“Explícame esto como si tuviera 12 años, en español.”
“Traduis ce message en anglais, mais garde mon ton et ne change pas ce que je veux dire.”
“Scrivi questa email in un inglese semplice, ma suona ancora come me.”
ChatGPT understands dozens of languages, so you never need perfect English to get a great result.
Privacy reminder: anything you type here in practice stays in your account. It is never sent to an outside translation service.
All five together, in plain words
Copy this, change the details to match your life, and paste it into ChatGPT.
Copyable prompt
Write a short reply asking my landlord to fix the kitchen tap. It has been dripping for two weeks, I have asked once already, and I want to stay on good terms. Here is the message I sent last time. Keep it polite but clear, under 100 words, and give me two versions so I can pick one.
Four things you can stop worrying about
I need perfect English.
You don't. Typos, half-sentences and "you know what I mean" all work. Clarity beats grammar.
I need one perfect prompt.
You don't. Start rough, look at what comes back, then say what to change. That's the normal way.
I should already know the software.
You don't. Share a screenshot and ask for one click at a time, waiting for you to say "done".
Whatever it says must be true.
It isn't always. Ask for sources on facts, numbers, prices, law, health and money — then verify them.
Now play with it, don't just read it
The AI Adventure turns G.U.I.D.E. into short games and practice rounds — build a real instruction, see a model answer, then improve it.