Here's how it usually goes. You open ChatGPT, type "write an email to a client about a late payment," and get back something so bland and American you'd never send it. You close the tab and conclude the whole thing is overhyped.

I did exactly this. So did most people I've spoken to about it.

The problem is that you asked a question with a thousand reasonable answers, so it gave you the average of all of them. Average is always bland. Here's what fixes it.

1. Say who you are and who it's for

This one change does more than the other three combined. The tool has no idea whether you're a bookkeeper in Boksburg or a lawyer in London until you tell it.

Instead of

"Write an email about a late payment."

Try

"I'm a bookkeeper in South Africa. One of my long-standing clients is 45 days late on an invoice. I like them and want to keep the relationship. Write a short, warm email that makes it clear I need payment this week."

Same tool, same amount of typing effort, completely different result. Every specific you add, your role, your relationship, your country, your tone, removes a thousand wrong answers.

2. Give it your actual material

Don't describe your document. Paste it in. Don't explain how you normally write. Paste in three emails you've sent and say "match this tone."

This is the shortcut nobody mentions. These tools are far better at imitating an example than at following a description. If you want it to sound like you, show it you.

(Before you paste anything with client details in it, read the page on POPIA and client information. It matters more than you'd think.)

3. Tell it what shape you want back

Left to itself, it will write you three paragraphs. If you wanted five bullets, a table, or a two-line WhatsApp message, say so.

  • "Under 100 words."
  • "As a table with three columns: issue, risk, what to do."
  • "Five bullet points, no introduction."
  • "Write it as a WhatsApp message, not an email."

Length is the one people forget most often, and it's the one that makes the difference between something you can send and something you have to rewrite.

4. Treat the first answer as a draft, not a verdict

This is the habit that separates people who get value from these tools and people who don't.

The first response is a starting point. Say what's wrong with it. "Too formal." "Shorter." "Take out the apology, I've done nothing wrong." "Keep the second paragraph, rewrite the rest."

It remembers the conversation, so you don't start again. Three rounds of "not quite, do this" will get you somewhere no single perfect first request would have.

Nobody gets it right first time.The trick is that you don't have to.

Two things that help more than you'd expect

Ask it to ask you

Try ending with: "Before you write it, ask me any questions you need answered to do this well." It'll come back with three or four sensible questions, and the result afterwards is far better. This is the single best trick on this page.

Ask for options

"Give me three versions: one warm, one neutral, one firm." Choosing between three is much easier than judging one in isolation, and you'll often take the opening from one and the closing from another.

A shape you can reuse

If you want something to fall back on, most good requests contain four things in roughly this order:

  • Who you are and what the situation is
  • What you want done
  • The material: pasted in, not described
  • The shape: length, format, tone

You don't need to be formal about it. It understands ordinary English, typos included. You're not programming, you're briefing someone competent who has never met you and can't see your screen.