Prompting for Creators: The Base Technique

What you'll be able to do after this lesson: build one reusable Brand Master Prompt — your niche, audience, tone, and a real sample of your voice — and paste it in front of every AI task so every caption, hook, and script sounds like you instead of generic AI. You'll save it and reuse it for the rest of this course.

Watch the class

Primary video: Sabrina Ramonov — How do I make awesome ChatGPT prompts? — YouTube watch?v=b7UUcbKlTLM · duration TBD [PENDING EMBED VERIFICATION]

Fallback video: How I Use ChatGPT Projects to Write TikTok Hooks in Seconds — YouTube watch?v=589opy7VZTI [PENDING EMBED VERIFICATION]

What the video teaches: the anatomy of a strong prompt — role, context, task, constraints — the four pieces you'll assemble below.

The text is a complete standalone manual; the video just shows the thinking live.

The concept: why "make me a caption" fails

Ask AI for "a caption about morning routines" and you get beige internet-average text — because that's what it is: the statistical middle of everything written on the topic. The model isn't broken; it has no idea who you are, so it writes for nobody.

The fix is context. Four pieces do almost all the work:

• Niche — the specific lane you create in ("home fitness for busy beginners," not "fitness").
• Audience — who they are and their number-one struggle. The struggle is what makes captions land.
• Tone — three adjectives you'd say out loud ("warm, direct, lightly funny"). Three is enough; ten contradict each other.
• Voice sample — 2-3 sentences you really wrote (an old caption, a text to a friend). This is the single most powerful input: the model imitates rhythm and word choice far better than it follows adjectives.

The reusable move: write it once as a Brand Master Prompt — a block you paste at the top of any AI chat before the real request. Every downstream lesson (hooks in 1.2, scripts in 1.3) assumes you have it.

ChatGPT or Claude? Both are excellent and both have a free tier (Verified: Jul 2026). ChatGPT is the fastest default; Claude tends to hold a consistent voice across long sessions. Both offer Projects (paid tiers) that store your brand context so every chat already knows you. Pick one to learn the workflow, keep your prompt in a note, and paste it into whichever tool you're in. The prompt is the asset — not the app.

Build your Brand Master Prompt, step by step

1. Write your niche in one specific phrase. "Plant care for apartment renters," not "gardening."
2. Name your audience + their #1 struggle in one line. The struggle is non-negotiable.
3. Choose exactly 3 tone adjectives you'd say out loud. If you wouldn't use the word with a friend, cut it.
4. Paste a real voice sample — 2-3 sentences you actually wrote. Don't polish it; the imperfections are the signal.
5. List your "never say" — words or clichés that aren't you ("guaranteed," "hustle," "game-changer").
6. Assemble it using Prompt 1 below. Fill every [BRACKET].
7. Save it twice: as a plain note and as a ChatGPT/Claude Project so it persists without pasting.
8. Test it with Prompt 2: ask for 5 captions and check — does this sound like me, or like an ad? If it's off, fix the voice sample first (it almost always is).

Prompts (copy and use)

Prompt 1 — Brand Master Prompt (builder)

Purpose: package your brand into one reusable context block you paste in front of every AI request.

When to use it: build it once now; paste it at the top of every AI chat (or save it as a Project so it's always loaded).

Editable variables: everything in [BRACKETS] — fill in all six before saving.

You are my content writing partner. Everything you write for me must match
the brand below. Keep this context for our whole conversation.

MY BRAND
- Niche: [YOUR SPECIFIC NICHE, e.g. "home fitness for busy beginners"]
- Audience: [WHO THEY ARE + THEIR #1 STRUGGLE, e.g. "women 25-45, no time,
  intimidated by gyms"]
- Tone: [3 ADJECTIVES, e.g. "warm, direct, lightly funny"]
- Never say: [WORDS/CLAIMS TO AVOID, e.g. "guaranteed, shredded, hustle"]
- Platforms I post on: [e.g. "Instagram Reels and TikTok"]

MY VOICE (imitate this rhythm and word choice, not the topic):
"[PASTE 2-3 SENTENCES YOU ACTUALLY WROTE — an old caption, a text to a
friend, something you'd say on camera. Don't polish it.]"

RULES
- Write the way I talk, using my voice sample as the reference.
- Spoken, natural language — never ad copy or corporate tone.
- Honest: promise only what's true. Never use anything from "Never say".
- When I ask for content, give me options, not one locked answer.

Confirm you've got my brand in one sentence, then wait for my request.

Warnings: the voice sample does about 80% of the work — a weak or fake sample gives weak, fake output. This block is context, not a magic wand: you still edit every draft.

Prompt 2 — Brand Voice Test

Purpose: confirm your Brand Master Prompt actually captures your voice before you rely on it.

When to use it: right after you build Prompt 1, and any time you edit your brand context.

Editable variables: the one [BRACKET] field.

Using my brand context above, write 5 short captions about:
[ANY SIMPLE TOPIC FROM YOUR NICHE, e.g. "why rest days matter"]

For each one, keep it under 40 words and sayable out loud.
Then tell me, in one honest line: which single caption sounds MOST like my
voice sample, and which sounds most like generic AI — and why.

Warnings: if every option sounds like an ad, your voice sample is too polished or too short — swap in something messier and rerun. Don't fix this by adding more adjectives; fix the sample.

Worked example: same request, with and without brand context

Request: "Write a caption about skipping a workout."

• No context: "Missing a workout? Don't worry — every fitness journey has ups and downs. Stay consistent and keep pushing toward your goals! 💪" — generic; could be any account.
• Brand Master Prompt loaded (Maya, a home-fitness creator): "Skipped my workout twice this week. The world's still spinning. Consistency isn't perfection — it's showing up more often than you don't." — same idea, her voice.

Same model, same topic. The only variable is the context you fed it. That's the entire technique.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Exercise: build your reusable Brand Master Prompt

1. Fill in all six fields of Prompt 1 — niche, audience + struggle, 3 tone adjectives, never-say list, platforms, and a real voice sample.
2. Paste it into ChatGPT or Claude. Read the one-sentence confirmation — does it describe your brand? If not, tighten the weak field.
3. Run Prompt 2 on any simple topic from your niche. Read the 5 captions out loud.
4. Score your setup with the rubric (self-score, 1-5 per row):

Expected result: one Brand Master Prompt, saved in two places, scoring 20+ out of 25. If output still reads generic, the fix is almost always a messier, more real voice sample. This block is the context you'll paste into every prompt in Lessons 1.2 and 1.3.

Checklist before you move on

• My niche is specific enough that it doesn't fit a random other account.
• My audience line names their #1 struggle, not just who they are.
• I chose exactly 3 tone adjectives I'd actually say out loud.
• I pasted a real, unpolished voice sample (2-3 sentences I wrote).
• I have a Never say list guarding my credibility.
• My Brand Master Prompt is saved as a note and as a ChatGPT/Claude Project.
• I ran the voice test and the output sounds like me, not an ad.

Toolkit for this lesson

Pick one AI tool to learn the workflow — you need only one. (Verified: Jul 2026.)

Next step

You now have the one asset every other lesson leans on: a brand context the AI actually understands. Next, in Lesson 1.2 — The 11 hooks that stop the scroll, you'll drop this Brand Master Prompt into a hook generator and turn one idea into ten scroll-stopping openers in your own voice — so your videos survive the first 3 seconds.