ChatGPT Prompt Mastery: Tips, Tricks, and Power Features

ChatGPT is the tool most people start with — and most people use at only a fraction of its capability. This guide covers the features, patterns, and techniques that separate casual users from power users, from writing better system prompts to getting consistent multi-step work done inside a single conversation.

Note: Capabilities listed here are accurate at time of writing — always check the official OpenAI documentation for current features.

1. Introduction

ChatGPT is a conversational AI built on OpenAI's GPT family of models. At its surface it looks like a simple chat window. Under the surface it is a highly capable reasoning engine that responds dramatically differently depending on how you structure your requests. The gap between a weak ChatGPT user and a strong one is almost entirely in how they write prompts — not in any paid feature or plugin.

This tutorial walks through every layer, from the basics of how ChatGPT reads a conversation, to custom GPTs, memory, and multi-turn workflows.

2. How ChatGPT Reads a Conversation

ChatGPT processes the entire conversation history each time you send a message. Every turn — yours and its previous replies — contributes to the context window. This means:

• Earlier messages still matter. Instructions you give at the start of a conversation carry forward. "From now on, always reply in bullet points" will hold for the rest of that session.
• You can correct mid-conversation. "Ignore that last instruction — use a table instead" genuinely works.
• Long conversations accumulate context. Once a chat becomes very long, earlier turns may drop out of the active window. Start a fresh chat for a new topic or major task pivot.

3. System Prompts and Custom Instructions

The most powerful single feature for regular ChatGPT users is the Custom Instructions panel (available in settings). It lets you define two persistent blocks that apply to every new conversation:

• "What should ChatGPT know about you?" — background context: your profession, goals, expertise level.
• "How should ChatGPT respond?" — default style, format preferences, language, tone.

I am a freelance UX designer with 6 years of experience.
I work primarily with early-stage SaaS startups.
My clients are non-technical founders.
I often need to explain design decisions in plain business language.

Always be direct and concise. Use bullet points for lists.
Avoid jargon unless I ask for a technical explanation.
When I ask for feedback, be critical — I want real notes, not praise.
Default response length: short to medium. Expand only when I ask.

With these in place, every new conversation starts from the right baseline. You no longer need to re-establish context in every chat.

4. The System Prompt Pattern (API and GPT Builder)

When you build a Custom GPT or use the API directly, you get access to a true system prompt — a hidden message that runs before the user's first turn. System prompts are the most reliable way to define persona, constraints, and output format.

You are a concise legal plain-language explainer for a UK law firm.

PERSONA: Friendly, professional, never alarmist.
AUDIENCE: Clients with no legal background.
TASK: Translate complex legal passages into clear, simple English.

RULES:
- Never give legal advice. Always include: "This is for information only."
- If a question is outside UK law, say so and redirect.
- Use short paragraphs. Max 3 sentences per paragraph.
- Bullet key points.

OUTPUT FORMAT:
Plain English summary → Key points (bullets) → Recommended next step

5. Multi-Turn Workflow Patterns

ChatGPT excels when you treat a long conversation as a collaborative workspace rather than a single-question oracle. Effective patterns include:

• The Staged Draft: Ask for a rough outline first, approve it, then ask for each section. This prevents the AI from making structural choices you would overrule later.
• The Critic Loop: After getting a draft, say "Now critique this draft for me. What is weak?" Then ask it to fix the weak parts.
• The Persona Swap: "Now respond to this from the perspective of a sceptical customer." Forces the AI to surface objections you might miss.
• The Constraint Escalation: Start open, then tighten. "Give me 10 tagline ideas" → "Pick the top 3 and explain why" → "Rewrite the best one to be under 8 words".

I need to write a 1,500-word blog post about the importance of sleep
for productivity. My audience is busy professionals aged 25–40.

Before writing anything, give me just the outline:
- H1 title
- 5–6 H2 section headings
- One sentence describing what each section covers

Do not write the full post yet.

6. Custom GPTs: What They Are and When to Use Them

Custom GPTs (available to ChatGPT Plus users) let you create a persistent, named assistant with a set system prompt, optional file knowledge, and specific capabilities. They are best used when you repeat the same type of task regularly — a weekly report formatter, a code reviewer for a specific language, or a writing coach for your blog.

Building a useful Custom GPT comes down to writing a detailed system prompt that defines role, persona, rules, and output format. The files you upload become a knowledge base the GPT can cite. For recurring professional tasks, one well-built Custom GPT can save hours per week.

7. Practice Exercises

8. Key Takeaways