Dear Techies,
I assumed most people were already using this
I thought most adults had tried ChatGPT by now.
Not mastered it. Just opened it up, typed something in, and seen what came back.
Turns out I was wrong.
What I keep hearing
Over the past few months I've spoken with professionals, teachers, and people running businesses. The same things keep coming up.
Some opened ChatGPT once, typed something vague, got a vague answer, and closed it. They decided it wasn't useful.
Some never opened it at all. Not because they're not curious, but because they assumed it wasn't for them. Too technical. Too complicated. Too much to figure out on a busy Tuesday evening.
And some use it regularly but have a nagging feeling they're only scratching the surface.
They all share the same problem. It's not a knowledge gap. It's a confidence gap. Nobody showed them how to use it properly, so they either didn't start or they stopped too early.
If you're just getting started, there's a 30-minute walkthrough at the end of this newsletter that will get you up to speed. If you're already using ChatGPT, keep reading.
Two things most ChatGPT users get wrong
Small habits, but they make a real difference to what you get back.
1. You're staying in the same conversation for too long.
Every message you send adds to the context ChatGPT is working with. That's helpful at first because it remembers what you've discussed and builds on it. But over time, long conversations get noisy. Old instructions conflict with new ones, and your outputs quietly get worse.
The fix is simple. Start a new conversation whenever you change topic or task. Think of each conversation as a clean desk. You wouldn't write a report, draft an email, and plan a project all on the same piece of paper. Give ChatGPT the same clarity. New task, new conversation.
2. You're not organising your conversations.
Most people's ChatGPT sidebar is a long, unstructured list of conversations they'll never find again. ChatGPT now lets you create folders, and this one habit changes everything about how you use it.
Create a folder for each area of your work or life where you use AI. One for content. One for admin. One for research. One for a specific project. When you start a new conversation, drop it into the right folder straight away.
Your past conversations become findable and reusable. And over time, ChatGPT stops feeling like a tool you open randomly and starts feeling like a workspace you return to with intention.
ChatGPT can create images now. Parents and teachers, pay attention.
If you haven't tried ChatGPT's image generation yet, this might be the feature that surprises you most.
You don't need a design background. You don't need Canva or Photoshop. You describe what you want and ChatGPT creates it right there in the conversation.
I tested this recently by asking it to create an educational infographic on the parts of a robot for our son. Clear labels, bright colours, kid-friendly layout. One prompt. About thirty seconds.
Think about what that means if you're a parent helping with a school project. Or a teacher who needs a quick diagram, a classroom poster, or a visual aid for a lesson. No evening spent designing. No special software.
A few prompts to try:
Create a labelled diagram of the water cycle for a 9-year-old
Design a colourful poster showing the five senses with simple illustrations
Make an infographic showing the parts of a plant, suitable for a primary school classroom
The results aren't always perfect first time. You may need to tweak the prompt or ask for adjustments. But going from nothing to a usable visual in under a minute is a real shift for anyone who's ever thought "I wish I could just show them this" and didn't have the time or tools to make it happen.
If you haven't started yet, start here
Everything above assumes you're already using ChatGPT. If you're not there yet, or if you tried it once and walked away unimpressed, I've put together a 30-minute masterclass that covers everything from your first prompt to getting outputs that actually save you time.
No jargon. No assumptions. Just a clear, structured walkthrough that gets you comfortable in one sitting.
👉 Watch it here: https://youtu.be/voNmS3YUIpQ
Four things to do this week
Create three folders in ChatGPT for the areas where you use it most. Organise what's already there.
Next time a long conversation starts giving you worse results, start fresh. Notice the difference.
Try one image prompt. Ask ChatGPT to create a visual for something you're teaching, explaining, or working on this week.
If you're new to ChatGPT or want a structured refresher, watch the masterclass linked above.
Before you go
If someone in your life keeps saying they should learn ChatGPT but hasn't started, send them this newsletter. The tips work on their own, and the video gives them a clear place to begin. Sometimes the right starting point is all it takes.
Stay Savvy,
Ijeoma | Tech Savvy Starts Here
P.S. The two tips (starting fresh conversations and using folders) work for Claude, Gemini, and Copilot too. They matter regardless of which AI tool you use. The image generation is a standout ChatGPT feature though, and worth trying even if you use other tools for everything else.
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