The RCTFE Framework: 5 Steps to Better AI Prompts

Most people use AI like a search engine. Here's how to use it like a $200/hr expert. You've been using ChatGPT or Claude for months. But your results still feel... generic. You spend more time rewriting AI output than you save by using it. The problem isn't the AI. It's the prompt. And fixing it takes less than 30 seconds — once you know the techniques. Here are 5 prompt engineering techniques that separate power users from everyone else. 1. Set a Role (The AI "Mode Switch") When you tell an AI "You are a senior copywriter with 15 years of experience in B2B SaaS," something shifts. The vocabulary changes. The recommendations get more specific. The output matches what that professional would actually produce. Why it works: AI models learned from millions of examples of how different professionals write and think. Setting a role activates that pattern. Bad: "Write me an email." Good: "You are a senior account manager at a marketing agency. Write a client check-in email that addresses a m