How to give context

From a vague idea to a request that gives you something useful.

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How it helps in your daily work

• Writing things you put off. The follow-up email, replying to a complaint, the message to reschedule an appointment.
• Summarising something long. Paste in a text and ask for the three key decisions you need to make. Saves you rereading, not reading.
• Getting unstuck. Ten ideas, two of which might be useful. It’s the quickest way to get started when you’re stuck.
• Explaining something tricky in simple terms. “Explain this as if I know nothing about it” works surprisingly well.
• Translating and adapting the tone. The same message for a client, your team, or social media.

Listen to the explanation

1. When you work for yourself, you often have the idea before you have the words. You know you want to post something, sell a service, or move a decision forward, but all you manage is a short line: do something about this.
2. AI can carry on from that line, but it will have to fill in too many gaps. That’s why a vague request usually gives you a generic reply, even if the tool is powerful.
3. Things get better when you add three signals: who you are and who you’re working for, what exact result you need, and how it should sound or be delivered. You’re not sitting an exam; you’re setting useful boundaries.
4. Look at the change: an idea turns into context, context becomes a brief, and the brief leads to an output you can review. That’s the difference between asking for inspiration and starting real work.
5. Now you’ll build a request by making some simple choices. The result is fixed so you can see the logic, not to pretend there’s an AI replying just yet.

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