Spaik's Guide to ChatGPT Prompting at Work: Tips and Best Practices

Spaik's Guide to ChatGPT Prompting at Work offers a range of prompting techniques and tips on how to use ChatGPT (and any other AI model) effectively, created based on the latest research from AI labs and the hundreds of hours we spent studying those tools and working with them.

We divided this ChatGPT prompting guide into:

- Beginner-level: AI prompting tips which we recommend you start implementing immediately if you are not familiar with ChatGPT or any AI tools

- Intermediate-level: AI prompting tips for those who have already spent some time using AI tools and want to get even more impactful and accurate results

For busy (or lazy!) readers, our 1-mn summary, right below, is enough to get you started quickly. More detailed explanations, with examples, are available further down the page for those interested in learning more.

Please note that this guide focuses on ChatGPT, but the AI prompting tips shared typically apply to any model (e.g., Gemini, Claude, Mistral, etc.)

1-minute Summary of Best Practices:

Beginner-level

Give a persona to the model
Include enough details in your request
Mention the goal
Provide clear, specific instructions

Intermediate-level

5. Use delimiters when needed

6. Specify the steps required to complete a task

7. Provide examples

Click here to download our cheatsheet in PDF format. Subscribe to our newsletter (on the left) for more tips. We can be reached at: hello[at]spaik.co

Details on ChatGPT Prompting Best Practices

Beginner-level AI prompting tips

ChatGPT Best practice #1: Give a persona to the model

Why use this tip?: Telling ChatGPT to act as a specific type of person helps it understand which knowledge and speaking style to use from its training data. This makes the answer more relevant to what you're looking for.

Example prompt #1 for ChatGPT (Brainstorming a marketing strategy)

"You are an expert in marketing with 20 years of experience, known for its creative ideas"

Example prompt #2 for ChatGPT (Using AI with Excel):

"You are an expert Excel user"

Note that persona can be very short or very long, depending on your need and the situations. The more information you give the model's persona, the more tailored and specific the output

ChatGPT Best practice #2: Include enough details in your request

Why use this tip?: The more context you provide to ChatGPT, the more specific and tailored its output will be. For example, when brainstorming cost reductions for raw materials, the model will give different answers depending on whether you're a small, local business with local purchasing or a global multinational with operations across multiple countries. This is because the AI understands that your cost structures will be different in each scenario .

Example prompt #1 for ChatGPT (Brainstorming a marketing strategy):

"Our company just publicly announced the launch of a new retina scanner next year, specifically designed for the banking industry. This product will control physical access to bank headquarters and sensitive areas within bank branches and we need to refine our marketing strategy"

Example prompt #2 for ChatGPT (Using AI with Excel):

"I am a sales manager and have just received Sales data file in Excel format,with structure below:

Column A: Date
Column B: Customer Name
Column C: Industry
Column D: Product/Service Category
Column E: Region
Column F: Sales Representative
Column G: Contract Value (EUR)
Column H: Quantity Sold
Column I: Sale Type
Column J: Payment Terms
Column K: Delivery Date
Column L: Customer Satisfaction Score
Column M: Order Rating

"

ChatGPT Best practice #3: Mention the goal

Why use this tip?: Giving a goal to ChatGPT and AI models helps it understand your expectations and tailor its response accordingly.

Example prompt #1 for ChatGPT (Brainstorming a marketing strategy):

"Your goal is to help find ideas for a marketing campaign" (to get ideas from the model) / "Your goal is to provide feedback on my ideas and ask questions" (to roleplay with model)

Example prompt #2 for ChatGPT (Using AI with Excel):

"Your goal is to help me understand and analyze this Excel file."

ChatGPT Best Practice #4: Provide clear, specific instructions

Why use this tip?: Just like previous tips, providing clear and specific instructions is crucial to ensure the output matches your expectations. The longer the instructions (they can be dozens of lines if you need), the more specific (and valuable!) the output will be for you.

