You do not need a 200 word prompt to get a better answer out of ChatGPT. You need one word, placed in the right spot.
A short list of these “prompt words” has been going around Reddit and YouTube Shorts, framed as secret codes almost nobody knows. They are not secret, and they are not literal system commands hardcoded into ChatGPT. They work because they tell the model exactly what shape of answer you want, which is the single biggest lever in prompting according to OpenAI’s own prompt engineering guidance. Here are seven of them, what each one actually does, and exactly where to drop them into a prompt.
Why a Single Word Can Outperform a Long Prompt
Most people over-explain to ChatGPT. They write three sentences of context, then bury the actual instruction in the middle. The model has to guess what matters.
These seven words work because they front-load the instruction. Instead of describing the output you want, you name it. ChatGPT has seen thousands of examples of what “explain like I’m five” or “format as a table” looks like, so it pattern-matches instantly instead of interpreting a vague request. That is the whole trick. No jailbreak, no hidden menu, just a clearer signal.
Compare these two prompts about the same topic:
Can you tell me about how blockchain works and maybe give me a simple version since I am not that technical?
ELI5: how does blockchain work?
Both will probably get you an answer. But the second one skips the guesswork. ChatGPT does not have to decide how simple is “simple enough” or whether you actually want the technical version with a disclaimer attached. You already told it. That is the entire value of these seven words: they remove ambiguity, and ambiguity is what produces flat, generic answers.
1. ELI5, Explain Like I’m 5
This one strips the jargon out of any topic and rebuilds the explanation from the ground up, using plain language and simple comparisons.
ELI5: how does compound interest work?
The number is adjustable. Swap the 5 for a 12 or a 15 if you already know the basics and just want the explanation a notch more advanced. Use ELI5 when you are learning something new, briefing a client outside your industry, or trying to explain your own job to a relative at dinner.
2. TL;DR, Too Long, Didn’t Read
Paste in a long email, a contract clause, a research paper abstract, or a wall of Slack messages, and ask for the TL;DR. You get the point without the padding.
TL;DR this article in 3 bullet points: [paste text]
Add a number to control the length, like “TL;DR in 2 sentences” or “TL;DR in 5 bullets.” This is the fastest way to decide whether something is even worth reading in full.
3. Steel Man
Steelmanning means building the strongest, most credible version of an argument, not the weakest one you can easily knock down. That distinction matters. Ask ChatGPT to steel man your idea and it will construct the best possible case against it, the version a smart, well-informed critic would actually make, rather than a throwaway objection.
Steel man the strongest argument against my plan to switch my agency to a subscription pricing model.
This is the closest thing on this list to a genuine business tool. Run any pitch, plan, or pricing decision through it before you commit, and you will catch blind spots a friendlier answer would have glossed over. Umbrex has a clean breakdown of where the term comes from if you want the full context.
4. Step by Step
This tells ChatGPT to show its full reasoning instead of jumping straight to a conclusion. It is close to what researchers call chain-of-thought prompting, where spelling out “think step by step” measurably improves accuracy on anything involving logic, math, or multi-part decisions.
Step by step, walk me through how to calculate my freelance quarterly tax payments.
Use it for anything with more than one moving part: budgeting, debugging, planning a launch, or working through a decision with real trade-offs. Seeing the reasoning also makes it much easier to spot where the model went wrong, if it did. PromptHub’s guide to chain-of-thought prompting goes deeper into why this works if you are curious.
5. Like a Pro
Adding “like a pro” or naming the exact expert you want, such as “like a tax accountant” or “like a senior copywriter,” pushes ChatGPT away from generic, safe answers and toward the vocabulary, structure, and priorities of someone who actually works in that field.
Review this job description like a pro recruiter and tell me what is missing.
Being specific about the role beats the vague version every time. “Like a pro editor” gets you sharper feedback than “like a pro” on its own, because the model has a narrower, more useful character to draw from.
6. Format as Table
Any time you are comparing more than two options, this turns a paragraph of run-on comparisons into something you can actually scan.
Format as a table: compare Notion, Asana, and Trello on price, learning curve, and best use case.
This is one of the most practical entries on the list. Tables force ChatGPT to be specific across consistent categories instead of writing three separate, slightly-different paragraphs about three tools.
7. Audit This
This shifts ChatGPT from “helpful assistant” mode into “reviewer” mode. Instead of just answering, it looks for flaws, gaps, and risks in something you have already built, then suggests fixes.
Audit this cold email for anything that would make a founder delete it in five seconds: [paste email]
Use it on pitch decks, resumes, pricing pages, contracts, or your own blog drafts before you hit publish. It is the closest thing to handing your work to a skeptical colleague for a gut check.
Quick Reference: All 7 in One Table
| Prompt Word | What It Does | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| ELI5 | Simplifies any topic to beginner level | Learning something new fast |
| TL;DR | Condenses long text into a short summary | Emails, articles, contracts |
| Steel Man | Builds the strongest counter-argument | Stress-testing plans and pitches |
| Step by Step | Shows full reasoning, not just the answer | Math, logic, multi-part decisions |
| Like a Pro | Answers in an expert’s voice and depth | Industry-specific feedback |
| Format as Table | Turns comparisons into scannable rows | Comparing 3+ options |
| Audit This | Reviews your work for flaws and gaps | Pitches, emails, drafts, pricing pages |
How to Actually Make These Stick
- Put the word at the start of the prompt, not buried at the end. ChatGPT weighs early instructions more heavily than ones tacked on as an afterthought.
- Stack two of them when it makes sense. “Step by step, like a pro accountant, explain how to file quarterly taxes” combines two of the seven in one line.
- Add a number or a name when you can. “ELI12” or “like a pro nutritionist” outperforms the generic version because it narrows the target.
- Save the ones you use most as a text replacement shortcut on your phone or laptop, so typing “eli5” auto-expands into the full instruction.
Honest Limitations
These are not hidden features and they are not guaranteed to behave identically every time. They are shorthand for instructions ChatGPT already understands in plain English, and results still depend on the model version you are using and how much context you give alongside the keyword. None of them replace giving ChatGPT real information about your situation. A one-word prompt with zero context will still produce a generic answer.
They also are not neutral. “Steel man” will occasionally produce a counter-argument that sounds more confident than it should, since the model is optimizing for persuasiveness, not accuracy. Treat that output as a starting point for your own judgment, not a verdict. Same with “audit this.” A flaw list from ChatGPT is useful for catching what you missed, but it will not catch context it does not have, like an inside joke with your client or a constraint your boss gave you verbally last week. Think of these seven words as accelerators, not substitutes for a clear ask and your own final read.
Save this one. The next time ChatGPT gives you a flat, generic answer, the fix is probably one word, not a longer prompt.
Just Being Resourceful! 
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