Prompt "hacks" circulate constantly, but the prompts that reliably work share the same six ingredients. Once you internalize them, you stop collecting tricks and start writing prompts on demand.
1. Assign a role
"Act as a conversion copywriter who has launched 50 digital products" narrows the model's assumptions about vocabulary, structure, and priorities. Roles are cheap and they work.
2. Give context the model cannot guess
Audience, product, stage of funnel, previous attempts, and constraints you already know. If the information exists only in your head, the model cannot use it.
3. State constraints as numbers
"Short" is meaningless; "under 120 words, maximum 3 sentences per paragraph, no exclamation marks" is enforceable. Numeric constraints also make outputs comparable across runs.
4. Specify the output format
Table, numbered list, JSON, email with subject line options — naming the shape avoids a second round trip and makes the result easy to drop straight into your workflow.
Fully specified prompt skeleton
Act as [role]. Context: [audience, product, goal, what I've already tried]. Task: [what to produce]. Constraints: [word count, tone, things to avoid]. Format: [exact structure]. Before you answer, ask me up to 3 questions if anything essential is missing.
5. Show one example
A single sample of what "good" looks like outperforms paragraphs of description. Paste your best previous output and say "match this quality and rhythm."
6. Iterate instead of restarting
Weak output is information. Tell the model what specifically missed — too formal, too abstract, wrong audience — and ask for a revision. Restarting from scratch throws away everything it already got right.
Targeted revision
That draft was [too formal / too generic / off-audience] in these specific places: [quote them]. Keep [what worked] exactly as is, and revise only the parts I flagged. Explain in one line what you changed.
The takeaway
Role, context, numeric constraints, format, one example, and iteration. Every good prompt you've ever saved is some combination of those six.
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