In today’s digital world … Just kidding)
Chat GPT is like the future has arrived. And with good prompts it’s easy to fix phrases like “In the dynamic landscape of technology, … plays a significant role” and similar.
By the way, if you’re worried that using AI’s help when creating articles will lead to Google penalizing you, that won’t happen. According to Google Webmaster Guidelines, Google focuses on the quality of content, rather than how it is produced:
From Google’s perspective, you need to make original, high-quality content that demonstrates qualities of what they call E-E-A-T: expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
So, here are some prompts that can help to polish your texts.
ChatGPT prompt for removing fluff and adding substance
1) Avoid fluff and clichés
Prompt: Generate a concise paragraph (article) to explain …<topic>… Avoid words, phrases, and sentences that do not add any substantial value to the message being presented (aka practically applicable or interesting information). Avoid all types of clichés and redundant phrases, including but not limited to ‘cutting-edge’, ‘game-changing’, ‘essential’, as well as broad statements like ‘in today’s digital landscape’, ‘in the world of’, ‘plays a significant role in’, ‘is an ongoing process that requires’, ‘in the context of’, etc. Do not use multiple words and sentences to convey a point that could be communicated effectively with one.
2) Add facts that back up your message
You can ask ChatGPT to add relevant facts.
Prompt: Enrich your text by integrating well-researched facts, notable research findings, and engaging examples that support the main points. Dive into reputable sources for compelling data and draw from recognized studies. Ensure each fact or example directly reinforces the information being conveyed, providing clear evidence or illustration. Your goal is to create an informative and compelling narrative rooted in factual accuracy.
However, ChatGPT’s models are trained up until January 2022. So if your content needs any facts that have happened since then, you’ll need to provide information and ask ChatGPT to integrate your facts into your content.
Prompt: Please add these facts when creating content. Fact 1: … Fact 2: …
3) Add emotion, storytelling, or copywriting formula
ChatGPT can understand feelings and even outperformed humans in an emotional awareness test. But its default responses are neutral in tone; to incorporate emotions or integrate any writing technique, you must specify this in the prompt.
Add emotion:
Prompt: Enhance this text with emotional depth to resonate with the reader’s feelings, using descriptive language, metaphors, and a touch of humor now and then.
Add storytelling:
Prompt: Create a compelling narrative, employing storytelling techniques such as setting, character development, and a climactic moment
Add copywriting formula:
Prompt: Apply the PAS (Problem, Agitation, Solution) copywriting formula to restructure this content, highlighting the key issue, intensifying the reader’s concern, and presenting a clear solution.
4) Add personal experience or opinion
Prompt: ChatGPT, here’s my personal experience with this topic: … And here’s my opinion about this topic: … Include my experience and opinion into the content you’ll create.
5) Train ChatGPT to write like a specific person
You can train ChatGPT to sound like your favorite author, yourself, or anyone else. Here’s how to do it.
Step 1: Train ChatGPT by sharing a specific piece of content
Prompt: Check the writing style of this content. Analyze the word choice, tone of voice, and sentence structure. Summarize in 50 words what you found out.
Step 2: Ask ChatGPT to create your article
Prompt: Based on the writing style analyzed from the provided content, create an article titled “…” Ensure that the new content strictly adheres to the writing style that was identified in the analysis in terms of word choice, tone of voice, and sentence structure.
6) Diversify sentence length
People usually vary the length of their sentences and paragraphs.
Prompt: Ensure heterogeneous paragraphs and sentence lengths.
7) Audience targeting
When you write, you have a specific audience in mind.
Prompt: My target audience is: … It has the following characteristics: …
Types of words and phrases making it obvious that text is generated by AI
Let’s say we ask ChatGPT to write a 500 words article titled “How to use ChatGPT to write an article”
And if we ask to generate another article, for example, titled “How to build a website” and compare these two, you’ll notice certain things repeat, for example, useless introductory phrases like “in today’s digital …”, tautologies, and a lot of clichés.
ChatGPT, you’re better than that.
1) Introductory phrases and extra words that don’t really add anything
By the way, the word “really” in the sentence above could also be avoided 🙂
Examples: in today’s digital age, in the dynamic … landscape, staying abreast of the …, in an era where, in the fast-paced realm of, it should be noted that, as a rule, it goes without saying.
2) Clichés and worn-out phrases
Those words and phrases you’ve heard a million times.
Examples: revolutionary, seamless, mastering, state-of-the-art, crucial, important, a pioneer in the field of, moving forward, on the cutting edge of, ahead of the curve, mastering the art of, a game-changer, shaping the future of.
3) Jargon and specialized terminology
Some texts sound like something straight out of an IT department’s handbook, the kind of talk they use to make things sound more complicated than they actually are. Just compare:
The throughput degradation is attributed to an oversubscription of bandwidth, compounded by latency issues stemming from the asynchronous transfer mode technology implemented by the service provider.
vs
Your internet is slow because too many people are using the service at the same time, and the technology your internet company uses isn’t fast enough to keep up.
4) Negative constructions
Using negations can make understanding difficult. Whenever possible, it’s better to phrase thoughts positively.
Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
vs
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
In this example, positive language conveys openness and a genuine willingness to assist, while negative language feels insincere. Like, really, hesitate to contact us 😀
5) Bureaucratic language
Overly formal, kinda old-school language filled with complex terms and archaic vocabulary you can find in legal documents makes the text hard to get.
Examples: in accordance with, hereinafter referred to as, be advised that, for the purpose of, hereby.
6) Passive voice
Using active voice makes the text easier to follow. For example:
The novel was read by thousands of people, and it was praised by critics for its intricate plot.
vs
Thousands of people read the novel, and critics praised it for its intricate plot.
7) Long sentences and paragraphs
People’s attention spans are short. If you write short sentences using plain English, it’ll help people enjoy your content more. Compare these two:
In an era where digital content is omnipresent, and the volume of information available to the average consumer is overwhelming, the ability to convey complex ideas and narratives in a manner that is both succinct and accessible has become increasingly valuable.
vs
Today, we’re flooded with content. Cutting through the noise with concise writing is more valuable than ever.
8) Repeating the same idea with different words (tautologies)
AI-generated content sometimes loves repeating itself.
The website needs to be logically structured to establish a cohesive hierarchy of pages.
vs
The website needs to be logically structured.
9) Abstract expressions
Throwing in specific examples or details helps clear things up. Just compare:
We need to improve efficiency.
vs
We need to reduce the time it takes to process customer inquiries.
Creating value
Software engineers generally try to minimize the number of lines of code because extra lines can introduce additional points of failure. The same rules could apply to writing.
