Advanced Prompting using the 'Mad Libbing' technique

Ever heard the term ‘Mad Libbing?’

It’s a word game in which players fill in the blanks of a sentence, which can often result in humorous or nonsensical outcomes.

There have been various versions of it over time; let’s start with the PG version where kids at school may make up stories with it to improve vocabulary, such as:

Once upon a time, a [adjective] [noun] decided to embark on a [adjective] journey. They packed their [noun] and set off into the [adjective] forest. Along the way, they encountered a [adjective] [noun] who offered to [verb] them to the hidden [noun].

Now for the grown-ups: I recall being very young and seeing this afternoon TV show hosted by Graham Kennedy called Blankety Blanks, where the ‘mad lib’ was always a dirty double entendre that nobody would get away with now:

Side note: I think there might have been both British and American versions of the show, but any further research you do on this is entirely on you!

Of course, Mad Lib got its name from a play on the phrase “ad lib,” which means to speak or perform spontaneously without preparation.

Here’s one final example from Nostalgia Central:

What does all of this have with perfecting your AI prompts? As usual, I’m glad you asked.

AI is the new swipe file, revisited

A while ago, I wrote a post called AI is the new swipe file. 

I broke down how to take inspo from one of the most famous marketing letters of all time, “2 Young Men,” and turn it into a new and unique marketing piece you could call your own.

I’ve since discovered an easier, more bulletproof way of doing it through Mad Libbing.

When you ask AI to turn text into a mad lib template, it hunts through all the variable opportunities in the text and replaces them with a square bracket fill-in-the-blank notation.

Here’s the prompt:

I am going to paste some text. Please turn it into a mad lib style template with variables so it's easy to insert my own information.

[then paste your example]

The mad-lib version of Two Young Men

Here’s my result using ChatGPT-4o

On a [adjective] late [season] afternoon, [number] years ago, two young [noun - occupation] graduated from the same [type of institution]. They were very much alike, these two young [noun - occupation]. Both had been [adjective] students, both were [adjective] and both – as young [noun - occupation] are – were filled with [adjective] dreams for the future.

Recently, these two [noun - occupation] returned to [place] for their [number] reunion.

They were still very much alike. Both were happily [relationship status]. Both had [number] children. And both, it turned out, had gone to work for the same [adjective] [type of company] after graduation, and were still there.

But there was a difference. One of the [noun - occupation] was [job title] of a small department of that company. The other was its [job title].

[Title] Have you ever wondered, as I have, what makes this kind of difference in people’s lives? It isn’t always [noun - abstract concept] or [noun - abstract concept] or [noun - abstract concept]. It isn’t that one person wants [noun] and the other doesn’t.

The difference lies in what each person [verb] and how he or she makes use of that [noun].

And that is why I am writing to you and to people like you about [publication]. For that is the whole purpose of [publication]: To give its readers [noun] – [noun] that they can use in [field].

How to make a mad lib template your own

Now that you know the variables from this letter, what you could do is give the AI a list of the required inputs one by one.

But that takes way too long for my likes!

Also, bear in mind that this is quite a complex example. And you don’t want to copy word for word; the idea is to use AI as your assistant to help you get creative.

Better than the one-by-one option would be a follow-up prompt like this:

I'm a real estate agent. I want to turn this sales letter into an invitation for property investors to attend an event on how to maximise your investment property. Can you please think about what inputs I really need to make this sales letter my own?

As for the result, I expected to receive a list of inputs (provided by ChatGPT-4o) — but the AI also went one step further and revised the letter for me, which was quite impressive.

So there you have it - this is a great way to get inspo for all sorts of things from other industries and bring them into real estate.

But as with anything, remember it is always a first draft, and it is there to inspire creativity - don’t copy, that’s not cool.

If you’re looking for more inspiration, check out swiped.co, one of my go-to’s when I need a little creative boost for ad copy, landing pages, and other fun stuff.

Happy Hunting 🚀