--- title: "Your first conversation" url: https://aiguideson.com/courses/ai-for-beginners-start-here/your-first-conversation/ course: "AI for beginners: start here" lesson: "3 of 5" minutes: 10 published: 2026-10-03 updated: 2026-10-03 author: "Jack Stovell" publisher: "Adapt Progress Evolve Limited" language: "en-GB" --- # Your first conversation Lesson 3 of 5 in [AI for beginners: start here](https://aiguideson.com/courses/ai-for-beginners-start-here/) · 10 minutes Time to use it. You’ll ask for something small and real, read what comes back, ask for changes in the same chat, and check what it filled in on its own, which is the bit people forget. Our example is a note for the neighbours about a party, but you can pick any small job. ## You need - Your account from lesson 2 (or ChatGPT without one) - A small, real job to try, with nothing private in it A narrated walkthrough of this lesson is coming. The steps below cover everything in it. ## Steps ### Step 1: Find the message box Open ChatGPT or Claude. The box at the bottom of the screen is where you type. In ChatGPT it says Ask ChatGPT until you start typing. Under it, ChatGPT reminds you that chats may be reviewed and used to improve its AI models. ![ChatGPT’s front page without signing in: the heading "Where should we begin?", a message box that says "Ask ChatGPT", a "Sign up for free" button at the top right, and a line at the bottom saying chats may be reviewed and used to improve its AI models.](https://aiguideson.com/courses/ai-for-beginners-start-here/l3-chatgpt-home.png) (screenshot captured 3 October 2026) 1. Type your message here 2. Chats may be reviewed: don't type anything private 3. Sign up to keep your chats Checkpoint: You can see the message box and you’re ready to type. ### Step 2: Ask for something small and real Type your request in plain words, as you’d ask a person. Say what you want and what it’s for. Copy ours if you like, or write your own. Either works. Then press Enter or the send button. The prompt (works in ChatGPT, Claude or any AI chat tool): ```text I'm having a birthday party at my house this Saturday evening. Can you write a short, friendly note I can put through my neighbours' doors to let them know? ``` - It says what to make (a short note) and what it’s for (telling the neighbours about a party). - "Short" and "friendly" tell it the length and the tone. (Screenshot to come.) Checkpoint: You’ve sent your first prompt and a reply has appeared. ### Step 3: Read the reply properly Read every line before you do anything with it. Ours left gaps in square brackets for the date, the start and end times and a phone number, because we hadn’t given them. It also suggested an extra line inviting the neighbours in, and offered to make the note more formal, more casual or shorter. (Screenshot to come.) Checkpoint: You’ve read the whole reply and spotted any gaps or extras. ### Step 4: Ask for a change in the same chat You don’t need to start again. Reply in the same chat and say what you want changed. It can see the earlier messages in the chat. We asked for a shorter note and added that the music would be off by 11pm. The prompt (works in ChatGPT, Claude or any AI chat tool): ```text That's good. Please make it shorter, and add that the music will be off by 11pm. ``` - Asking in the same chat means you don’t have to explain the job again. - Saying exactly what to add (music off by 11pm) means it doesn’t have to guess. (Screenshot to come.) Checkpoint: The new reply has your change in it. ### Step 5: Add your details, then check what it added Fill in your own details, by typing them yourself or by asking it to. We asked it to sign the note from Sam at number 14. It did, and it also filled in a date, 10th October, which we never gave it. That was a guess, and a confident one. AI often fills gaps without asking, so check every detail it adds. The prompt (works in ChatGPT, Claude or any AI chat tool): ```text Sign it from Sam at number 14. ``` - A short follow-up is enough: it already knows the rest. (Screenshot to come.) Checkpoint: Every detail in the note is one you gave it or have checked. ### Step 6: Copy it out When you’re happy, select the text of the reply, copy it, and paste it wherever you need it: an email, a document or a note to print. Read it once more after pasting. (Screenshot to come.) Checkpoint: Your note is out of the chat and in a place you can use it. ### Step 7: Start a new chat for a new job When you move on to something different, start a new chat. In ChatGPT the button is called New chat. A fresh chat stops the old conversation mixing into the new job, which matters more than it sounds. (Screenshot to come.) Checkpoint: You know how to start a fresh chat. ## Common problems ### The reply is much longer than you wanted Say so in the same chat: "Make it half as long." Or put the length in your first message next time. ### It filled in something you didn’t tell it Correct it in the same chat, or change it yourself after copying. Our example guessed a date we never gave. ### The reply has stars or hash signs around words That’s formatting for bold text and headings. If they appear when you paste, ask: "Give me that again as plain text, with no formatting." Step 1 is ChatGPT’s public front page, captured by tools/capture/ai-for-beginners-start-here.mjs. Steps 2 to 5 happen in a signed-in chat, so they have no screenshot yet; our prompts and the replies we got are saved in outputs/ word for word. Our replies came from Claude through the Claude Code CLI with its tools turned off, so a learner on a free plan in the browser will get different words. ## Sources - [ChatGPT: front page (usable without signing in)](https://chatgpt.com/) (checked 2026-10-03) - [OpenAI Help Center: How do I create a good prompt for an AI model?](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/4936848-how-do-i-create-a-good-prompt-for-an-ai-model) (checked 2026-10-03) - [Claude Help Center: Get started with Claude (access, the 18+ age requirement, Free plan usage limits)](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8114491-get-started-with-claude) (checked 2026-10-03)