Tell AI Five Things: The Five-Part Prompt
Tell AI Five Things is a five-part prompt structure Chris Sund teaches business owners: Role, Task, Details, Format, Guardrails.
It turns a vague request into a prompt that gets a usable first draft from ChatGPT or Claude. Who is it, what should it do, what should it know, what should it make, and what must it avoid. It is the framework behind every prompt in his AI workshop, Take Back Your Time with AI.
Five questions before you hit enter
Most weak AI results come from weak requests. “Write a quote” gives AI almost nothing to work with, so it fills the gaps with guesses. Answering five questions first gives it what it needs, and tells it what to leave alone.
Role
Who is it?“Act as an estimator.”
Task
What should it do?“Draft a quote.”
Details
What should it know?“Use these job details.”
Format
What should it make?“Create a one-page PDF.”
Guardrails
What must it avoid?“Do not invent prices.”
Role+Task+Details+Format+Guardrails
Each part, with two examples
The first example comes from Chris’s workshop for contractors. The second shows the same part for a dental office, because the structure works the same in any business.
Role
Who is it?
Tell AI who to be. A role sets the knowledge, vocabulary and judgment it brings to the task. Without one, you get a generic answer written for nobody in particular.
Act as an experienced estimator and customer service manager for a [your type of] contractor.
Act as the office manager of a family dental practice.
Task
What should it do?
Say exactly what you want done, in one clear action. Draft, review, organize, rewrite, compare. If the task is vague, the result will be too.
Review the customer’s quote request and draft a response.
Draft a reply to a patient asking what their treatment plan will cost.
Details
What should it know?
Give it the facts it cannot know on its own: the email, the notes, the numbers, the audience. This is where most weak results come from. AI fills missing details with guesses.
Use these job details. Here is the customer’s email.
Use the treatment plan and insurance notes pasted below.
Format
What should it make?
Describe the finished thing: an email, a one-page PDF, a table, five bullet points, a checklist. Name the length and where it will be used.
Create a one-page PDF quote with optional add-ons labeled.
Write a friendly email under 150 words with one clear next step.
Guardrails
What must it avoid?
Tell it what it must not do. This is the part most people skip, and it is the part that keeps AI from inventing prices, dates, facts or promises your business never made.
Do not invent prices, quantities, scope or deadlines.
Do not quote fees or coverage that are not in the notes, and do not give clinical advice.
If the first result is weak, add the detail you left out.
Do not start over and do not argue with it. Look at which of the five parts was thin, usually Details or Guardrails, and add what is missing. A second pass with one more fact almost always does more than a longer, cleverer prompt.
A weak prompt next to a strong one
The same request, written two ways. The strong version takes a minute longer and saves the rewrite.
“Write a follow-up email to a prospect.”
No role, no details about the deal, no length, no limits. AI writes a generic email, may invent a discount or a deadline, and it sounds like every other follow-up the buyer deletes.
RoleAct as an account executive for [your company].
TaskWrite a follow-up email to a prospect who went quiet after receiving our proposal.
DetailsThe proposal went out ten days ago. Their main concern on the last call was implementation time. Notes from the call are below.
FormatUnder 120 words, a clear subject line, and one easy question to answer.
GuardrailsDo not invent discounts, deadlines, results or customer names. No pressure language.
Three mistakes that make AI look worse than it is
Asking for 50 ideas
A long list feels productive and gets nothing done. Ask for the five that matter most, ranked, with the easiest first action for each. As the workshop puts it: do not ask for 50 ideas.
No guardrails
Without limits, AI fills gaps with confident guesses: prices, dates, quantities, credentials and quotes your business never gave it. Tell it what it must not invent, and to mark missing information instead of guessing.
Skipping human review
AI drafts. People decide. Every output that reaches a customer, an employee or a contract gets read by someone who knows the facts. The record is organized; the decisions still belong to the team.
Use the framework on real work
Free AI Prompt Library
Every prompt from the workshop, built with this framework and grouped by the six areas, with a copy button on each.
Take Back Your Time with AI
The hands-on workshop where teams learn the framework and build their own workflows. Keynote, half day or full day.
Chris’s Other Frameworks
LAARC for objections, LOCKS for closing deals and SPARK for keeping people.
Guides for each area: How to Use AI to Find New Business · How to Use AI to Respond to Quote Requests · How to Use AI to Improve Your Website · How to Use AI for Small Business Marketing · How to Use AI to Organize Operations · How to Create SOPs with AI
Questions About the Framework
What is the Tell AI Five Things framework?
Tell AI Five Things is a five-part prompt structure Chris Sund teaches business owners: Role, Task, Details, Format and Guardrails. You tell AI who to be, what to do, what to know, what to make and what to avoid.
Does it work in both ChatGPT and Claude?
Yes. The five parts describe what you want, not how a specific tool works, so the same prompt runs in ChatGPT or Claude.
What should I do if the first result is weak?
Add the detail you left out. Check which of the five parts was thin, usually Details or Guardrails, and add the missing fact or limit rather than starting over.
Why are guardrails so important?
Without guardrails AI fills gaps with confident guesses, including prices, dates, quantities and claims your business never made. A guardrail such as “Do not invent prices” keeps the draft to approved facts.
Where can I find ready-made prompts that use it?
The free AI Prompt Library for Business Owners has every prompt from Chris’s workshop, grouped by six areas, each with a copy button.