Example prompt #1 for ChatGPT (Brainstorming a marketing strategy):

"You will help me develop a marketing strategy by providing recommendations for:
1. The audience we should target
2. The channels we should use
3. The Key Messages we should use

You provide concise, structured responses with brief explanations for your recommendations. Write with a professional tone and limit your answer to 500 words"

Example prompt #2 for ChatGPT (Using AI with Excel):

"I need to count the number of sales related to a specific Sales Representative. You will write a formula to count the number of sales related to a specific Sales Representative, using ‘;’ as separator."

Experiencing with the above tips should already provide you with good results. Should you want to get even more powerful outputs, feel free to use the below intermediate-level AI prompting tips below

Intermediate-level AI prompting tips

ChatGPT Best practice #5: Use delimiters when needed

Why use this tip?: ChatGPT and AI models processes text as a continuous stream of tokens. Delimiters act as clear markers that help the model distinguish between different parts of your input, ensuring that it interprets and responds to each section appropriately.

Example prompt #1 for ChatGPT (Brainstorming a marketing strategy):

"You will find my initial marketing plan called INITIAL MARKETING PLAN below ‘---’, and then the feedback I received, called FEEDBACK RECEIVED below the second '---' delimiter:

---

INITIAL MARKETING PLAN

User enters content

---

FEEDBACK RECEIVED

User enters content"

Example prompt #2 for ChatGPT (Using Excel with AI):

"You will find an Excel formula below ‘---’. You will explain the formula to me.
---
=IF((IF(G2>1500000; 2; 0) + IF(L2>=8; 2; 0) + IF(J2="Paid"; 2; IF(J2="Pending"; 1; 0))) >= 5; "A"; IF((IF(G22>1000000; 1; 0) + IF(L2>=7; 1; 0) + IF(J2<>"Overdue"; 1; 0)) >= 3; "B"; "C"))
"

ChatGPT Best practice #6: Specify the steps required to complete a task

Explanation: By breaking down a task into steps, you're providing ChatGPT with a clear framework that guides the model's response, resulting in a more organized and accurate output.

Example prompt #1 for ChatGPT

(Brainstorming a marketing strategy):
"Develop a Marketing Strategy for a fintech solution for banks. Process this task sequentially. Complete each step fully before moving to the next.
Step 1: Target Audience

Identify key decision-makers and influencers in banks
Describe their roles, pain points, and values

Step 2: Marketing Channels

List effective channels to reach the target audience
Explain why each channel is suitable and how to use it
Include a mix of digital and traditional channels if appropriate

Step 3: Key Messages

Develop 3-5 unique selling points for the solution
Address specific bank security needs and concerns
Explain how each message relates to product benefits"

Example prompt #2 for ChatGPT (Using Excel with AI):

"I am trying to count how many contracts have a value higher than 1 000 000, but formula =COUNTIF(G:G,>1000000) returns an error

You will:
1) Tell me possible explanations for the error 2) Suggest potential solutions"

Note: AI models are getting better and better at processing instructions step-by-step (for instance, ChatGPT o1, the latest model, takes more time to 'think' before answering). However, providing your own steps allows for further customization of the output.

ChatGPT Best practice #7: Provide Examples

Explanation: Giving examples helps ChatGPT understand the style, format, or type of information you're looking for

Example prompt #1 for ChatGPT (Researching data on a competitor):

"[persona, context, goal, instructions]
You will format your answer as bullet point format, with source for each bullet, like
below '---':
---
- Headquarters location:
- Number of employees:
- Major customer segments:"

Example prompt #2 for ChatGPT (Writing a job description)

"[persona, context, goal, prompt]:

You will use the same format as the typical job description for our company from examples below, delimited by '---':

---

Job description 1: [Example of a typical job description]

---

Job description 2: [Example of a typical job description]

---

Job description 3: [Example of a typical job description]"

For further reading: Prompting tips from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google .

Click here to download our cheatsheet in PDF format. Subscribe to our newsletter (on the left) for more tips. We can be reached at: hello[at]spaik.co

Search This Blog

Publications