ChatGPT, or any Large Language Model (LLM) for that matter, can be an incredible tool in helping you do all kinds of things. However, to get the answers that you need, there are a few tips that you can use to get the best answer possible. The task of creating the perfect prompt is called prompt engineering, and is a space that's really starting to take off.

1 Be specific and clear

Give all the context necessary

While you can converse with an LLM and it will understand you, it's important to be clear and concise when providing information about the topic at hand. For instance, if you want it to write code for an assignment, you don't need to share your entire backstory or details about other assignments you've worked on. However, you do need to inform it about your coding abilities, what you have accomplished so far, and the exact requirements of the assignment.

In this context, think of it as a highly intelligent and attentive individual. Provide all the necessary information to enable it to make the best judgment, thereby maximizing your chances of receiving the help you need. For example:

• Wrong: Tell me about smartphone SoCs
• Right: Could you provide a detailed explanation of the components found in the average flagship smartphone's System on a Chip (SoC), including the specific roles of the dedicated chips onboard?

2 Break down complex questions

Step-by-step is easier to follow

If you have a question that can be broken up into multiple steps, then do that. Like when you think of it as a person, it can be difficult for an LLM to answer everything that you need it to if you simply bombard it with information. You can either ask ChatGPT to break it down into steps or, better still, ask in parts. This makes it both easier for ChatGPT to answer every question that you give it, but to also ensure that you get all of the information that you need.

• Wrong: How do I install Ubuntu on my laptop?
• Right (as separate prompts): How do I install Ubuntu on a USB? How do I boot from my USB? How do I run the installer?

3 Use additional tools like Prompt Perfect

Extra help for free

If you have ChatGPT Plus, there's a Prompt Perfect plugin that you can set up in a ChatGPT plugin instance. It will help perfect your prompt, expanding on it and making it comprehensive in a way that ChatGPT can understand. Using it as a plugin will make it work from within your ChatGPT conversation, but you can also use Prompt Perfect as an external tool in your web browser for the free version of ChatGPT.

4 Specify the output format

If you need a table, ask it for a table

You can actually ask ChatGPT to respond to you in specific ways. That includes using ChatGPT to make charts and tables, something that it's quite good at. You'll need to specify when you want it though, as there's no guarantee it will make one otherwise. Any data that can be stored in a table can be asked for in this way, so make sure to specify if you need it!

This doesn't just apply to tables either. You can ask ChatGPT to only respond in JSON, HTML, XML, or any format that you want. It's pretty great, and gives you the ability to be creative in how you use it.

• Wrong: What are the most popular albums of all time?
• Right: Make a table of the best selling albums of all time

5 Don't be afraid to iterate

If your response isn't quite there, you can make it better

Don't be afraid to ask ChatGPT to improve its responses. If the response is 90% of the way there, you can ask it to send the same response but with the extra things added. For example, if you asked it for a table of the best selling albums of all time, you can ask it then to add the most popular song off of each album to that table. ChatGPT will simply keep adding the things you need, so don't be afraid to start small with what you need and build on it either.

6 Give it constraints

Brevity is sometimes best

If you want ChatGPT to give you a precise, to-the-point answer, then you can also ask it to do that. While you can ask it to give a response in X number of words, that won't really work. The reason is because LLMs conceptualize text through "tokens" rather than words, and a token is only an approximate amount relative to a normal word. Therefore, if you ask for a response in 50 words, you're not going to get a response in 50 words.

Instead, if you want a shorter or more structured response, then ask for responses in a set number of paragraphs.

• Wrong: Tell me about photosynthesis
• Right: Tell me about photosynthesis in three paragraphs

7 Use ChatGPT to improve your prompts

Counter-intuitive maybe, but ChatGPT can help you write the perfect ChatGPT prompt

A great prompt that I've seen floated around in the last few months is the following:

I want you to become my prompt creator. your goal is to help me craft the best possible prompt for my needs. The prompt will be used by you, ChatGPT. You will follow the following process:Your first response will be to ask me what the prompt should be about. I will provide my answer, but we will need to improve it through continual iterations by going through the next steps.Based on my input, you will generate 2 sections. a) revised prompt (provide your rewritten prompt. It should be clear, concise, and easily understood by you), b) questions (ask any relevant questions pertaining to what additional information is needed from me to improve the prompt).We will continue this iterative process with me providing additional information to you and you updating the prompt in the Revised prompt section until I say we are done.

The above prompt will have ChatGPT ask you questions about the prompt that you want to write, and it will iterate and improve on it until you ask it to stop. Then you can send your prompt to ChatGPT with all of the extra details that it asked you about.

ChatGPT is what you make of it

ChatGPT is a tool, and like any tool, it's only capable of doing what you tell it. These are some of the best tips out there for getting the most out of it or any other LLM, but that doesn't mean there isn't more you can try too. LLMs are a rather new technology in this form, and people are figuring out the best and most optimal ways to interact with them every day.