ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, COPYWRITING & PROMPT ENGINEERING
Add your personal writing style to ChatGPT’s custom instructions
A step-by-step guide to making ChatGPT’s output your own
Hey there, fellow AI aficionado! 🤖 Ever found yourself thinking, “Gee, I wish this chatbot could mimic my quirky writing style”? Well, hold onto your keyboard, because I have news for you! I’ve got the magic words to turn AI into your digital twin! What’s the secret? Custom instructions!
Let’s Talk Custom Instructions
ChatGPT unveiled Custom Instructions in July for Plus subscribers (it then vanished for a bit). But now it’s back for everyone—even users on the free trial! OpenAI listened to our feedback (from users in 22 countries) that it was frustrating having to start every conversation afresh. As OpenAI states:
ChatGPT will consider your custom instructions for every conversation going forward. The model will consider the instructions every time it responds, so you won’t have to repeat your preferences or information in every conversation.
So now instead of having to repeatedly type your favourite prompts for each new chat conversation, you can Set and Forget how you would like ChatGPT to respond. As TechCrunch explained, this means you can:
- Save time by supplying background info once
- Set word count length for answers (approx)
- Customize the style and tone of the response
You can access these preferences through:
Settings > Custom Instructions.
Getting Personal with Custom Instructions
It gets even better! You can take the custom Personal Writing Style Guide that I helped you to create earlier with my perfect prompt, and plug it into ChatGPT’s new custom instructions. Voilà! — ChatGPT can now chat back with your unique flair.
Wait, you didn’t get a style guide?! Why didn’t you say? Try it out here:
How’s it Done, You Ask?
Simple! Take your style guide and condense it to under 1500 characters. Think of it as a fun-sized version: all the goodness in a bite-sized treat! 🍫
Then, pop it into the ‘How would you like ChatGPT to respond?’ field. Hit ‘Save’, and bam! There’s mini-you inside the machine, ready to get writing.
I bet you’re itching to give this a whirl! But if you want more guidance on how to do it, I’ll give a full walkthrough with prompts and examples below.
Why Bother, Though?
Remember when we used to have to repeatedly prompt to get AI to respond in just the right way? Like asking it to not sound robotic and fake? Or when AI sounded like it had just swallowed a thesaurus? Like that episode of “Friends” where Joey replaces every single word when writing a letter?
Shudders. No more! With ChatGPT’s custom instructions, you can say, “Hey, this is how I want you to talk.” And say it once. Personalizing AI is about matching your voice for more genuine, human-like interactions. We want to feel seen, heard, and chuckled with. With a style guide in custom instructions, you can augment yourself for more effective communication.
Walkthrough: An AI Blogger’s Style Guide
Okay, let’s get our hands dirty! First take your base article. Make sure it’s one that you’re proud of and that represents your best work. Paste it into ChatGPT, preceded by this prompt (I’m handing out free gold over here!)
Based on the tone and writing style in the seed text, create a style guide for a blog or publication that captures the essence of the seed’s tone. Emphasize engaging techniques that help readers feel connected to the content. SEED TEXT:
I’m going to take a top performing article to show you how it works. More free gold — you get this style guide! Thank me with some claps at the end ;)
Style Guide for Blog/Publication
1. Title:
Provocative and contemplative, sparking immediate interest.
2. Article Format:
Start with an unexpected revelation or lesser-known fact.
Use sub-headings to segment and guide the narrative.
Incorporate anecdotes, historical events, or pop culture references.
3. Tone & Voice:
Conversational and introspective.
Merge personal experiences with broad, universally relevant themes.
Use relatable examples to make abstract concepts tangible.
4. Engagement Techniques:
Use direct questions to invite readers into the narrative.
Include interactive elements like links to original content or relevant external articles.
5. Vocabulary & Grammar:
Accessible language, aiming for clarity over complexity.
Avoid jargon; focus on terms and concepts that resonate with a wide audience.
6. Imagery & Metaphor:
Leverage comparisons to everyday experiences or well-known concepts.
Use vivid examples to highlight key messages.
7. Call-to-Action (CTA):
Engage readers further with suggestions to subscribe, share, or explore more content.
8. Article Length:
Aim for medium-length articles (around 5–7 minutes reading time).
9. Authenticity & Transparency:
Whenever possible, share personal experiences or examples.
Open up about personal challenges, mistakes, and growth.
10. Final Thoughts/Conclusion:
End on a contemplative or provocative note, sparking further thought or discussion.
That’s under 1500 characters, so it will fit! But if yours doesn’t just trim it down. You can even use my rewriting prompts to condense the style guide!
Now put the style guide in the second field in your Custom Instructions (How would you like ChatGPT to respond?). I’m going to test my demo with a basic prompt (a zero-shot prompt) but you can go into more detail, perhaps provide a first draft of your own work or an older piece you’d like to refurb:
Write a blog article about embracing imperfection and wabi-sabi in a digital age
With a bit of editing (adding links and such, which you could use an AI Search Engine like You.com to research for you) we have a draft article:
In fact, let’s give the post a cheeky little publish on Medium (I’ll not make it eligible to earn with the Partner Program) but let’s run it as an experiment!
Your turn! 🎲
Alright, dear reader, I’ve done my bit. Now it’s over to you! How would you like to personalize your AI? Did you manage to sprinkle some magic onto ChatGPT? Maybe you’ve got a style guide that sounds like Shakespeare or perhaps more like Chandler Bing. Let me know below! Share your discoveries. We’re all in this AI roller-coaster together. 🎢💙
Enjoyed this article? Show some love by clapping! Pro tip: hold down the clap button and spare your fingers the repeated clicking. Thank you for clapping!
Who is Jim The AI Whisperer?
Jim the AI Whisperer offers private coaching on how to write original and compelling content, as well as how to use AI generators to create stunning visuals. If you’re interested in discovering more, feel free to contact me.
I’m also available for podcasts, interviews, fine-tuning AI prompts, and creating prompt libraries and professional AI images for companies.
