Your First Chat with AI: A Practical Guide for Beginners

May 28

At 2Fifteen Tech, we believe the most effective way to think about using AI is when it feels like a co-worker, not a codebase. But for many, getting started with AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini can feel like learning a new language. If you’re not in tech or familiar with AI jargon, it can be hard to know where to even start.

Here’s the truth: You don’t need to be a developer or "prompt engineer" to get value from AI. You just need to know how to ask for what you need—in plain, structured language.

This guide will help you:

Understand what a prompt is and how it works
Structure better prompts using real-life examples
Use AI to handle everyday tasks (without the fluff)

Think of Prompts Like Conversations, Not Code

Talking to an AI assistant is like talking to a smart colleague. You get better results when you:

Start with a clear request
Add context or background as needed
Specify what kind of output you want
Adjust and refine if the answer isn’t quite right

This is what we call "iterative prompting." It’s not about writing a perfect instruction. It’s about asking, evaluating, and improving.

Four Core Elements of a Useful Prompt

You can start with just one sentence. But if you want better results, consider these building blocks:

1. Persona (optional) Set the voice or perspective. This is useful for tone or context.

"Act as a customer support rep helping a frustrated client..."

2. Task (required) Be specific about the action you want: write, summarize, list, explain, translate, etc.

"Summarize this article in 3 bullet points."

3. Context (recommended) Explain who you are, who your audience is, or what the goal is.

"I’m a sales manager prepping for a client meeting."

4. Format (optional) Clarify how you want the output to look.

"Respond in a table with columns for priority, action, and deadline."

Real-World Prompt Examples

"Draft a friendly reminder email [Task] to a customer who hasn't paid their invoice [Context], written from the point of view of a small business owner [Persona]. Keep it under 150 words [Format]."
"Organize this list of random notes [Task] into bullet points grouped by theme [Format]."
"Act as a hiring manager [Persona] and write 3 questions to ask a candidate for a help desk role [Task]."

Use Cases to Start With

Not sure what AI can help you with? Here are five ways people at small businesses, and startups use AI:

1. Writing & Editing

Draft or revise emails, blog posts, documentation
Generate product descriptions or marketing copy

2. Summarizing & Explaining

Turn long emails or docs into a few bullet points
Explain a technical concept in plain English

3. Organizing Information

Convert raw notes into structured outlines or tables
Reformat messy data into something you can act on

4. Brainstorming & Ideation

Come up with blog titles, campaign ideas, event names
Generate possible solutions to a business problem

5. Customer Communication

Write first drafts of support replies
Translate messages into a more professional tone

Don’t Expect Perfection: Improve Through Feedback

AI won't always get it right the first time. That’s fine. Prompting is an iterative process. If something doesn’t work:

Ask it to adjust tone: "Make it more conversational."
Ask it to focus: "Highlight the key takeaways only."
Ask for structure: "Organize this into a checklist."
Add missing info: "Include the deadline and point of contact."

Think of yourself as the manager and the AI as your assistant. Guide it.

One Final Rule: Always Review Before You Use It

AI can be a powerful tool, but it’s not infallible. It can miss nuance, hallucinate details, or get facts wrong.

Before you forward that AI-written email or use a generated list in a client proposal, read it. Make sure it reflects your tone, values, and facts.

A Good Starting Point

Prompting is just giving clear instructions. Start small, iterate, and refine. Here’s a basic formula you can keep on hand:

Task: What do you want?
Context: What’s the background?
Format: How should it look?
Persona: Who's speaking (if relevant)?

Try this today:

"Summarize this article [Task] for a busy executive [Persona/Context] in 3 bullet points [Format]."

In our next article, we’ll show you how to layer more complex logic, workflows, and multi-step tasks for intermediate prompting.

Until then: start with one request, review the output, and iterate. That’s how real AI productivity begins!

Learn More

We are working with many customers interested in learning how AI can help their businesses succeed, but also to not fall in to the hype cycle and expect too much out of AI as a tool. If you want to learn more how we can help you and your business take advantage of these amazing new tools, reach out to us!

Robby Barnes