The four parts: role, context, task, format
A simple skeleton turns a vague request into a prompt that works. Learn the four parts, what each one really does, and how to spot which one is missing when an answer disappoints.
The four parts
- Role
The point of view to answer from. "Act as an experienced hiring manager." It sets vocabulary, depth and what gets noticed.
- Context
Your situation and your material: who you are, who it's for, what happened so far, the pasted text. This is lesson 2 in action.
- Task
One clear job, starting with a verb: list, compare, rewrite, explain, find. Say what done looks like.
- Format
The shape of the answer: a table, 5 bullets, under 120 words, plain language, in Persian.
Check yourself
Match each sentence from a prompt to the part it belongs to
Show the answer
- "Answer as a patient maths teacher." → Role
- "My son is 10 and gets stuck on fractions with different denominators." → Context
- "Create 5 practice problems that get harder step by step." → Task
- "Number them, and put the answers in a separate list at the end." → Format
PART ONE
What a role does, and doesn't
A role is a shortcut. "As a nutritionist" pulls in the vocabulary, priorities and caution of that profession in three words. What it doesn't do is add knowledge or make facts more true. Flattery like "you are the world's greatest expert" adds nothing. A useful role is specific and tied to the reader: "a nutritionist explaining to a busy parent".
The same CV reviewed "as a friend" gets encouragement. Reviewed "as a hiring manager with 200 applications and two minutes each", it gets told which line to cut.
Before and after the skeleton
Weak prompt
"Give me a workout plan."
For whom? How often? With what equipment? You'll get a generic gym routine.
Improved prompt
"Act as a trainer who works with beginners. I'm 35, sit at a desk all day, have no equipment and can spare 20 minutes, three days a week. My knees hurt on stairs. Build a 4-week home plan. Show it as a table: day, exercise, sets, and one line on how to do it safely."
Role, context, task, format.
ROLE: Act as a careful travel planner.
CONTEXT: Two adults, 3 days in Isfahan in late April, mid-range budget, we like walking and food, we dislike rushing.
TASK: Plan the three days with at most 3 stops per day.
FORMAT: One short block per day: morning, afternoon, evening. Under 150 words in total.Day 1
Morning: Naqsh-e Jahan Square, slowly; step into one mosque, not all of them.
Afternoon: Lunch near the bazaar, then wander the covered bazaar.
Evening: Walk to Si-o-se-pol at sunset.
Day 2
Morning: Jolfa quarter and Vank Cathedral...You don't have to write the labels, but they help while you're learning: an empty label shows you what you forgot. Opening hours and prices are recent, local facts, so check them yourself (lesson 3).
Check yourself
Arash writes: "Act as a financial journalist. Compare leasing a car with buying one." He gets eight dense paragraphs when he wanted something to glance at before a family discussion. Which part was missing most?
- Role: he should have picked a more senior expert
- Task: "compare" isn't a clear verb
- Nothing; he should just ask again
- Format: he never said how long or in what shape
Show the answer
Format: he never said how long or in what shape
Right. He had a role and a task, but no shape. "A table with 5 rows, then a 2-line takeaway" would have given him the glanceable answer. Some context about his family's situation would help too.
PARTS THREE AND FOUR
A sharp task and a stated shape
A weak task is a topic: "my presentation". A sharp task is a verb plus a finish line: "list the 3 questions the audience is most likely to ask, with a 2-sentence answer for each". Format is the cheapest part to add and the one people skip most. If you would reformat the answer by hand afterwards, you should have asked for that format.
Useful format words: table, numbered steps, bullet list, one paragraph, under N words, headings, plain language, "start with the answer, then explain".
Check yourself
Starting a prompt with "You are the world's best lawyer" makes the legal facts in the answer more accurate.
Show the answer
False
A role changes style, focus and vocabulary. It doesn't give the model knowledge it lacks, and hallucination risk stays the same. For facts, what helps is supplying the source text and checking the answer, not a grander title.
Check yourself
Maryam wants dinner ideas for a week. She cooks for four, one child won't eat spicy food, and she has about 40 minutes each evening. Which prompt uses all four parts?
- "Dinner ideas for a week, please, as a table."
- "You are a Michelin-star chef with three restaurants and twenty years in professional kitchens. Give me your seven most impressive dinner ideas for a week, in a numbered list."
- "Act as a home-cooking coach. I cook for four, one child avoids spicy food, 40 minutes each evening. Plan 7 dinners as a table: day, dish, ingredients, time."
- "I cook for four, one child avoids spicy food, and I only have 40 minutes each evening after work. What should I do about dinner?"
Show the answer
"Act as a home-cooking coach. I cook for four, one child avoids spicy food, 40 minutes each evening. Plan 7 dinners as a table: day, dish, ingredients, time."
Yes. A fitting role, her real constraints, a countable task and a stated shape. Notice the role matches her life; a star chef would pull the answer toward restaurant food.
Diagnose a bad answer by its missing part
- Wrong depth or focus? Look at the role.
- Generic, could be for anyone? Add context.
- Wandering or covering too much? Sharpen the task.
- Right content, wrong shape or length? State the format.
Lesson recap
- A strong prompt answers four questions: who answers (role), what's the situation (context), what's the job (task), what shape (format).
- A role steers style and focus. It doesn't add knowledge or accuracy.
- A task is a verb plus a finish line, and format is the cheapest part to add.
- When an answer disappoints, find the missing part and add it.