You're Prompting Like It's 1999 — Stop It.

I'm about to save you hours of AI frustration. Every week, I get someone asking me, "Hey, can you help me get ChatGPT to actually do what I want?"

Sure. But here's the truth:

If you're using AI like it's Google or Ask Jeeves circa 1999, you're doing it wrong.

You've got to talk to it like it's a bright but naive 19-year-old intern.

Think super smart, zero experience. I have teenagers, so this is a real vibe for me.

If you're vague, it'll nod and pretend it knows what it's doing.

But if you're specific, it'll crush the assignment like an overachiever.

So here's the little cheat code I use daily. It's called COSTAR.

It's not a tool, it's not a startup, it's a simple prompt framework that delivers results.

Set the scene. Inform the AI about what's happening so it's not guessing in the dark.
Example: I am a CEO writing an email about product updates to our customer base.

Be direct. What EXACTLY do you want it to do? This is not the time for mystery.
Example: Help me craft an exciting email about the features we've just launched on our platform and those that are on the way. The list of items to discuss is in the attached document.

How should it sound? Corporate? Playful? Shakespearean pirate?
Example: This should be coming from a mid-market corporation.

What's the vibe? Friendly, serious, supportive, snarky?
Example: Upbeat and excited.

Who are we talking to? Your CEO? A high schooler?
Example: Customers of the following product.

How should it answer? Bullet points? Table? Tweet thread? Haiku?
Example: Two detailed paragraphs, one for a feature released this past quarter and one for the future quarter. Include a visual or table showing the Q2 and Q3 layouts of the features.

It takes the guesswork out of prompting.

It turns vague AI mumbling into sharp, accurate, and sometimes mind-blowing results. It speeds up the whole process of tuning your results.

It's like giving your AI a step-by-step on what to do to get the job done.

I use COSTAR every day, especially now that I've started using voice-to-text. I run through this checklist in my head before sending prompts, and it's made a massive difference in quality and speed.

Try it. You'll never go back to asking Jeeves and Google-like prompts.

Love this newsletter? Share it with your network or better yet save it for the next time you need your favorite AI tool to crush the task.

Best,
Kathy.