They treat AI like a search engine instead of a specialized assistant. You wouldn't ask your best employee to "make me some money" and expect good results. Same principle applies to AI. Specificity wins.
The CRISP Formula
Give the AI background about the situation. Don't assume it knows your industry, role, or constraints.
Bad: "Write me an email."
Good: "I'm a commodity trader who needs to follow up with a client who's been unresponsive for 2 weeks about a pending wheat shipment worth $500K. The relationship is important but I need to create urgency without being pushy."
Tell the AI what role to play. This dramatically changes the type and quality of responses you get.
• "Act as an experienced sales director..."
• "You are a risk management consultant..."
• "Take on the role of a compliance expert..."
• "You are a senior Python developer..."
Be specific about what you want. Use active verbs and clear deliverables.
Bad: "Help me with my presentation."
Good: "Create a 10-slide presentation outline that explains our new risk management process to the board. Focus on ROI, implementation timeline, and risk reduction metrics."
Include format requirements, length constraints, tone, audience, and any other specific needs.
• Format: "Provide as a bulleted list..."
• Length: "Keep under 200 words..."
• Tone: "Professional but friendly..."
• Audience: "For non-technical executives..."
End with refinement instructions to get exactly what you need.
• "If anything is unclear, ask me for clarification."
• "Provide 3 versions with different approaches."
• "Include your reasoning for each recommendation."
Business Use Cases That Actually Work
Prompt Example:
"Act as an experienced business communication expert. I need to write a follow-up email to a client who missed our scheduled call yesterday. The relationship is important ($2M annual business) but I need to address the missed meeting professionally. Write a 100-word email that maintains the relationship while suggesting a reschedule. Tone should be understanding but professional."
Prompt Example:
"You are a senior financial analyst. I'll provide our monthly trading P&L data. Analyze it for patterns, identify the top 3 profit drivers and top 3 risk factors. Present findings in executive summary format (3 bullet points each) with specific numbers and actionable recommendations."
Prompt Example:
"Act as a process improvement consultant. I'll describe our current trade confirmation workflow. Convert it into a step-by-step SOP document that a new employee could follow. Include decision points, escalation procedures, and quality checks. Format as numbered list with sub-steps."
Advanced Techniques
For complex problems, ask the AI to show its reasoning step-by-step.
"Think through this step-by-step: We have a margin call of $500K due tomorrow. Our available cash is $300K. Walk me through 3 different options to handle this, including pros/cons and timeline for each option."
Give the AI examples of what good output looks like.
"Write client update emails in this style:
Example 1: [your best email]
Example 2: [another good email]
Now write an update for [specific situation]."
Don't accept the first response. Refine it.
Follow-up prompts:
• "Make it more concise"
• "Add more specific examples"
• "Adjust the tone to be more formal"
• "Focus more on the financial impact"
Common Mistakes to Avoid
❌ Being Too Vague
"Write something good" will get you something mediocre. Be specific about what "good" means.
❌ Expecting Perfection on First Try
AI is a collaborative tool. Expect to refine and iterate to get exactly what you need.
❌ Not Providing Context
AI doesn't know your business, industry, or constraints. The more context you provide, the better the output.
❌ Using AI for Everything
AI is great for first drafts, ideation, and analysis. It's not great for final decisions, sensitive communications, or anything requiring human judgment.
Ready-to-Use Templates
"Act as a professional business communication expert. Write a [type] email to [recipient] about [topic]. Context: [situation]. Tone should be [tone]. Keep it under [word count] words. Include [specific elements]. If anything is unclear, ask for clarification."
"You are a senior [domain] analyst. Analyze the following [data/situation]: [input]. Provide insights on [specific aspects]. Format as [format]. Focus on [priorities]. Include actionable recommendations."
"Act as an experienced [domain] consultant. I'm facing this challenge: [problem]. Think through this step-by-step and provide 3 different solutions. For each solution, include pros/cons, timeline, resources needed, and risk assessment."