ACTIF method: Optimize your ChatGPT prompts

Not satisfied with ChatGPT's responses? The ACTIVE method is a simple way to structure your prompts and get more effective results. With these 5 key elements, I'm sure you'll see a significant difference in the quality of your responses! Here's a complete guide.

What is the "ACTIF" method?

The right question to ask is: "What's a good prompt?". In my experience, there are five essential elements for improving results with ChatGPT:

• Action (the task)
• Context (examples, models and constraints)
• Tone (style)
• Identity (role)
• Format (result)

You don't have to follow a strict order to use these elements. For example, I often start my prompts with the role (or "identity" in this model), as it's the simplest element to integrate first.

The most important thing is the consistency of the information provided. If one element depends on another (such as role and style, or which steps come last), be sure to respect this order.

If you're not happy with the answer, try rephrasing and identify which element of the prompt wasn't clear enough for ChatGPT.

To illustrate this method, let's look at a concrete example to better understand the benefits of each component.

Example: Replying to an e-mail

As an AI trainer, I regularly receive email requests from companies for additional information on my services. I can't hide the fact that I'm always delighted! However, I don't always have the time to respond.

To give you an idea, here's a fictitious email from a trustee looking for AI training and asking me for more information.

Hello, we're a fiduciary based in Geneva.
We're looking for AI training tailored to our needs.
Can you send me your programs?

For me, this is the ideal example, because it's simple to apply, and potentially useful for all professions. This prompt contains all the main elements: action, context, tone, identity and format (ACTIVE).

Tu es un assistant de direction expérimenté.
Analyse cet email, et propose-moi une réponse 
entre 100 et 120 mots, avec des paragraphes aérés.
Sois naturel et va à l'essentiel. N'invente pas d'informations. 
Mon objectif est de convenir d'un rendez-vous téléphonique.
Voici l’email : ”””INSÉRER EMAIL”””

And here's the result from ChatGPT. It's coherent and gives us some relevant leads.

Honestly, I can use this email as is! Let's break down all the parts of this prompt.

Identity (role)

Assigning a role to ChatGPT is one of the first aspects to master for an effective prompt. ChatGPT can adapt to many different roles, and by defining it from the outset, you enable it to respond with the right perspective. For example, his response will vary depending on whether he's speaking as a beginner or an expert.

In our case, I ask ChatGPT to act as an experienced executive assistant, as this is the role that best matches the task of writing a professional email. This directs the response towards a more formal and professional tone, while respecting the expectations of the context.

Tu es un assistant de direction expérimenté.

This simple phrase puts ChatGPT in a precise frame, increasing the relevance of its response. And as I mentioned earlier, be sure to use clear terms like "You are", rather than "Act like", to maximize the quality of the results.

Action: the task to be performed

This is the heart of the prompt, i.e. the task you're asking ChatGPT to perform. It defines what you're asking ChatGPT to do, and must be precisely formulated to avoid confusion.

In this example, I'm asking him to analyze an email he's received and come up with a concise, clear response. This includes a word limit and style guidelines.

Analyse cet email, et propose-moi une réponse.

By defining this task in a straightforward way, I ensure that ChatGPT understands precisely what I'm looking for, while leaving it some flexibility to generate a natural response.

Background: examples and objectives

If there's one place where you can make a difference in your prompts, it's here! The more relevant information you provide to ChatGPT, the more appropriate its response will be. In this example, I give him the content of a fictitious email I received from a trustee asking for more information about my training courses.
The key is to make it clear that I'm looking for a phone call. This will tell ChatGPT what to look out for.

Here's how I structure this context:

Mon objectif est de convenir d’un rendez-vous téléphonique.

Voici l’email : “Bonjour, nous sommes une fiduciaire basée à Genève. Nous cherchons une formation IA adaptée à nos besoins. Pouvez-vous m’envoyer vos programmes ?”

Here is a non-exhaustive list of contextual elements you can add (to be adapted to your task and needs):

• Target audience: who is the content generated for?
• Examples: useful to inspire ChatGPT
• Objectives: clearly define the objective behind the prompt
• Methods: how should ChatGPT respond to the request?
• ... and many more!

If you master this notion of giving context to ChatGPT, you'll see a significant leap forward in the quality of your responses.

Tone (style)

Sometimes too generic, too enthusiastic or just off the mark, writing without a defined framework is often problematic with AI.

This simple sentence below has literally changed my life with ChatGPT! You can see a clear difference, as he's less likely to "listen to himself talk" thanks to this.

Sois naturel et va à l’essentiel. N'invente pas d'informations.

Don't hesitate to use several adjectives to nuance or emphasize the style. For example, "a professional, concise and informative style".

A little trick that's often used, but always effective. You can ask ChatGPT to write out its answer so that a child of 10 (or any age) can understand. It's a handy way of summarizing a complex concept or problem in an intelligible way.

Format (and constraints)

Finally, the format of the reply is just as important as the content. For this task, I ask ChatGPT to write an email response of a precise length (100 to 120 words), with paragraphs spaced out. This format guarantees a concise, well-structured and easy-to-read response.

Ta réponse doit comporter des paragraphes aérés et ne pas dépasser 120 mots.

This not only ensures a clear message, but also makes the response immediately usable without further modification.

You can request several types of format from ChatGPT. Here are my favorites from this non-exhaustive list.

• List
• Table
• User guide
• Speech
• FAQ
• Quiz
• Script
• Roadmap
• ... and many more!

Don't hesitate to ask for different formats for the same request, to find unexpected answers. An interesting tip is to ask ChatGPT to create a training plan on a topic you're not familiar with, to help you understand it better.