Fifteen Short Phrases That Stack: Role, Process, Format
Fifteen short phrases, each one added to the start or end of an ordinary prompt. Most people who collect lists like this use them one at a time, which is a shame – because the real trick is that they stack.
“Ask me questions first” plus “act as a recruiter” gives you a CV that fits the job rather than a generic rewrite. “Explain with examples” plus “quiz me” means you learn a topic instead of reading about it. One phrase improves an answer. Two of them change how the whole conversation works.
Every phrase fills one of three slots
The reason stacking works is that the phrases are not all doing the same thing. Each one sets the role, the process, or the format – and a good combination takes one from each.
| Slot 1 · Role → | Slot 2 · Process → | Slot 3 · Format |
|---|---|---|
| Who is answering Changes the vocabulary and what counts as important |
How it gets there Changes whether you are asked questions, walked through steps or tested |
What comes back Changes the shape on the page, not the thinking |
| Example: “Act as a recruiter” |
Example: “Ask me questions first” |
Example: “Make it a table” |
| One per prompt | One per prompt | One per prompt |
This is the compact version of the prompt structure we set out in vague in, vague out. A full prompt spells out five things; these phrases are shorthand for three of them, which is why they can be bolted onto a request you were going to type anyway.
The fifteen, sorted by slot
Here they are with the job each one is doing. Notice that only one is a role, six are process and the rest are format.
| # | Phrase | Slot | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ELI5: | Process | Explain like I am five – the simplest possible version |
| 2 | TL;DR: | Format | An instant short summary of whatever follows |
| 3 | Act as a [role] | Role | Expert-level answers in that role’s vocabulary |
| 4 | Step by step | Process | A clear breakdown rather than a paragraph |
| 5 | Ask me questions first | Process | It interviews you, so the answer fits your situation |
| 6 | Make it a table | Format | An organised view you can scan |
| 7 | Rewrite like a human | Format | Natural text, no stock phrases |
| 8 | Critique this | Process | Honest feedback instead of encouragement |
| 9 | Give 10 ideas | Format | Instant brainstorming, quantity on purpose |
| 10 | Continue | Process | Resumes an answer that was cut off |
| 11 | Explain with examples | Process | Understanding through concrete cases |
| 12 | Pros and cons | Format | A quick two-sided comparison |
| 13 | Make it shorter | Format | Crisp and concise, usually with a word limit |
| 14 | Quiz me | Process | Tests what you actually absorbed |
| 15 | Summarise in 3 points | Format | The key takeaways, nothing else |
That imbalance is useful to know. Most people reach for format phrases – shorter, table, three points – because the result looks different immediately. The process phrases are the ones that change the answer rather than its shape, and “ask me questions first” is the most underused line on the whole card. It converts a guess into something fitted to your situation, at the cost of ninety seconds.
The post this came from
Watch the reel
All fifteen phrases on one card, with an example for each. Posted on the BANI Academy page.
Five combinations for a channel week
The card’s own examples work. Here is the same idea applied to jobs you do every week.
| The job | The combination | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Planning next week’s video | Act as a viewer of my channel + ask me questions first + summarise in 3 points | A plan fitted to your audience, not a generic list |
| Turning research into a script | Explain with examples + step by step + make it a table | Concrete material in an order you can film |
| Final pass before recording | Critique this + make it shorter | Weak points found, then the padding cut |
| Learning a new tool | ELI5 + explain with examples + quiz me | You can actually use it by the end of the session |
| Choosing between two ideas | Act as a sceptic + pros and cons | A comparison that does not flatter your favourite |
Pairs that cancel each other out
Stacking has one failure mode: two phrases from the same slot pulling in opposite directions. The model then picks one, and you cannot tell which.
“Give 10 ideas” + “make it shorter”. Both set the format. You will get either ten thin lines or four decent ones, and never the same choice twice. Ask for ten, pick three, then shorten those.
“ELI5” + “act as an expert”. The role wants precision and the process wants simplicity. Pick the audience you actually have.
“TL;DR” + “explain with examples”. One strips detail, the other adds it. If you want both, ask for the summary first and the examples in the next message.
The general rule is the one from thirty-one retypes: when an answer drifts between attempts, the instruction was ambiguous before the model ever saw it.
Why short phrases beat long instructions
There is a reason these fifteen lines work better than the paragraph of instructions people write when they are being careful. A long prompt asks for many things at once, and when the answer comes back wrong you cannot tell which sentence caused it. A short phrase changes one variable, so the effect is visible immediately.
They are also easier to keep. Nobody remembers a hundred-word preamble, but everybody remembers “ask me questions first” after using it twice. The habit survives because the unit is small enough to type without thinking – and a technique you actually use beats a better one you abandon.
The trade-off is precision. A phrase gets you eighty per cent of the way with two words; the last twenty per cent still needs the detail, such as how many, in what order, and what to leave out. So use phrases while you are working, and write the full version only for the jobs you repeat every week.
When a pair earns a name
If you find yourself typing the same two phrases every day, they have stopped being phrases and become a command. Write the pair down once, give it a blunt name, and store it where every chat can see it – the setup is in save once, call in one word.
And when the same named command is used weekly to a fixed standard, it is worth promoting into something more permanent, with your tone, your format and two examples of output you would keep. That path is in from shortcut to skill.
One warning worth repeating: these phrases change how an answer is produced and presented. They do not make it true. “Critique this” and “pros and cons” will happily produce confident-sounding material about things the model has not checked, which is why the upstream habits in most people use AI to draft still matter more than any phrase.
Frequently asked questions
Do these only work in ChatGPT?
No. The card says it too: they work in Claude and Gemini. They are plain English instructions, not product features.
How many can I stack?
Three is the practical limit – one per slot. Beyond that the instructions start competing and the answer gets less predictable, not more.
Where do I put them?
At the start or the end of your normal request. Position matters far less than choosing one phrase per slot.
What if I use the same two every day?
Then stop typing them. Save the pair as a named shortcut so one word does the work.
Stack two this week
Pick the job you do most often. Choose one process phrase and one format phrase for it – and if it matters who is answering, add a role. Use that combination for a week without changing it, and notice how much less correcting you do afterwards.
One phrase improves an answer. Two change how the conversation works. Three, chosen from different slots, is usually the ceiling.
Learning a lot does not make anyone good. Doing a lot does.
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Which two would you combine? Drop the numbers in the comments on the original reel.
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