Who is it for?
The same facts can be explained in very different ways. How you explain a budget to a teenager is not how you explain it to an accountant. If you do not tell the AI who the reader is, it aims for a general adult and hopes for the best.
So name the audience. A few examples:
- "This is for parents at our school, many of whom speak English as a second language."
- "My reader is a busy manager who will skim it on a phone."
- "Explain it to someone who has never used a spreadsheet."
This one line can change the words, the examples, and how much gets explained.
Taking a point of view
You can also ask the AI to take a certain view. "Look at my business plan as a careful lender would." "Read my story the way a picky editor might." "Point out what a first-time visitor would find confusing on this menu."
This can be useful. It tells the AI what to pay attention to and what kind of comments you want.
But be honest with yourself about what it does. Telling a chatbot to "act as an expert lawyer" does not give it a law degree. It does not unlock hidden knowledge or make the answer more correct. At best, it nudges the tone and focus. The AI can still make mistakes, and a confident expert voice can make those mistakes harder to spot. For anything important, like health, money, or legal questions, still check with a real person who knows the field.
Often, describing the task well does more than any role. "Find weak spots in this plan, like costs I forgot" beats "You are a genius business coach."
Set limits
Constraints are the rules the answer has to follow. They keep the AI from wandering. Useful ones include:
- Length: "Under 150 words" or "no more than five bullet points."
- Reading level: "Write at about a sixth-grade reading level."
- Scope: "Only cover the first week of the plan."
- What to leave out: "No intro and no summary at the end." "Don't suggest buying anything." "Skip the safety warnings; I already know them."
That last kind is easy to forget. AI answers often come with extras you did not ask for. A short "do not include" line can save you a lot of trimming.
Try it
Pick a topic you know well, like a hobby or your job. Ask a chatbot to explain one part of it twice: once for a curious 12-year-old, and once for someone who already knows the basics. Add one "do not include" rule to each. Compare how the two answers differ.