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ToggleHow to Use Prompts on Any AI Platform – Not Just ChatGPT
Ever craft the perfect prompt in ChatGPT, only to have it fall completely flat in Claude or Gemini? You’re not just imagining it. As the world of generative AI explodes with new tools, the ability to write prompts that work everywhere is no longer a niche skill—it’s a superpower.
If you’re a content creator, marketer, or developer, you’re likely juggling multiple AI platforms to get the job done. Relying on tricks that only work for one model is like trying to build a house with only a hammer. It’s time to fill your toolbox. This guide will give you the universal principles and platform-specific tweaks to become a truly versatile AI user.
AI Prompting Cheat Sheet
For better results on any platform, structure your prompt with these five elements:
- Persona: Who should the AI be? (e.g., “You are an expert copywriter.”)
- Request: What is the primary task? (e.g., “Write three headlines…”)
- Context: What background info is needed? (e.g., “…for a blog post about email marketing.”)
- Constraints: What are the rules? (e.g., “Each headline must be under 60 characters and include the word ‘secret’.”)
- Format: How should the output look? (e.g., “Provide the output as a numbered list.”)
Beyond ChatGPT: Why Universal Prompt Skills Are Your New Superpower
It’s easy to think of “prompting” as a synonym for “using ChatGPT.” But the generative AI landscape is vast and growing every day. From Anthropic’s Claude, known for its conversational depth, to Google’s powerful Gemini and specialized image generators like Midjourney, a one-size-fits-all approach just doesn’t cut it anymore.
The good news is that most of these large language models (LLMs) are built on similar underlying principles. They are all, at their core, prediction engines trying to figure out the most logical sequence of words based on the input you provide. This means that a solid understanding of prompt engineering—the art and science of crafting effective inputs—is a transferable skill. Learning these fundamentals saves you from the frustrating cycle of re-learning how to “talk” to each new tool.
For knowledge workers and digital marketers, this versatility is a massive competitive advantage. Imagine being able to instantly switch from using Gemini to brainstorm a campaign strategy, to using Claude to draft a long-form, empathetic customer email, all without missing a beat. That’s the power of platform-agnostic prompting.
The Universal Prompting Framework: A 5-Part Recipe for Success
Forget random guessing. The most effective AI prompts are structured and intentional. While the exact phrasing might change, a great prompt almost always contains five key ingredients. Think of it as a blueprint you can use on any platform.
Persona: Give the AI a Job
Start by telling the AI who it should be. Assigning a role or persona primes the model to access the specific knowledge, tone, and style associated with that role. This is the single fastest way to elevate the quality of your output.
- Bad Prompt: “Tell me about social media marketing.”
- Good Prompt: “You are a senior social media strategist with 10 years of experience helping B2B SaaS companies grow. Explain the top 3 trends in social media marketing for 2024.”
Request: State Your Core Task Clearly
This is the verb of your prompt—the action you want the AI to take. Be direct and specific. Avoid ambiguity. Instead of “help me with this blog post,” specify if you want an outline, a title, a summary, or a full draft.
- Bad Prompt: “Blog post ideas.”
- Good Prompt: “Generate 5 blog post titles about AI prompt best practices for content creators.”
Context: Provide the Necessary Background
The AI doesn’t know what you know. This is where you provide the essential background information, data, or target audience details. The more relevant context you give, the more tailored and useful the response will be. This is a core tenet of crafting high-quality responses, as noted in many AI prompt best practices guides.
Mini Case Note (Developer): A developer needed to document a complex Python function. Instead of just pasting the code and saying “explain this,” they provided context: “You are a senior developer writing documentation for a junior dev. Explain this Python function, focusing on the purpose of the ‘asyncio’ library and why error handling is implemented this way.” The result was a clear, targeted explanation instead of a generic one.
Constraints: Set the Rules and Boundaries
Constraints are your guardrails. They guide the AI toward the exact output you need. This includes word count, tone, style, keywords to include or avoid, and any other rules the AI must follow.
- Tone: “Write in a friendly and encouraging tone.”
- Length: “Keep the summary under 150 words.”
- Keywords: “Ensure the paragraph includes the terms ‘generative AI prompting’ and ‘effective AI prompts’.”
Format: Define the Desired Output
Don’t leave the structure to chance. Tell the AI exactly how you want the information presented. This saves you tons of time on reformatting later.
- “Provide the output as a JSON object.”
- “Present the key takeaways in a bulleted list.”
- “Format the response as a three-column table with the headings: ‘Platform,’ ‘Strength,’ and ‘Best For’.”
Missing From Most Guides: The Verbosity vs. Brevity Spectrum
Different models have different “personalities.” Claude, for instance, often performs better with more verbose, conversational prompts that include plenty of context and pleasantries. Gemini and ChatGPT can be more direct. If a prompt isn’t working on one platform, try rephrasing it—be more descriptive and narrative for Claude, or more concise and command-like for others. This small adjustment can make a huge difference.
Adapting Your Prompts: How to Tweak for Different AI Platforms
While our 5-part framework is universal, master prompters know how to make small adjustments based on the AI they’re using. Think of it like speaking the same language but adjusting your dialect for the region.
