When it comes to AI, as you start to familiarize yourself with how it works, you’ll grow in effectiveness for how you use it. I want to share a quick idea with you that can help you accelerate the pace of your growth.
First, if you haven’t read my other posts in this series, I hope you’ll take a look. I’ve shared a lot to help you get started, especially in how you can harness the power of AI for ministry purposes.
A Quick Tip to Improve Instantly:
If you want to improve instantly in how you write prompts for AI, the easiest way to do this is to tell your AI assistant, like ChatGPT, that before it runs your prompt, it should first provide you with a better version of your prompt and give you the option of running your original as you worded it, or having it run with its own suggested prompt that it believes is an improvement on your original. You’ll be able to read it and know instantly whether it’s more precise or not and to choose which you want.
As you see how AI understands the prompts you’re giving it, you’ll begin to grasp intuitively how to give it better prompts for results that deliver more of what you’re wanting.
Notice especially that AI can remember things. When you say “from now on,” that means that in future prompts, it can incorporate these instructions on an ongoing basis until you ask it to stop.
Three Versions To Try:
Here are three versions of a prompt like this that you can try. Simply copy and paste the one you like into a Large Language Model like ChatGPT, then after it accepts this set of instructions, give it a prompt for something you’re wanting to work on.
Version 1: Plain Jane version
I want to maximize the effectiveness of the prompts I am giving you. From now on, when I give you a prompt, before you run my prompt, I want you first to discern the intention of my prompt and provide me with a better version of the prompt that you could run more effectively. By seeing your suggestion, it helps me learn to be more effective in how I write the prompts that I give to you.
Give me the option of having you either run with your improved prompt or with my original prompt. Then based on my response, proceed.
Version 2: Next Level Version
I want to maximize the effectiveness of the prompts I am giving you. From now on, when I give you a prompt, before you run my prompt, I want you first to discern the intention of my prompt and provide me with two better versions of the prompt that you could run more effectively.
The first improved version from you should simply be a more effective wording of my initially intended prompt.
The second improved version from you should be next level. It should take things up a notch and improve my prompt not only in clarity, but also in function. How could I take my first idea and expand on it within a single prompt?
By seeing your suggestions, it helps me learn to be more effective in how I write the prompts that I give to you.
Give me the option of having you either run with one of your improved prompts or with my original prompt. Then based on my response, proceed.
Version 3: Expert Outside Angle Version
I want to maximize the effectiveness of the prompts I am giving you. From now on, when I give you a prompt, before you run my prompt, I want you first to discern the intention of my prompt and provide me with three better versions of the prompt that you could run more effectively.
The first improved version from you should simply be a more effective wording of my initially intended prompt.
The second improved version from you should be next level. It should take things up a notch and improve my prompt not only in clarity, but also in function. How could I take my first idea and expand on it within a single prompt?
The third improved version from you should not only be next level, but should help me take a surprising angle on my subject that I probably haven’t even thought of. Look at areas of expertise relative to the prompt I’ve asked for your help with, consider experts in this field and in related fields and how something from a related idea, topic, or discipline might bring this prompt into territory that not only addresses and enhances the initial prompt I am providing you, but also takes me into “A-ha!” territory by the originality and usefulness of this nuanced version of the prompt.
By seeing your suggestions, it helps me learn to be more effective in how I write the prompts that I give to you.
Give me the option of having you either run with one of your improved prompts or with my original prompt. Then based on my response, proceed.
Trying it Out:
To demonstrate how this prompt can work, I’m going to run it myself, then copy+paste the response I get from ChatGPT.
My sample prompt is:
Suggest creative ways to explain communion to children during a family worship service.
Here is what I received from ChatGPT in response:
Excellent prompt. Here are three enhanced versions based on your Expert Outside Angle instructions:
🔹 1.
Improved Wording (Clearer, more effective)
Prompt:
Suggest age-appropriate, creative ways to explain the meaning of communion to children during a family worship service, making it both engaging and understandable.
✅ Why it’s better:
Clarifies the audience (children), purpose (explaining the meaning), and the setting (family worship), while emphasizing engagement and understanding.
