Your first five prompts

If you've opened an AI assistant, looked at the empty box and thought "what am I supposed to type?", this guide is for you.

A prompt is simply the message you type to an AI assistant: your question or instruction. There's no special language to learn. The best prompts are just clear requests, written the way you'd explain something to a capable new colleague.

Below are five prompts that work well in everyday life. Copy them, paste them in, and change the parts in square brackets to fit your situation.

Where to type them

You'll need an AI assistant. The best-known ones are ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Claude. Each has a free plan, works in a web browser, and has a phone app. For these five prompts, any of them will do. Pick one and stick with it for a week before worrying about the others.

Prompt 1Make this simpler

For letters, forms, terms and conditions, school newsletters, or anything written in official language.

Explain this in plain English, as if to a friend. Then tell me the three things I actually need to do, and by when.

[paste the text here]

• Why it works: Asking for "the things I need to do" turns a wall of text into a short to-do list.
• Check: If it's about money, law or health, use the explanation to understand the original, not to replace it. Go back to the source for anything important.

Prompt 2Help me decide

For when you're going round in circles: which boiler quote, which holiday dates, whether to take on an extra project.

I'm trying to decide between [option A] and [option B]. What matters most to me is [cost / time / less stress / what the children will enjoy]. Ask me up to five questions, one at a time, to help me think it through. Then summarise the pros and cons of each.

• Why it works: Asking the AI to question you first means its summary is based on your situation, not a generic list.
• Check: The AI helps you think. The decision is still yours, and it doesn't know anything you haven't told it.

Prompt 3Get me started

For the blank-page moments: a speech for a leaving do, a message in a card, a short bio for a club website, a post for the local community group.

Write a first draft of [a two-minute speech for a colleague's leaving do]. Here are some things to include: [she's been here 12 years, runs the best tea rota in Essex, is retiring to Cornwall]. The tone should be [warm and lightly funny, not cheesy]. Keep it to about [250 words].

• Why it works: The details you add are what make the draft sound personal rather than generic.
• Check: Read it aloud. Anything that doesn't sound like you, change it or ask the AI to.

Prompt 4Plan it for me

For trips, events, busy weeks and anything with lots of moving parts.

Help me plan [a day out in York with two children aged 6 and 9, arriving by train at 10am and leaving at 5pm]. We [don't want too much walking and have a budget of about £60, not counting train tickets]. Give me a simple timetable with a rainy-day alternative.

• Why it works: Timings, ages, budget and limits give the AI everything it needs to make a realistic plan.
• Check: AI can get opening times, prices and whether places still exist wrong. Check anything important on the venue's own website before you go.

Prompt 5Teach me something

For things you've always meant to understand: how pensions work, what an ISA is, how to use a spreadsheet, what your teenager is talking about.

I'd like to understand [how a stocks and shares ISA works]. I'm a complete beginner. Explain it in three short parts, with an everyday example, and then ask me a question to check I've understood.

• Why it works: Asking it to check your understanding turns a one-way explanation into something closer to a patient tutor.
• Check: AI explanations are usually a good starting point, but they can be out of date or wrong. For decisions about money, health or the law, use reliable official sources (such as GOV.UK, MoneyHelper or the NHS website) or a qualified professional.

Three habits that make every prompt better

• Give it context. Who it's for, what it's for, and anything it should avoid.
• Say what you want back. A list, a table, three options, 100 words, a friendly tone.
• Reply, don't restart. If the first answer isn't right, say what to change: "shorter", "less formal", "give me three options instead". The follow-up is where most of the value is.

The human bit

AI assistants are confident even when they're wrong, and they don't know you unless you tell them. Use them as a helpful first draft, a thinking partner or a patient explainer, and keep your own judgement in charge. Start with one of these prompts today. Small wins are how this stops feeling technical.