You’re Probably Just Asking the Wrong Question: How to Prompt AI So It Works for You

You don’t need a fancy AI tool. You need better prompts.

I've been lucky to speak with a range of organisations recently - government teams, Gen-AI startups, small businesses, global tech firms. Lots of industries. Lots of buzzwords. But here’s the truth: most of them are doing the same thing. They’re just sending prompts into ChatGPT.

Sometimes those prompts are wrapped in a slick app. Sometimes they’re layered with clever context windows or APIs. But once you strip it back, it’s all just a glorified question. And if you can write a good question, you don’t need the wrapper.

Most people I speak to still treat AI like Google, we expect to have to sift through content ourselves to find the answer. Typing vague, under-explained, contextless questions hoping it figures out what they mean. Then they complain it’s not helpful. The problem isn’t the tool. It’s the prompt. It takes me back to working in Silicon Valley, ‘it’s great that y’all did this cool tech stuff, but what was the brief and what were you were asked to do…?’

I've seen AI write CVs that include jobs you never had. Cover letters that sound like a corporate intern wrote them on a sugar high. Blog posts full of fluff. Not because the model is broken - because the input was. Once I realised every good Gen-AI product is just a smart prompt in disguise, I stopped looking for tools. I started building better instructions.

So, here’s the formula that works for me every single day:

Context + Task + Tone + Format

That’s it. If you’re vague, it’ll be vague. Be specific. Be direct. Treat it like a junior colleague who wants to help but needs a decent brief.

🛠 What You Can Try

Here are three prompts you can try - simple, reusable, and effective. You can add more to the prompt as you go and refine, I usually save them to easily copy over when doing similar tasks.

1. CV Enhancer

“Rewrite this CV so it’s ATS-optimised for [job title]. Match phrasing to the spec. Keep bullet points short, clear, and avoid fluff. Use one bullet each for: responsibility, achievement, and what I learned.”

2. Interview Feedback

“Give me structured feedback on this interview answer. Rate it for clarity, confidence, and impact. Then give me a stronger version using the STAR method - without sounding robotic.”

3. Blog Kickstart

“Create a 600-word blog post for [audience] about [topic]. Use a confident, reflective tone. Start with a hook. Include 3 key takeaways. End with a practical tip.”

The better your input, the better your output. You don’t need to “prompt engineering” - you just need to brief like a pro. You already know how to do this. You've done it with colleagues, agencies, and interns. The mistake most people make? They ask “write me a cover letter” and then expect gold. That’s not a prompt. That’s a shrug.

Don’t rely on prebuilt tools. Build your own. Start saving your prompts. Create a few reusable ones tailored to how you think and work. Treat it like a system - not a one-off trick.

You don’t need to learn AI. You just need to learn how to talk to it.

Got a go-to prompt you swear by? Or one that flopped hard? Drop it below. I’ll swap mine for yours - no NDAs required.