The Complete Guide to Modern AI Style Prompting
Master the art of AI communication with purpose-built style templates
Forget MBTI and Enneagram in your prompts. Here's why AI prompt engineers are using the Style Menu approach instead. A complete guide to modern prompt engineering.
In the early days of AI prompting, users often resorted to an interesting hack: dumping their entire personality profile into prompts. You might have seen these elaborate strings of personality indicators, looking something like this:
Use my communication style: [MBTI type, Enneagram numbers, various personality test scores, professional assessment results, and strength indicators]
These sprawling personality profiles were an early attempt to make AI outputs more personalized and authentic. The thinking went: if we could just tell the AI exactly who we are, it would mirror our communication style perfectly.
Why The Old Way Falls Short
While these personality-based prompts seemed promising, the truth is that early AI models weren't particularly sophisticated in their ability to interpret and act on personality traits. Like trying to describe a dance by listing the dancer's medical history, these frameworks created more confusion than clarity.
The fundamental issue wasn't just about the frameworks themselves - it was about the AI's limited ability to translate personality traits into consistent communication styles. Early models would often fixate on single traits while ignoring others, or produce outputs that swung wildly between different aspects of the indicated personality.
When fed complex personality profiles, these AIs would either oversimplify (reducing an ENTJ to just "direct and logical") or produce inconsistent results that failed to capture the nuanced interaction of different traits. It was like trying to paint a portrait using only primary colors - the result might capture basic features, but would miss all the subtle shades that make communication human.
Modern AI has evolved far beyond these limitations. Rather than trying to reverse-engineer communication style from personality traits, today's models excel at following direct instructions about tone, style, and structure. This capability has opened the door to a more straightforward and effective approach to controlling AI outputs.
A Better Way Forward
Over the course of only a year, AI models have evolved significantly. AI is now far better at understanding and following plain instructions than trying to interpret complex personality traits. Yet many users are still relying on outdated prompting methods from the early days of AI.
What if, instead of telling AI who we are, we told it exactly how we want it to communicate? This shift from personality description to communication prescription isn't just about simplifying our prompts - it's about working with AI's strengths rather than against them.
Think of it this way: when you're directing a colleague, you don't share your personality test results - you give them clear instructions about the tone and style you're looking for. Modern AI responds best to the same approach.
This realization has led to the development of more effective prompting templates that focus on direct communication requirements rather than personality proxies. Modern style prompting breaks down communication into three key components:
Tone Markers serve as the emotional and professional guardrails for the communication. Rather than saying "I'm an ENTJ," you might specify "Direct, data-driven, and outcomes-focused."
Writing Style Guides provide concrete instructions about language use. Instead of listing personality test scores, you're saying "Use short sentences, active voice, and industry-specific examples."
Response Structures outline the skeleton of the communication. Rather than sharing your strengths profile, you're specifying "Start with the conclusion, follow with evidence, end with actionable steps."
The Complete Style Menu
Below is a menu of communication styles, categorized by purpose and intent. Each style includes specific tone markers, writing guidelines, and structure templates that you can copy and paste directly into your prompts.