Stop Asking AI Stupid Questions
Why Your AI Prompts Suck (And 4 Ways to Fix Them)
Same AI tool. Same person. Completely different results. The difference? How they asked the question. Most business professionals are getting garbage AI output because they're asking the wrong way. Here's the 4-step fix that transforms AI from time-waster to strategic partner.
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The Problem You're Actually Solving
John, a product manager at an 80-person SaaS company, finally decided to try AI for his weekly status reports. He opened ChatGPT and typed: "Write me a project update" (Yes, this is real!).
He got three paragraphs of corporate speak so generic that it could have been about literally any project at any company. Frustrated, she spent 20 minutes rewriting it completely, longer than just writing from scratch.
Meanwhile, David from the same company asked: "Act as an experienced product manager, creating a weekly update for executive leadership. Our Q4 mobile redesign project is 2 weeks behind due to iOS integration challenges, but core UX testing shows 40% improvement in user task completion. Leadership has expressed concern about launch delays. Provide a concise update (under 150 words) that acknowledges the delay, explains our mitigation strategy (attached), and reinforces confidence in the improved user experience."
His result? A professional, specific update that required zero editing and impressed the executive team.
Same AI tool. Same person's intelligence. Completely different value creation.
The Thinking Model: Structured AI Prompting
What it is: A systematic approach to interacting with AI that transforms vague requests into specific, contextual prompts that produce genuinely useful business output.
Origin: Adapted from structured interview techniques and consulting frameworks, refined through thousands of business AI interactions.
Thinking shortcut:
"What specific context does AI need to help me effectively?"
"What would I tell a human expert to get the best advice?"
Why Your AI Approach Sucks (And How to Fix It)
Most people's approach:
Open AI tool with vague question: "Help me with this presentation."
Get a generic, unusable response
Spend more time editing than the original task would take
Conclude "AI doesn't work for my job" and give up
The Structured AI Prompting approach:
Define specific role, context, constraints, and desired output format
Get a targeted, professional-quality response on the first attempt
Use chain prompting to refine and validate results
Save hours per week while improving work quality
Your Action Kit
The 4-Step Prompt Structure Process
Step 1: Context Loading Transform "Write me an email" into "I am a [specific role] at [company type] writing to [specific audience] about [specific situation] with the goal of [specific outcome]."
Step 2: Expert Persona Assignment Add "Act as a [specific expert with relevant experience]" to get professional-grade analysis instead of generic advice.
Step 3: Output Specification Be explicit: "Provide a [format] of [length] with [tone] that includes [specific elements]."
Quick Start Prompt
Role: I am a [your specific role] at a [company type]
Task: I need to [specific action]
Context: [situation, constraints, audience, goals]
Expert Persona: Act as a [relevant expert with experience]
Output: Provide [specific format, length, tone]AI Workshop Toolkit
This week, you're getting a method to transform how your team uses AI for business decisions.
Prompt 1: Context & Clarity Builder
This prompt helps anyone create context-rich requests that produce useful AI output on the first attempt.
I need help structuring an AI prompt for better results.
My current request: [paste your vague/generic prompt]
My role: [specific job title and company context]
My goal: [what I'm actually trying to accomplish]
My constraints: [time, format, audience, company policies, etc.]
Please rewrite my request using this structure:
1. ROLE CONTEXT: Clear description of who I am and my situation
2. SPECIFIC TASK: Exactly what needs to be accomplished
3. SUCCESS CRITERIA: What a good result looks like
4. OUTPUT FORMAT: Specific format, length, and tone requirements
Then suggest what type of expert persona would be most helpful for this request.Prompt 2: Expert Persona Generator
This prompt identifies the most relevant expert perspective for any business challenge.
I'm facing this business challenge: [describe your specific situation]
My role and context: [your job, company, industry, constraints]
The decision or output I need: [what you're trying to create/decide]
Current approach I'm considering: [your initial thinking]
Help me identify the most relevant expert persona for AI assistance:
1. EXPERT IDENTIFICATION: What type of professional would I hire as a consultant for this exact challenge?
2. EXPERIENCE SPECIFICATION: What specific experience, industry background, and company size experience would be most relevant?
3. PERSPECTIVE FOCUS: What particular angle or expertise area should this expert focus on?
4. COMPLETE EXPERT PROMPT: Write the full "Act as..." prompt I should use
Then explain why this expert perspective will produce better results than a generic AI response.Prompt 3: Output Structure & Refinement
This prompt creates structured, professional outputs and builds refinement chains for complex tasks.