Feeling like you’re trying to jump on a speeding train with all these AI updates? I get it. It can be totally overwhelming. But I just stumbled upon an awesome video from an AI professional that breaks down ChatGPT for beginners, and I had to share it.
This is the ultimate guide to getting started, filled with tips that will make you feel like a pro in no time.
✨ First, Get Your Settings Right
Before you even write a single prompt, the YouTuber shows how to customize your experience. This is a step too many people skip!
- Privacy First: In your settings, you can turn off the option that lets OpenAI use your chats to train its models. It’s on by default, so this is a crucial first step for privacy.
- Custom Instructions: This is a game-changer. The creator explains how you can tell ChatGPT your role, your goals, and how you want it to respond. For example, the expert told it he’s a YouTuber and to keep YouTube title suggestions under 50 characters. Now, it does that automatically every time!
- Personalized Memory: You can let ChatGPT remember past conversations for better context. The creator uses it for his fitness plan: it remembers yesterday’s workout so it doesn’t recommend the same thing today. So smart.
⚙️ The Underrated Power of ‘Projects’
I was blown away when I saw this. The original creator calls Projects one of the most powerful but underrated features, and I totally agree. They’re basically smart folders for your chats.
Here’s what makes them so great:
- 📌 Individual Instructions: Each project can have its own unique custom instructions. The expert built a “Health Coach” project with instructions telling it to act as a personal coach.
- 📌 Dedicated Knowledge: You can upload files (like text files, PDFs, etc.) directly into a project. The creator uploaded a file with his health stats, diet, and exercise preferences into his Health Coach project.
- 📌 Separate Memory: You can set a project to only remember chats from within that specific project. This keeps your AI focused and prevents your side-hustle chats from getting mixed up with your workout plans.
✍️ Prompting Tips from the Pro
This is where the real magic happens. The YouTuber shared a ton of simple but effective prompting strategies.
- ✅ Be Specific: Instead of asking, “Tell me about baking,” ask, “What are the five key steps to baking a sourdough loaf at home?”
- ✅ Give Examples: Tell it what a good output looks like and what a bad one looks like. The mind behind it used this to get killer hooks for a video.
- ✅ Ask for Assumptions: If you’re not sure you’ve given enough detail, ask ChatGPT to list its assumptions first. For a coffee shop marketing plan, it will assume your location, budget, and brand. Then you can correct it for a much better result.
- ✅ Chunk Big Tasks: For a large project, break it into stages. The expert shows how to have it write a sponsored ad read by tackling the brief, then the outline, then the final draft, one step at a time.
🚀 Prompts to Try Today
The creator shared a bunch of prompts to get you started. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Rewrite an email:
“Rewrite this email to be friendly, concise, and 120-150 words. Keep my request and deadline. Then give a subject line.”
- Learn a new topic:
“Explain [topic] to me like I’m new to it. Then give me a five-question quiz and answer key.”
- Compare products:
“Make a table comparing the iPhone 16 Pro and Google Pixel 10.”
This is seriously one of the best beginner guides I’ve seen. The industry pro covers everything from pricing plans to using the Canvas feature for editing text.
For the full deep-dive and all 35 tips, make sure to watch the original video from the creator!