Five prompts, no jargon, built for someone who just opened ChatGPT for the first time. That’s the pitch behind a list a Redditor going by u/HOWTOAIFORBEGINNERS dropped in r/ChatGPTPromptGenius this week. Skip memorizing the wording. What actually matters is the habit underneath: giving the model enough context to know what you’re really trying to do.
The post got picked up fast, and for good reason. It skips the ten-step mega-prompts that usually dominate that subreddit. It goes straight for the stuff a total beginner would reach for on day one, before they’ve ever heard the word “framework.” Full disclosure baked into the original post too. The author is connected to a beginner-focused AI course, but said flat out the prompts are free to steal regardless. That kind of honesty is rare enough to mention.
The Five Prompts
1. When you don’t understand something
“Explain [topic] to me like I’m completely new to it. Avoid jargon and give me a real-world example.”
This works because it does two things at once. It sets a role constraint that forces the model to drop assumed knowledge. It also demands a concrete example instead of an abstract definition. If the first answer still feels dense, follow up with “now explain it like I’m 10.”
2. When your writing sounds bad
“Here’s what I’m trying to say: [paste text]. Rewrite it so it sounds natural and clear without changing what I mean.”
The key phrase is “without changing what I mean.” Leave that out and ChatGPT tends to rewrite your point along with your wording, not just your phrasing. Add “keep it under 100 words” or “make it sound like a text to a coworker” for tighter control over tone.
3. When you have messy notes
“Organise these notes into clear action items. Separate what I need to do, what I need to follow up on and anything important I shouldn’t forget.”
This is basic structured output prompting. You’re not asking for a summary, you’re asking for three specific buckets. That constraint is what turns a wall of notes into something you can act on Monday morning.
4. Before a meeting
“I’m meeting with [person/type of person] about [topic]. Give me 5 useful questions I should ask and anything I should prepare beforehand.”
The post’s own comment section backed this one up. Commenter u/wjbc pointed out that ChatGPT tends to take cues from how a question is phrased. It “seems eager to please,” agreeing with whatever angle you bring it. Asking for questions instead of answers, or pros and cons instead of a verdict, is a small way to fight that bias.
5. When you don’t know where to start
“I need to accomplish [goal]. I’m a beginner. Break it into small steps and tell me what I should do first.”
This closes the loop on the whole list. It’s a chain-of-thought trigger disguised as a plain-English ask. The phrase “tell me what I should do first” stops the model from dumping ten steps on you at once. That’s exactly where most beginners freeze up.
Use Cases
- 📋 New job, unfamiliar tool: run prompt 1 on every acronym in the onboarding doc.
- ✍️ Slack message that reads harsh: run it through prompt 2 before you hit send.
- 🗓️ Client call in an hour: use prompt 4, then actually bring the questions with you.
A Prompt Worth Bookmarking
If you save only one, make it #5. Almost every stuck moment at work traces back to not knowing the first move, and this prompt exists specifically to fix that.
“I need to accomplish [goal]. I’m a beginner. Break it into small steps and tell me what I should do first.”
Swap “beginner” for your actual skill level and it still holds up. The structure does the work, not the exact wording.
One more worth borrowing from the comments. User u/zhongzhir suggested a context-check line for anything recurring, before trusting an answer at all.
“Before answering, list the assumptions and missing details that could change your recommendation, then ask me the three highest-impact questions.”
That’s a sharp add-on once prompts 1 through 5 stop feeling new.
None of this requires memorizing exact phrasing, and the original poster said as much. The useful part isn’t the wording. It’s learning to hand ChatGPT enough context that it actually understands the job you’re asking it to do. The full thread is worth a read too, the comments add a handful of variations that never made the original list of five.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why does ChatGPT’s answer feel like it’s always agreeing with me?
ChatGPT is trained to be helpful and tends to mirror your perspective back. To get more balanced analysis, explicitly ask for pros and cons instead of asking what you should do. If an answer seems one-sided, push back by asking “Is that really the best approach?” or requesting alternative takes. This forces it to critique itself.
Q: Should I just use the first answer ChatGPT gives me?
Not always. Many users find better results by asking follow-up questions or breaking long answers into smaller parts so ChatGPT can focus more narrowly. If an answer seems right, question it further, you’ll often get better alternatives. And always verify facts against other sources to catch hallucinations.
Q: How do I avoid getting confidently wrong information?
Before asking for a recommendation, try this: “List any assumptions and missing details that could change your answer, then ask me the three highest-impact questions.” This surfaces context gaps upfront. It’s especially useful for complex problems where the wrong context leads to the wrong solution.
Q: Is there a trick to getting ChatGPT to give balanced answers?
Yes, ask for pros and cons explicitly. Rather than asking “What should I do?”, ask “What are the pros and cons of X?” This cuts through its people-pleasing tendency and gives you more objectivity. Framing questions neutrally instead of leading also helps.
5 simple ChatGPT prompts I’d give someone using it for work for the first time
by u/HOWTOAIFORBEGINNERS in ChatGPTPromptGenius