THE 4-PART PROMPT STRUCTURE

ROLE + CONTEXT + TASK + OUTPUT. Four parts. Better than 90% of the prompts you've ever written. The structure that separates "AI gave me garbage" from "AI did exactly what I wanted."

THE PROBLEM

You ask Claude: "Write me an email." It writes a generic email. You hate it. You blame Claude.

Claude wasn't wrong — your prompt was. Generic in, generic out.

THE STRUCTURE

ROLE: [Who Claude is for this task]
CONTEXT: [What Claude needs to know]
TASK: [The exact thing to do]
OUTPUT: [The format you want back]

That's it. 4 sections. Use them in any order — but include all 4.

SAME REQUEST, BAD vs. GOOD

BAD (1-line generic):

Write me a follow-up email to a client.

Result: generic, hedge-y, you rewrite it.

GOOD (4-part):

ROLE: You're a marketing consultant who writes warm, direct client emails.

CONTEXT: I'm Fadia. I run brand strategy for solopreneurs. The client (Sarah) hired me 3 weeks ago for a $2,500 brand refresh. I sent the deliverable Friday. Today is Wednesday — no response. We have a friendly relationship.

TASK: Draft a 4-sentence follow-up email asking if she got the deliverable + offering one more revision round if needed. Casual but professional. No "just checking in" or "circling back."

OUTPUT:
SUBJECT: [4-6 words]
BODY: [4 sentences]
CTA: [the one thing you want her to do]

Result: ready to send.

WHY EACH PART MATTERS

ROLE — Tells Claude what voice/expertise to bring. "Marketing consultant" produces different output than "buddy" or "executive coach."

CONTEXT — Specifics about your situation. Names, numbers, history. Without context, Claude defaults to generic.

TASK — The action. Be specific about constraints (length, tone, what to avoid).

OUTPUT — The format. If you want bullets, say bullets. If you want subject + body + CTA, say so. Vague output instructions get vague output.

SHORTCUT VERSION (when you're in a hurry)

For quick tasks, even a partial version helps:

You're a [ROLE]. Help me with [TASK]. Context: [1-2 sentences]. Output as [FORMAT].

Example:

You're an editor. Help me cut this paragraph by 30%. Context: it's for an Instagram caption, casual tone. Output as: just the rewritten paragraph, no commentary.

90 seconds to write. Saves 5 minutes of back-and-forth.

3 THINGS YOU CAN'T SKIP

1. Don't skip CONTEXT. It's the most-skipped, highest-impact part. "Email to my client" is nothing. "Email to Sarah, client of 3 weeks, $2,500 brand refresh, friendly relationship" is everything.

2. Be specific in OUTPUT. "Make it good" is not a format. "3 paragraphs, conversational, no em dashes" is.

3. Use this for 1 week. Force it for 7 days. After that, the structure becomes automatic. By Day 25 you'll be writing prompts in your sleep that beat what 95% of people write thoughtfully.

WHAT'S NEXT

Day 11 of 100. Tomorrow: Day 12 — The Magic Words: "No Preamble" and other phrases that fix output instantly.

SAFETY CHECK

Same as Day 1.