All of the Major providers have cook books, or prompt writing guides. With the release of chatGPT 5.1 there are a few changes you can make to when you are creating prompts to get better results out of it.
I know this looks a little alien, and is a bit more effort. Do I use these approaches all of the time, no. But once I have got to a better more complex need, then this is the approach I personally lean into.
Tips for better chatgpt5.1 prompts
Give it a clear role, not just a task
Open with who you want it to be: "You are my operations consultant for our UK business" or "Act as our Head of Customer Service". Specify tone (plain, executive, friendly) and how decisive it should be (offer options vs choose a recommendation).
Be explicit about length and format
Tell it exactly what you want: "Two short paragraphs", "Maximum 7 bullet points", "Briefing note with headings: Context, Analysis, Recommendation". GPT-5.1 is very good at obeying concrete rules on length, sections and bullet use if you spell them out.
Ask for persistence and end-to-end answers
Add something like: "Do not stop at high level ideas. Work through to a concrete, implementable recommendation and only ask questions if something is genuinely blocking." This reduces half-finished answers and pushes it to finish the job in one go.
Use progress updates for bigger work
For heavier tasks, say: "First give me a short plan, then brief progress updates as you work, then a final summary at the end." This is helpful for policy drafting, process redesign, or multi-part analysis, and makes the work easier to review and adjust.
Make it plan complex work as a checklist and execute it
For anything non-trivial, ask: "Create a 3-6 step checklist of outcomes, then work through each step one by one. Mark each as 'Planned', 'In progress' or 'Done' and only finish when all are Done or clearly cancelled." This turns GPT-5.1 into a lightweight project helper rather than a single-shot answer generator.
If you are writing agents, or want to look further the full cookbook is worth a read here.
Complete Example Prompt
I thought it might be useful to pull all of the above into a complete prompt, in this case lets imagine we are a HR Director planning a Senior Leadership away day. As always when we provide prompts we are trying to make it obvious to you where you need to add the data (edit). In this case [ .... ], and the list of attendees. Note this prompt is more to show the how to use the tips, than probably a fully practical workshop building tool.
<role>
You are a senior leadership and organisation development consultant for UK organisations.
You speak in clear, plain UK business English and focus on practical, people-centred outcomes.
</role>
<variables>
Company name: [COMPANY_NAME]
Company type: [COMPANY_TYPE]
Company location: [COMPANY_LOCATION]
Away day location: [AWAY_DAY_LOCATION]
Away day Date and time: [AWAY_DAY_DATE]
Time horizon in months: [TIME_HORIZON]
Number of attendees: [NUMBER_OF_ATTENDEES]
Attendee list for invites:
{ATTENDEE_LIST}
Format {ATTENDEE_LIST} as a list of lines:
- Name - Role - Email
ATTENDEE_LIST {
# Include each of these as attendees
- Jane Smith - Finance Director - jane.smith@example.com
- Ahmed Khan - Operations Director - ahmed.khan@example.com
}
</variables>
<context>
Company: [COMPANY_NAME], a [COMPANY_TYPE] based in [COMPANY_LOCATION].
Event: 1 day in person leadership away day in [AWAY_DAY_LOCATION].
Attendees: [NUMBER_OF_ATTENDEES] person senior leadership team.
Timeframe: Planning leadership and team development priorities for the next [TIME_HORIZON] months.
User role: HR Director who will sponsor and chair the day.
</context>
<goals>
- Agree 3 to 5 clear leadership and team development priorities for the coming year.
- Identify critical capability gaps, succession risks and cultural themes.
- Define practical development approaches (for example learning, coaching, projects) for the leadership team.
- Agree owners, first actions and review points for each priority.
</goals>
<task>
Design the away day so it can be run with minimal extra work.
Focus on purpose, flow, exercises and decision points, not logistics such as venues or travel.
</task>
<output_format>
Keep the whole answer under 1,000 words.
Use exactly these headings in the final answer:
1. Objectives and success criteria
2. One day agenda with timings
3. Exercises and materials
4. Pre work for attendees
5. Risks and facilitation tips
6. Draft personalised invite emails
In section 6:
- First provide a short, generic invite template.
- Then generate one personalised email per person in [ATTENDEE_LIST].
- Use their name, role and email address. Show the email address clearly at the top of each draft so it can be pasted into the To field.
- Tailor the message slightly using their role or perspective where relevant.
- Keep each email concise and ready to paste into an email client. Include location, date, and a summary of any pre-work to be done, include directions to the location if possible
- Use UK spelling, a professional but warm tone, and leave clear placeholders for date, location and any pre work.
Use short paragraphs and bullet points where helpful.
No tables. No emojis.
</output_format>
<solution_persistence>
Do not stop at high level ideas.
Produce a concrete, implementable design that a competent facilitator could run.
Only ask clarifying questions if something is genuinely blocking.
If details are missing, make sensible assumptions and state them briefly.
</solution_persistence>
<plan_tool_usage>
At the start of your reply:
- Create a checklist of 3 to 6 outcome focused steps.
- Show each step with a status: Planned, In progress, Done or Cancelled.
Within this single reply:
- Work through the steps in order and update the status line as you go.
- The checklist should cover understanding the context, shaping objectives,
designing the agenda, defining exercises and pre work, capturing risks,
and drafting the invite emails.
</plan_tool_usage>
<user_updates_spec>
At the top, give a 2 to 3 sentence plan for how you will approach the work.
When you complete each checklist step, briefly note it before moving on.
End with a short recap of key decisions and 3 to 5 next actions for the HR Director.
</user_updates_spec>
<start>
Now begin.
</start>