How To Write Prompts for Business

When interacting with AI language models like ChatGPT or Claude, the way you formulate your prompts significantly influences the responses you receive. Prompts can be crafted in various types and styles to elicit specific information or responses.

It has been shown that even one-word changes will produce very different outcomes. And the emotion or expression that you put into the prompts produces a different result.

Here are some examples that you can copy and use when writing ChatGPT or Claude prompts to produce business outputs:

Core Prompt Types

1: Zero-Shot Prompts

• Definition: Direct questions or commands without providing examples
• Business Example: "Create a SWOT analysis for our new product launch in the Asian market."

2: Few-Shot Prompts

• Definition: Including examples to guide the desired response format
• Business Example: "Here's how I want quarterly results summarized: 'Q1: Revenue $1M, Growth 15%'. Now summarize Q2-Q4 results in the same format using these figures [...]"

3: Chain-of-Thought Prompts

• Definition: Breaking down complex problems into sequential steps
• Business Example: "Walk through the decision-making process for opening a new retail location, considering market analysis, competition, demographics, and ROI calculations."

4: Contextual Prompts

• Definition: Providing relevant background information to frame the request
• Business Example: "We're a B2B SaaS company with 50 employees, experiencing 30% churn. Our target market is mid-sized manufacturing companies. Based on this context, develop a customer retention strategy."

5: Role-Based Prompts

• Definition: Assigning a specific professional perspective
• Business Example: "Using the attached financial report, acting as a Chief Financial Officer, analyse our current debt-to-equity ratio and provide recommendations for capital structure optimization."

Purpose-Specific Prompts

6: Analytical Prompts

• Definition: Requesting detailed examination of data or situations
• Business Example: "Analyse our customer satisfaction scores across different product lines and identify key factors driving negative reviews."

7: Decision-Making Prompts

• Definition: Evaluating options and providing recommendations
• Business Example: "Should we build our software in-house or outsource development? Consider budget constraints, timeline, and long-term maintenance."

8: Process Development Prompts

• Definition: Creating or optimizing workflows and procedures
• Business Example: "Design an employee onboarding process that can be completed within 5 days while ensuring compliance and proper training."

9: Strategic Planning Prompts

• Definition: Long-term thinking and strategic direction setting
• Business Example: "Develop a 3-year market expansion strategy for our consulting services, considering current resources and market trends."

Communication Style Prompts

10: Technical Documentation

• Definition: Detailed technical explanations or documentation
• Business Example: "Create an API documentation guide for our payment processing system that both technical and business teams can understand."

11: Executive Communication

• Definition: Concise, high-level information for senior stakeholders
• Business Example: "Prepare a 2-minute elevator pitch for our Q3 performance, highlighting key metrics and strategic wins."

12: Stakeholder Dialogue

• Definition: Creating conversation scripts for different audiences
• Business Example: "Draft talking points for a difficult conversation with a client about project delays and budget overruns."

Advanced Prompting

13: Agentic Workflow Prompt

Defintion: An Agentic Workflow Prompt is like having a back-and-forth conversation with AI where you break down a big task into smaller steps, pausing at key moments to provide extra information or check the work. Think of it as a collaborative checklist where the AI does the heavy lifting but stops to ask you for input when needed.

Prompt:

Role: you are an MBA student and need to write an essay

Step 1: Write an essay outline on topic X, I need 500 words written in a professional style for an audience of non-technical senior executives

Step 2: Do you (ChatGPT) need to do any web search or research – if so identify what external research is required and if you cannot retrieve the search results yourself list what is needed so I can find the results and update your library

Step 3: Stop after telling me about the new document sources you require and let me find those and submit to you

Step 4: Write a first draft

Step 5: Consider what parts of the first draft need revision or more research

Step 6: Stop after telling me about the new document sources you require and let me find those and submit to you [repeat of step 3 to allow further input]

Step 7: Revise your draft

14: Document Summarisation & Report Production

Definition: A Basic Document Summary prompt is a structured to analyse and distil key information from one or more documents into a clear, organised format. It focuses on extracting essential information while eliminating redundancy and maintaining business relevance.

Prompt:

Please analyse the attached reports and provide:

? Key findings (maximum 5 bullet points)

? Critical implications for our business

? Recommended next steps

? Areas requiring further analysis

Format the summary in a consulting style similar to how an industry consultant might produce a report with clear sections and actionable insights.

NB: you could specify the consulting style you prefer by including in the prompt a reference to the consulting style, eg: “in the style of a Gartner report”, or “in the style of a McKinsey consultant”

A more detailed prompt might take a style similar to this:

Please analyse these 3 market research reports and provide:

1. Common findings across all documents

2. Key differences or contradictions

3. Synthesised conclusions

4. Data-backed recommendations

Provide a two-paragraph executive summary, limit the full report to five pages, and focus on actionable insights, writing in the style of a consultant providing advice to the Board of Directors considering a request to approve an investment in this new market.

Best Practices for Business Prompting

1: Be Specific About What You Want the AI To Do

• Include relevant metrics, timelines, and constraints
• Specify desired output format
• Define the target audience

2: Set The Context

• Provide industry context
• Include company size and stage
• Mention relevant regulations or limitations

3: Provide Detailed Guidance on What You Want to Output to Look Like

• Specify deliverable format (report, presentation, email, etc.)
• Include length requirements
• Define level of detail needed

4: Iterate on the Prompt and Responses

• Start broad, then refine
• Request alternatives when needed
• Ask for pros and cons of recommendations

Conclusion

By understanding and utilising different types and styles of prompts, you can tailor your interactions with AI language models to produce more accurate and relevant responses. Whether you're seeking detailed analysis, creative storytelling, or straightforward answers, crafting your prompt appropriately is the key to effective communication with AI.

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