You’re using ChatGPT wrong

The video script emphasizes the common mistakes people make while using Chat GPT and offers practical advice on how to use it effectively. It suggests keeping initial instructions simple and broad to cover various use cases, rather than overly specific. The script introduces a hack to emulate a respected online creator's style by analyzing their content and using it as a guide for custom instructions. It also encourages users to leverage Chat GPT for automating tasks, even without coding experience, by providing clear and concise prompts for the AI to generate scripts. Additionally, it addresses the 'first try fallacy' by recommending users ask Chat GPT five questions to improve responses and suggests moving beyond mere summarization to distilling actionable insights. The script concludes with strategies to avoid the 'summary only shortfall' and the 'prompt overload paradox,' advocating for focused and refined use of prompts to enhance productivity.

Takeaways

• 📝 Use custom instructions wisely; avoid overly specific instructions that may limit the AI's utility across different use cases.
• 🧑‍💼 Keep the first box of custom instructions simple with a snapshot of your professional identity, a secondary persona, and your personality and interests.
• 📚 Use the bottom field in custom instructions to emulate a respected online creator's style by analyzing their work.
• 🔍 Select and adapt the writing style elements that resonate with you from the examples provided by the emulated creator.
• 🚀 For non-coders, use Chat GPT to write scripts that automate tasks, such as generating meeting notes in Google Docs.
• 💡 Make small, personalized tweaks to the scripts generated by Chat GPT to fit your specific needs.
• 🤔 To avoid the 'first try fallacy', ask Chat GPT five questions that would improve its response to your initial prompt.
• 📊 Instead of just summarizing information, use Chat GPT to distill actionable insights by providing context about your role and responsibilities.
• 📋 Conduct a dedicated Q&A session with Chat GPT by assuming a specific role and asking targeted questions based on provided reports or documents.
• 📈 Utilize Chat GPT for competitor analysis, audience insights, and creating surveys to gather feedback for audience engagement.
• 🔥 Optimize your daily tasks by selecting a few Chat GPT prompts that align with your job responsibilities and refine them over time.

Q & A

What is the main issue with the advice given by self-proclaimed experts on using ChatGPT?

The main issue is that their advice often hasn't gone through enough testing to produce consistently good results, which can lead to ineffective use of ChatGPT's features.

Why is it not advisable to be overly specific with custom instructions in ChatGPT?

Being overly specific can limit the relevancy of ChatGPT's outputs for various use cases, as the custom instructions should act like an umbrella covering all use cases rather than being optimized for just one.

How can one use ChatGPT to emulate the writing style of an online creator they admire?

One can analyze two blog posts written by the creator, then use ChatGPT to generate a set of instructions based on those posts, which can be used to write in the same tone, style, humor, reading level, and delivery.

What is a simple way to automate tasks in Google Docs using ChatGPT?

By asking ChatGPT to write a Google Apps Script for a specific task, such as generating a new page before a meeting, and following the step-by-step instructions provided to implement the script.

How can ChatGPT help with automating currency conversion in Google Sheets?

By asking ChatGPT to provide a solution for automating currency tracking, which can include writing a script or using formulas that automatically convert amounts to USD when entered in their original currency.

What is the 'first try fallacy' when using ChatGPT?

The 'first try fallacy' is the unrealistic expectation of getting perfect answers from ChatGPT after just the initial prompt, without providing further clarification or follow-up questions.

How can adding 'ask me five questions that would improve the response' at the end of a prompt help?

This sentence prompts ChatGPT to ask clarifying questions, which helps in refining the understanding of the request and leads to more relevant and accurate responses.

What is the 'summary only shortfall' and how can it be overcome?

The 'summary only shortfall' is the tendency of users to only use ChatGPT for summarizing information rather than extracting actionable insights. It can be overcome by asking personalized questions that relate the summarized information to the user's specific role or needs.

How can ChatGPT be used for a dedicated Q&A session with written content?

By instructing ChatGPT to assume the role of an experienced professional and asking targeted questions based on an uploaded report or document, which allows for efficient extraction of insights without reading the entire content.

What is the 'prompt overload paradox' and how to avoid it?

The 'prompt overload paradox' is the situation where users consume a lot of ChatGPT-related content but forget to optimize or use those prompts in their daily tasks. To avoid it, one can ask ChatGPT for a set of prompts relevant to their role and objectives, and then focus on using a select few in their daily work.

Why is it important to keep custom instructions simple and broad in ChatGPT?

Keeping custom instructions simple and broad ensures that ChatGPT's outputs remain relevant across various use cases and doesn't become too narrowly tailored to a specific task, which could decrease its utility in other areas.

How can one make simple tweaks to a script generated by ChatGPT?

One can make simple tweaks by understanding the script's functionality, identifying the parts that need modification, making the changes, and then saving and running the script to see the updated results.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 Optimizing Chat GPT Usage

The first paragraph discusses common misconceptions about using Chat GPT effectively. It criticizes the advice of being overly specific with custom instructions, which may limit the versatility of the AI's outputs. Instead, it suggests keeping the first input box simple with three sentences about professional, secondary persona, and personal interests. It also introduces a 'hack' to emulate a respected online creator's style by analyzing their content and using that to inform the AI's tone and style. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of the bottom field for custom instructions and provides a method to generate a Google Docs script for meeting notes without any coding knowledge.

