# The five parts of a useful work prompt

Original 5HO practice material. Fictional example. Reviewed 5 October 2026.

## Useful result

You'll finish with a prompt structure you can reuse for a real task.

A useful prompt has a job to do. Give it a task, context, audience, limits and output shape. You can fit all five into a few sentences; there is no minimum word count for sounding serious.

## Set up

Spend 10 minutes in a text chat. Keep the five-part structure nearby and use the sample instead of inventing a work problem.

## Practice input

Task: write a reminder. Context: three people have not selected a training session. Audience: colleagues. Limits: friendly, no blame, no invented deadline. Output: a subject line and an email under 90 words.

## Do the task

1. Label the five parts in the example.
2. Send them together and inspect whether the answer follows all five.
3. Change just the output shape to a two-line chat message and compare.

## Prompt

Write the reminder using the five-part brief provided. Mention that three responses are outstanding without naming anyone. Ask people to choose a session; do not add a deadline.

## Refine

Keep the same facts but turn the email into a two-line team-chat message. Leave out any greeting that uses a name I did not supply.

## Expected checks

Both versions should ask for the same action and avoid a new deadline. A role such as “expert communicator” cannot replace the missing practical details.

## Save

Save your filled-in five-part brief as a reusable starting point. Replace the context before the next job.

## Sources

- Writing clear prompts: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/10032626-prompt-engineering-best-practices-for-chatgpt