What this technique does
When the first answer is not right, a lot of people rewrite the prompt from scratch. There is no need. One line of ChatGPT follow-up prompt saying what to change and how, and it fixes that part while leaving the earlier conditions where they were.
The trick to a good revision is giving a direction rather than a reaction. “The second paragraph sounds like an advert, keep only the facts” is far quicker than “I don’t like it”. If you want to see several directions, take three options at once and pick from them.
Good example / bad example
Bad
hmm, not great. write it againGood
In the draft you just wrote, leave the first paragraph as it is; the second paragraph sounds like an advert, so keep only the facts and cut it to half the length.
And for the closing line, give three options in different directions, with one line each on the situation it suits.Asked the bad way, the AI does not know what the problem was and returns much the same text with the wording changed, and if you are unlucky the first paragraph you liked disappears too. The good one separates what to keep from what to change, so it comes back in the shape you wanted in one go.
How to write it
- Give three options in different directions, with one line each on when it fits best.
- In the answer you just gave, change only (the part to fix). Leave the rest as it is.
- I will tell you what I do not like about it; rewrite it reflecting only that.
Watch out
Keep revising over and over and the conditions you set at the start go blurry. Past five or six rounds, copy the result you like and start again in a new conversation.
Repeat “shorter” on its own and it is the content, not the sentences, that disappears. When cutting, write what to protect as well — “keep the dates and the owners”.
Unfamiliar terms? See Aha AI: prompt
Turn on Get three options in the builder to add this sentence: “Give three options in different directions, with one line each on when it fits best.” Open the builder →