05:01

🚀 Leveraging Chat GPT for Automation and Productivity

The second paragraph focuses on using Chat GPT to automate tasks and avoid the 'first try fallacy' where users expect perfect answers without refinement. It introduces a strategy of asking Chat GPT five questions to improve the response, which helps in clarifying the user's needs and receiving a more relevant output. The paragraph also addresses the common mistake of only using Chat GPT for summarizing information, instead of extracting actionable insights. It provides examples of how to get personalized insights by framing the request in the context of the user's role and responsibilities. Additionally, it suggests having a dedicated Q&A session with the AI to analyze reports and documents efficiently. The paragraph concludes with advice on not overloading the AI with too many prompts at once and instead focusing on a few well-crafted prompts to integrate into daily work routines.

Keywords

Custom Instructions

Custom Instructions is a feature of Chat GPT that allows users to provide specific guidance to the AI for tailored responses. In the video, it is suggested that instead of giving overly specific instructions, users should provide a general overview of their professional background, secondary persona, and personal interests to ensure the AI's responses are relevant across various use cases. An example from the script is when the speaker advises to keep the first box simple with three sentences reflecting these aspects.

Product Marketing Manager

A Product Marketing Manager is a professional role responsible for promoting a company's products or services. In the context of the video, the speaker identifies themselves as a Product Marketing Manager in Tech, which influences the type of information and responses they are looking for from Chat GPT to align with their professional needs.

Efficiency

Efficiency refers to the most effective and least time-consuming way of accomplishing a task. The video emphasizes the speaker's interest in efficiency, productivity, and self-improvement, which guides the type of outputs they expect from Chat GPT. For instance, the speaker uses Chat GPT to automate tasks in Google Docs, exemplifying the pursuit of efficiency.

Google App Script

Google App Script is a cloud-based scripting platform provided by Google within the Google Workspace suite. The script allows users to create custom add-ons for Google products. In the video, the speaker demonstrates how to use Chat GPT to generate a Google App Script for automating meeting notes in Google Docs, showcasing how non-coders can leverage AI to automate tasks.

First Try Fallacy

The First Try Fallacy is the unrealistic expectation of getting perfect results on the first attempt. The video discusses this concept in relation to using Chat GPT, where users might expect immediate and accurate responses without providing enough context or engaging in a dialogue with the AI. An example given is to ask Chat GPT five questions to improve the response, rather than just one prompt.

Summary Only Shortfall

Summary Only Shortfall refers to the tendency of users to only use Chat GPT for summarizing information rather than extracting actionable insights. The video suggests that users should ask for personalized insights related to their specific roles to get more value from the AI. For example, a marketing manager might ask how an article on holiday shopping insights applies to their role, receiving tailored advice on targeting Gen Z shoppers on YouTube.

Prompt Overload Paradox

Prompt Overload Paradox is a situation where users collect many prompts but fail to optimize or use them effectively. The video offers a solution to this by advising users to have Chat GPT assume the role of an experienced prompt engineer and provide a set of prompts tailored to their job role. The speaker then suggests focusing on a few key prompts and refining them over time for increased productivity.

Online Content Creator

An Online Content Creator is someone who produces and shares content on the internet, often through platforms like blogs, newsletters, or social media. In the video, the speaker recommends emulating an online creator they admire, like Ali Abdall, to inform the tone and style of their custom instructions for Chat GPT.

Casual Language

Casual Language refers to a style of communication that is informal and relaxed, often used in everyday conversation. The video script mentions using casual language as one of the preferences to be included in the custom instructions for Chat GPT, indicating the speaker's desire for a more conversational tone in the AI's responses.

Light Sarcasm

Light Sarcasm is a form of humor where comments are made that are the opposite of the truth, typically used to add wit or irony to a conversation. The video suggests including light sarcasm as a characteristic of the desired writing style for the AI's outputs, indicating the speaker's preference for a more engaging and humorous tone.

Actionable Insights

Actionable Insights are specific, practical pieces of advice or information that can be used to make decisions or take actions. The video emphasizes the importance of moving beyond mere summaries and extracting actionable insights from information, such as articles or reports, to enhance the utility of Chat GPT for the user.

Q&A Session

A Q&A Session is an interactive discussion where questions are asked and answered. In the context of the video, the speaker suggests having a dedicated Q&A session with Chat GPT, assuming the role of a senior business analyst, to provide in-depth insights and analyses based on uploaded reports or documents.

Highlights

Custom instructions should be kept simple and cover all use cases, rather than being overly specific.

For the first custom instruction box, provide a snapshot of your professional identity, secondary persona, and personal interests.

The bottom field in custom instructions is extremely important; use it to emulate a respected online creator's style.

Instead of copying all instructions, select the ones that resonate with you most for your custom instructions.

Chat GPT can write code to automate tasks, even for those without coding experience.

To automate tasks, describe the desired outcome to Chat GPT, and it will generate the script and implementation instructions.

Simple tweaks can be made to the generated scripts, such as changing date formats.

The first try fallacy involves expecting perfect answers from Chat GPT after just the initial prompt.

To improve responses, ask Chat GPT five questions that would enhance the answer to your initial query.

Instead of summarizing information, use Chat GPT to distill actionable insights specific to your role.

For personalized insights, ask Chat GPT how an article applies to your specific role and responsibilities.

Paid users can upload a PDF directly to Chat GPT for more effective prompts.

Engage in a Q&A session with Chat GPT for in-depth insights and analyses based on uploaded reports.

Avoid the prompt overload paradox by optimizing and using prompts in daily tasks.

Ask Chat GPT to assume the role of an experienced prompt engineer to generate productivity-enhancing prompts.

Select a few prompts to use daily at work and refine them over a two-week period for better productivity.

The video provides a method to become more productive by effectively using Chat GPT prompts.