Earlier this year I wrote an ebook, ChatGPT: No Fluff, Just Practical Skills, that explains the basics of ChatGPT and AI for anyone. “The Perfect Prompt Formula” (page 11) is a formula that will get the right response in the shortest time:

Perfect Prompt Formula

There are two main problems:

  • No one remembers this formula, not even me. After two years of using AI, I usually get good results without using any specific prompting framework. But I know I could get better answers faster if I used some sort of prompting technique.
  • I don’t give examples. For the “Goal” section, I say “Tell ChatGPT exactly what to do,” but that’s not very helpful and can feel overwhelming. Since you can give ChatGPT unlimited context, how do you know when it’s enough?”

Since I’m going to need strong prompts all the time, I might as well build a custom GPT to make it easier and repeatable.

To learn AI, Jeff Su is one of the best people to follow on YouTube.

His video, “Master the Perfect ChatGPT Prompt Formula (in just 8 minutes)!”, is the foundation for about 90% of this GPT, especially the “building blocks” of prompts (Task, Context, Exemplars, Persona, Format, and Tone).

In blog format with screenshots.

The GPT Itself

In honor of Jeff, I made the GPT’s image his face (I’m sure he’ll love it).

All buttons at the bottom lead to the same thing. ChatGPT created them.


The GPT In Action

Intro Screen & Task

The intro screen gives a quick explanation, introduces the building blocks, and gives quick instructions.

Task should always include an action verb (like write, generate, or create) and clearly state your end goal. What exactly do you want the AI to do? Don’t worry about getting it perfect right away because you can always revise it later.

To demonstrate this GPT, we’re going to learn how to make tacos.

Context

As I mentioned earlier, context can be tricky because you can give the AI unlimited information.

This GPT adjusts its text responses based on what you give it. To make sure you’re providing the right context and the right amount each time, I added three specific questions (or variations of them) to this step. They help ensure your info is complete and actually useful:

  • What’s the user’s background?
    • Example: “I’m a beginner home cook who usually follows simple recipes.”
    • This lets the AI know to avoid complex techniques or rare ingredients.
  • What does success look like?
    • Example: “I want to cook a healthy dinner that tastes good and takes less than 30 minutes.”
    • This gives the AI a clear target for time, nutrition, and flavor.
  • What’s the environment?
    • Example: “I only have a frying pan, an oven, and some basic spices at home.”
    • This helps the AI recommend recipes that fit your actual kitchen setup and ingredient limits.

Exemplars

AI learns best when it has something to emulate. In this section, you can copy and paste text or a link, or upload a file like a PDF, photo, or video. If you don’t have an example, it’s fine to skip this step.

I wanted to emulate the format and writing style of a recipe from the website Delish, so I used a link from one of their recipes:

Persona

Picture the ideal person you’d want helping you. Someone with the right expertise, personality, or style. They can be real or fictional, as long as they’re well-known and relevant the task.

Gordon Ramsey ChatGPT persoa

Format

This tells the AI how you want the output to look. The more specific you are about the format, the better it can match your expectations.

Common formats include bullet points, tables, emails, step-by-step guides, or bolded sections. I usually use headers with bullets for easy skimming.

For my recipe, I combined a few formats.

Prompting format

Tone

There are so many adjectives you can use to set the tone, but it’s overwhelming.

To make it easier and more useful, describe how you want to come across. If you want to sound professional, do you mean authoritative (to subordinates), friendly (to a peer), or respectful (to a boss)? Be as specific as possible.

Tone Prompt Engineering

Final Prompt Review & Questions

This is a step that Jeff did not do.

After giving ChatGPT a lot of information, it’s helpful to review what you’ve shared before getting a response. That way, you can revise, delete, or add anything to improve the outcome.


The last step in my “Perfect Prompt Formula” (from my ebook) is “ABA (Ask Before Answering)”. You can see it’s Option #2.

  • If you choose this, ChatGPT will ask you questions based on the information you provided.
  • It’s a powerful way to add missing details, clear up misunderstandings, and improve the final response.

5–10 questions is usually enough. If you need more, the original prompt clearly wasn’t good to begin with. Don’t skip this step because it always leads to better results.

My Answers
1. Flavorful and budget friendly
2. Be fully integrated. I’m not making 2 meals
3. Yes, group the shopping list by type of food
4. Stay focused on tacos
5. Yes storage tips are good

Final Output

The recipe turned out just the way I wanted, in the format I asked for. It was easy to read and follow. ChatGPT even added storage tips (which it came up with and I approved).

Introduction

Shopping list (grouped by type)

Ingredients in tabular format (as requested)

Recipe with numbered steps (as requested)

Storage tips (ChatGPT’srecc0mendation from the questions)