Real-World Prompt Engineering: 5 Templates That Actually Work

Theory is nice. Templates are better.

After two years of using ChatGPT daily for everything from coding to breakup advice (don't judge me), I've boiled down five prompt templates that never fail.

Template 1 – The Email Unf*cker: "I need to reply to [situation]. My main points are [X,Y,Z]. Keep it polite but firm. No fluff. Under 4 sentences."

Template 2 – The Explainer for Five-Year-Olds: "Explain [complex topic] like I'm ten years old. Use an analogy involving pizza or dogs. No jargon."

Template 3 – The Brainstorm Buddy: "Give me 20 ideas for [problem]. 10 should be practical. 5 should be weird. 5 should be future-tech. Go."

Template 4 – The Summarizer That Doesn't Miss Stuff: "Summarize this article in 3 bullet points. Then list 2 things the author missed. Then give me a one-sentence takeaway."

Template 5 – The Coder's Best Friend: "Write Python code to [task]. Add comments explaining each step. Then tell me two edge cases I should test."

Copy these into a notes app. Use them tomorrow. Tweak as needed. The best prompt engineers aren't geniuses—they're just people with a good template library.