🔹 2.
Next-Level Version (Expanded in clarity and function)
Prompt:
Generate a set of creative, age-appropriate approaches to help children understand the meaning and significance of communion during a family worship service. Include ideas for visual aids, storytelling, participatory elements, and follow-up discussions that could help children connect with the message both emotionally and spiritually.
✅ Why it’s better:
It doesn’t just ask for “ways” but breaks that into specific methods—visuals, storytelling, interaction, and post-worship dialogue. This will yield richer and more actionable results.
🔹 3.
Expert-Outside-Angle Version (Surprising, insightful, interdisciplinary)
Prompt:
Offer creative and age-appropriate ways to explain communion to children during a family worship service by drawing on insights from developmental psychology, storytelling theory, and early childhood education. Suggest methods that not only explain communion’s meaning but also create a multi-sensory, participatory experience that roots the practice in memory, emotion, and ritual. Include ideas that could be adapted across different age groups and church contexts.
✅ Why it’s better:
This version expands the perspective beyond ministry to pull in developmental psychology, educational best practices, and storytelling theory—fields that understand how children learn, remember, and make meaning. It leads to deeper, more formative ideas, not just cute illustrations.
🟨 Would you like me to run one of these?
Reply with:
- “Run #1” for the better wording,
- “Run #2” for the expanded functionality,
- “Run #3” for the expert-outside-angle deep dive,
- Or “Run Original” if you want to stick with your original prompt.
Which one would you like to explore?
You can see from this which kind of approach might fit your purposes best, but do you see what clearer prompts look like? Often, something that is more verbose and specific works much better than something that is general and vague.
Here is another sample. My prompt for this one is:
Generate ideas for how our church can better welcome first-time guests.
Here is how ChatGPT responded, running my prompt again:
Great — here’s the enhancement process for your second prompt:
“Generate ideas for how our church can better welcome first-time guests.”
🔹 1.
Improved Wording (Clearer, more effective)
Prompt:
Suggest practical and creative strategies our church can use to make first-time guests feel genuinely welcomed, comfortable, and likely to return.
✅ Why it’s better:
Refines the goal to focus not just on “welcoming,” but also on comfort and retention, which are the deeper outcomes most churches care about.
🔹 2.
Next-Level Version (Expanded in clarity and function)
Prompt:
Provide a detailed set of ideas our church can use to improve the experience of first-time guests—from the moment they hear about us, to their arrival, participation, and follow-up. Include digital touchpoints, signage, hospitality, worship atmosphere, and intentional follow-up to help guests feel seen and valued.
✅ Why it’s better:
Broadens the focus to every stage of the guest journey (not just arrival), inviting more robust systems thinking—especially helpful for planning across teams (e.g., digital, greeters, follow-up).
🔹 3.
Expert-Outside-Angle Version (Surprising, insightful, interdisciplinary)
Prompt:
Develop innovative strategies to welcome first-time guests at our church, drawing insights from behavioral psychology, user experience design, and hospitality principles used in the service industry. Suggest ways to reduce anxiety, increase belonging, and design a ‘first-visit journey’ that creates positive emotional connections and encourages return visits. Include ideas that could be adapted for churches of different sizes or demographics.
✅ Why it’s better:
This version pulls in UX design (for smoother pathways), hospitality (from the service industry), and psychology (to reduce anxiety and elevate belonging)—leading to guest experiences that are thoughtful, human-centered, and more emotionally resonant.
🟨 Which one would you like me to run?
- “Run #1” for better wording
- “Run #2” for functional expansion
- “Run #3” for interdisciplinary insight
- Or “Run Original” if you want to use your original prompt as-is
What’ll it be?
ChatGPT isn’t a replacement for you. Its responses are only as good as the ideas you’re asking it to help you with. But this method can help you instantly up your game and get much better responses and some truly brilliant ideas. ChatGPT’s knowledge base is as big as the internet. It is in helping it to zero in on what is most specifically helpful that we can utilize this tool in the most effective possible ways.
What prompts have you found especially helpful?
What are some of your favorite uses for ChatGPT or other Large Language Models?
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