The anatomy of a dream prompt.
A good prompt is a short brief for a capable stranger who knows a lot about the world and nothing about you. It has up to five parts, which spell DREAM. You rarely need all five. You always need the first.
DREAM/you write the prompt
WAKE/you check the answer
DREAM
The five parts.
Each part answers a question the assistant cannot answer for itself.
- D
D is for Destination
What you want to walk away with, and its shape: what it is, who it is for, how long, what format.
Could a stranger tell when the job is done?
Starter I want to end up with…
- R
R is for Reality
Your actual situation: the facts, the limits, what you already tried and why it matters. If there is a document, paste it.
Would a smart friend who has never met you have enough to go on?
Starter Here’s my situation…
- E
E is for Example
One sample of what good looks like, or of what you don’t want, with a note on what to take from it.
Did you show it, or only describe it?
Starter Here’s the kind of thing I mean…
- A
A is for Ask
This one runs backward: the assistant questions you before it answers.
Does it know it is allowed to ask?
Starter Before you answer, ask me…
- M
M is for Measure
How the answer will be judged, plus a request to check itself: what it assumed, what it is unsure of, and the case against.
How will you know the answer is good, and how sure is it?
Starter Before you finish, check…
How much to use.
Match the dose to the stakes.
- DREAM
Quick
It is fine for small asks, like a subject line or a substitute for buttermilk.
- DREAM
Personal
Use it for anything personal, because advice that ignores your situation is advice for someone else.
- DREAM
Deep
Save it for decisions, sensitive topics and anything you will act on.
One prompt, taken apart.
Here is a deep prompt with each sentence marked.
-
D Destination
I want to end up with a clear yes, no or not yet on getting a dog this spring, with the three reasons that decided it.
-
R Reality
We’re two adults in a second-floor apartment, both out from 8 to 6 three days a week, with about $150 a month to spare.
-
E Example
Here’s the kind of answer I mean: “Not yet. Your Tuesdays are the problem, and here is what would fix them.”
-
A Ask
Before you answer, ask me up to five questions, one at a time.
-
M Measure
Before you finish, check your answer: tell me what you assumed about us, give the best argument for the opposite verdict, and name what I should ask a vet or a shelter instead of you.
Nothing in it is clever. Each sentence tells the assistant something it could not have known, or how to be useful.
Where is the persona?
There is no P in DREAM, and that is on purpose. “Act as a world-class expert” is the opening line everyone has seen. But when researchers at Wharton tested expert personas on hard factual questions in 2025, they found no significant gain in accuracy, with one model out of six as the exception. A role can change the voice and the angle of an answer. In those tests it did not make the answer more accurate. So when you want a voice or a viewpoint, put it in the Destination: “written for a nervous first-time buyer.” When the role is the real task, as in “play the hiring manager and interview me,” go ahead.
WAKE
Then check the answer.
A dream prompt gets you a better answer, not a guaranteed one. Assistants can be wrong and still sound sure, and they agree with people too easily. So before you act on an answer, wake up.
- W
W: Where is this from?
Ask for sources. Open at least one.
- A
A: Assumptions
Ask what it assumed about you and what was missing.
- K
K: Kick the tires
Check the one claim your decision depends on, somewhere other than the chat.
- E
E: Escalate or edit
Health, money, law and safety go to a qualified person. Everything else, rewrite in your own words before you use it.
DREAM the prompt, WAKE the answer. Every prompt in the library shows which parts it uses.