A Quick Comparison: ChatGPT vs. Claude vs. Gemini
Here’s how you might slightly modify a single prompt for different platforms to get the best result. Let’s say our goal is to get three marketing email subject lines.
| Platform | Prompt Tweak & Rationale |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT (GPT-4) | Direct & Structured: “Act as an expert email marketer. Generate 3 subject lines for a B2C email promoting a 25% off flash sale on summer clothing. The tone should be urgent but friendly. Each subject line must be under 50 characters.” (Rationale: GPT-4 excels with clear, structured commands.) |
| Claude 3 | Conversational & Context-Rich: “Hi Claude, I could use your help. I’m running a flash sale for my online clothing store. We’re offering 25% off all summer items for the next 48 hours. Could you help me write 3 friendly but urgent subject lines to grab my customers’ attention? It’s really important they are under 50 characters. Thanks!” (Rationale: Claude often responds well to a more narrative, polite framing.) |
| Google Gemini | Action-Oriented & Goal-Focused: “Goal: Drive clicks for a flash sale. Task: Write 3 email subject lines for a 25% discount on summer apparel. Constraints: Tone is urgent/friendly, max 50 characters. Target Audience: Existing customers.” (Rationale: Gemini often performs well when the goal and task are explicitly separated.) |
Advanced Techniques for Next-Level AI Results
Once you’ve mastered the basics, you can start incorporating more advanced strategies to tackle complex tasks and improve the reliability of your outputs.
Chain-of-Thought: Getting the AI to “Show Its Work”
For complex problems, asking the AI to “think step-by-step” before giving the final answer can dramatically improve accuracy. This technique, known as Chain-of-Thought (CoT) prompting, forces the model to lay out its reasoning, which often leads to a more logical conclusion. It’s especially useful for math problems, logic puzzles, and code generation.
Example: “A customer bought 3 items at $15 each and used a 10% discount coupon on the total. They also paid a flat $5 shipping fee. First, think step-by-step to calculate the total cost. Then, provide the final answer.”
Iterative Refinement: The Art of the Follow-Up
Your first prompt is rarely your last. The best results come from an iterative process. Treat your interaction with the AI as a conversation. Review the output, identify what’s missing or wrong, and refine your request with a follow-up prompt.
- “That’s a good start, but can you make the tone more professional?”
- “I like option 2. Can you generate three more variations based on that one?”
- “Remove any mention of pricing and focus more on the benefits.”
Negative Prompts: Specifying What to Avoid
Sometimes it’s easier to define what you don’t want. A negative prompt explicitly tells the AI to exclude certain elements. This is very common in AI image generation but is just as useful for text.
Example (Content Creator): “Write a short introduction for a video about sustainable travel. Do not use clichés like ‘wanderlust’ or ‘hidden gems.’ Avoid a sales-y tone.”
Your 7-Day AI Prompting Challenge
Ready to put this into practice? Follow this simple one-week plan to build your skills. Spend just 15 minutes each day focusing on one element.
- Day 1: Persona Practice. Ask the same question to an AI, but change the persona each time (e.g., a teacher, a CEO, a stand-up comedian). Note how the answers differ.
- Day 2: Context is King. Write a prompt with no context, then add a detailed paragraph of background info and compare the results.
- Day 3: Constraint Control. Give the AI a creative task (like writing a poem) but add strict constraints (e.g., must be 4 lines, rhyme, and include the word ‘database’).
- Day 4: Formatting Focus. Ask the AI to summarize an article. Then, ask it to format the same summary as a table, a JSON object, and a bulleted list.
- Day 5: Platform Hopping. Take your best prompt from the week and try it on two different AI platforms (e.g., ChatGPT and Claude). Tweak it for each platform.
- Day 6: Iterate, Iterate, Iterate. Start with a simple prompt and refine it at least three times with follow-up requests to improve the output.
- Day 7: Combine Everything. Craft one “master” prompt for a real-world task that uses all five elements of the universal framework.
Common Pitfalls and How to Sidestep Them
Even experienced prompters make mistakes. Here are a few common traps to watch out for:
- Ambiguous Language: Using vague words like “short” or “interesting.” Be quantitative instead: “under 100 words” or “appealing to a Gen-Z audience.”
- Assuming Prior Knowledge: The AI doesn’t know your company’s internal jargon or the history of your project. Always provide the necessary context.
- Giving Up Too Soon: Don’t abandon a prompt if the first result isn’t perfect. The magic is often in the second or third iteration.
Missing From Most Guides: The “Curse of Knowledge” in Prompting
The curse of knowledge is a cognitive bias where you unconsciously assume others have the background to understand what you’re saying. This is a major pitfall in AI prompting. You might write a prompt about “Project Nightingale,” assuming the AI knows it’s your company’s Q3 marketing initiative. It doesn’t. You have to explicitly state: “Project Nightingale is our internal name for our Q3 email marketing campaign aimed at re-engaging lapsed customers.” Over-explaining is always better than under-explaining.
Conclusion: Become a Platform-Agnostic Prompt Engineer
Mastering AI is no longer about learning the ins and outs of a single tool. It’s about understanding the universal language that powers them all. By adopting a structured approach like the 5-part framework and learning to make subtle tweaks for different platforms, you move from being a casual user to a sophisticated prompt engineer.
This skill set is your ticket to greater efficiency, higher-quality creative work, and a future-proof career in an AI-driven world. Start practicing these techniques today, and you’ll be amazed at how much more you can accomplish, no matter which AI you’re using.
Ready to take your skills even further? Explore the tools and guides here at ChatPromptGenius to continue your journey from prompt novice to pro.
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