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The three lines that fix any prompt 🗣️

From @techyai_cj. Most people write prompts like they are filling in a form, and the answer comes back sounding like a form. You do not need a magic template. You need to talk to it like you would brief a smart friend, and then tell it how to sound. Here are the three lines, and a real before and after so you can see the difference.

The three lines

use them in this order, every time

1. Here’s the situation give it the real context

Say what is actually going on, the way you would say it out loud. Who it is for, what already happened, what the constraint is. Most bad answers are not a model problem, they are a context problem.

2. Here’s what I need, here’s what I don’t want

Both halves. The second one is the half everybody skips, and it is the half that kills the corporate voice. “No bullet points.” “Do not over apologise.” “No blanks for me to fill in.” Say it and it stops.

3. Write it how I talk, plain words, no corporate language put this last

One line at the very end. This is the one that changes the voice of the output more than anything else on this page. If you only take one thing, take this.

The real before and after

same job, asked two ways, both run on 1 September 2026

Both of these are real answers, not examples I wrote. The task both times: an email telling a client a project is going to be late.

Asked like a robot

The prompt: “Act as an expert communications strategist. Optimize for professional tone and stakeholder alignment. Draft an email informing a client their project deadline will be delayed.”

What came back: “Hi [Name], I want to flag a change to our timeline before it affects your planning. We will not hit the [original date] delivery date. The new target is [new date].”

That email had 13 blanks in it. It is a template, not an email. You still have to write it.

Asked like a person same job

The prompt: “Here’s the situation: I’m a freelance web designer and I’m going to be about a week late delivering a client’s site, because their photographer still hasn’t sent me the photos. I need to email them today. Here’s what I need: a short email that gives them the new date and doesn’t sound like I’m making excuses. Here’s what I don’t want: corporate language, over-apologizing, or a bunch of blanks I have to fill in myself. Write it how I talk, plain words, no corporate language.”

What came back: “Quick update on the site. I’m still waiting on the photos from your photographer, and I can’t finish the gallery and hero sections without them. Everything else is built. Here’s the plan: the full site will be done and live by Friday, September 11. If the photos come in before then, great. If not, I’ll launch with temporary images in those spots and swap in the real ones the same day they arrive, no extra cost or delay on your end.”

One blank. The client’s name, because I never told it. Everything else was filled in, including a plan I did not ask for.

Why it works

the boring reason

1. “Act as an expert” adds no information. It does not know which expert, about what, for whom. Your situation does.

2. “Optimize for engagement” is a wish, not an instruction. “No corporate language” is an instruction, because it can be checked.

3. Blanks come from missing context. Give it the real details and there is nothing left to bracket.

The same three lines work for captions, DMs, job applications, texts you are avoiding, and anything you would normally rewrite three times. Try it on the last thing you asked it to write.

I’m a software developer and I post what I actually run.
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