AI Prompting Secrets: Master Your Prompt Strategy with Role-Playing Techniques

I am GPTed - what you need to know about Chat GPT, Bard, Llama, and Artificial Intelligence

[Upbeat, sly music fades in]
This is “I am GPTed”—practical AI advice from your guide to the galaxy of robots, Mal the Misfit Master of AI. I’m here to help you unlock superpowers you never asked for, with just enough sarcasm to season your data.
Let’s jump right in: today, I’m spotlighting one prompting trick to upgrade your AI results. Brace yourself—it’s *role prompting.* Sounds intense, right? All it means is telling the AI who it’s supposed to pretend to be before you make your request. Yes, it’s as if you’re casting an AI in the world’s worst off-Broadway play.
Let’s compare:
Standard prompt, AKA “the bland oatmeal”:
“Summarize this report.”
Now, **role prompting**:
“You are a veteran marketer who explains things so a goldfish could give a TED Talk. Summarize this report for a beginner.”
See what happened? You went from flavorless to actually useful. Suddenly, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini—any of them—start channeling their inner guru instead of their inner confused intern. I wish my toaster took direction this well.
On to a sneaky real-world use: *drafting those awkward emails you never want to write.* Tell AI, “You’re my overly polite British assistant. Write a gentle request for a late invoice.” Suddenly, you’re sending messages with more tact than your grandmother. The magic here isn’t just the words—it’s setting context. You define the tone, the goal, even the weird sense of humor.
By the way, beginners tend to make one mistake, and I’ve made this myself—repeatedly. The mistake? Expecting the AI to “just know” what you want. It’s like ordering “something tasty” at a restaurant and expecting filet mignon. If you’re vague, you get bland. If you’re specific, with style—voila! AI fettuccine Alfredo.
To break this “vague prompt” habit, here’s your simple exercise:
Pick a task—say, a meeting summary.
First, ask: “Summarize this.”
Then, try: “You’re an executive assistant. Provide a bullet-point summary of this meeting, highlighting action items for a busy manager who only reads headlines.”
Compare the results. If one sounds like an act of revenge, and the other like something you’d actually share, congrats—you’re learning.
Now, one last tip to make you look 12% smarter: when AI spits out content, don’t trust it blindly. Read it like a grumpy editor. Does it match your intent? Would it embarrass you on a slide? If not, edit. Tweak the prompt and try again, or ask for a more concise, friendlier, or more detailed version. Remember, AI is like a self-serious intern—needs supervision until proven otherwise.
That’s it for today on “I am GPTed”—where we help you look brilliant with less effort. Subscribe so you never miss a hot tip, or a lukewarm joke. Thanks for listening. This has been a Quiet Please production. Want to get smarter, quieter? Head to quietplease.ai. Now, go upgrade your prompts before AI gets any more self-important.
For more check out https://www.quietperiodplease.com/
and for some great deals go to https://amzn.to/4nidg0P
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI