Assign a Role or Persona

Technique: Telling the AI to act as a specific expert or persona shifts its tone, vocabulary, and focus to match. This is one of the simplest, most powerful prompt techniques.

Example

By naming the role ("experienced nutritionist"), you nudge the model toward a knowledgeable, careful, on-topic answer — and away from a generic one.

Roles you can borrow

• "Act as a senior software engineer reviewing my code"
• "You are a friendly customer support agent"
• "Act as a strict editor and tighten my writing"
• "You are a patient maths tutor for a 12-year-old"

Combine role with audience

Roles work best paired with an audience: "As a financial advisor, explain index funds to a complete beginner." The role sets the expertise; the audience sets the level.

💡 Tip: if answers feel too shallow or too technical, adjust the role and audience rather than rewriting the whole prompt.