Chat GPT 5.1- personalisation tips · The AI-Driven Business Summit

Nov '25 (edited) • Share an Insight (Level 2)

Chat GPT 5.1- personalisation tips

I posted this on my Linked in this morning and I got lots of thank you’s so thought i’d post on here +. i’d love to hear how others have personalised through custom instructions

You should now have access

To Chat GPT 5.1

If you're using ChatGPT for work, these settings will save you time and improve output quality.

PLUS finally stop those unwanted em dashes!!

What's actually new:

GPT-5.1 Instant: More conversational, follows instructions more precisely

GPT-5.1 Thinking: Adjusts thinking time based on question complexity

GPT-5.1 Auto: Automatically picks the right model for each task

PLUS Custom instructions now stick across all conversations

AND 8 personality presets: Default, Friendly, Efficient, Professional, Candid, Quirky, Cynical, Nerdy

Action steps to implement today:

Step 1: Turn on personalisation

Go to Settings → Personalisation + Enable customisation

This activates all the new features

Step 2: Choose your personality preset

Efficient: Best for straightforward business tasks and productivity

Professional: Good for client-facing work

Candid: Balanced between professional and direct

Cynical: Strong for creative writing with edge

** Test each one with the same prompt to see the difference.

Step 3: Build your custom instructions

Open Settings → Personalisation → Custom Instructions

Structure something like this:

Base statement: "Write like [your role] helping [your audience]."

Style rules:

Sentence length preference

Formatting preferences (bullets, paragraphs, etc.)

Words or phrases to avoid

Tone specifications

Working approach:

How many clarifying questions to ask

Whether to show reasoning or just answers

How to handle missing information

Example custom instruction: THIS IS MINE...

"Write like an AI trainer and strategic advisor helping UK business owners adopt & implement with AI First Workflows. Be concise and practical. Use short sentences and paragraphs. Write in UK English. Avoid buzzwords, filler, limit the emoji's and NO em dashes. Get to the point quickly with the answer first. Always ask me 2 clarifying questions to help me share my domain expertise, state assumptions and proceed."

Step 4: Set global preferences

Under Personalisation, adjust:

Response length (concise to detailed)

Formality level

How often you want emojis (I recommend "very few" for professional use here on LINKED IN)

Step 5: Test and refine

Run your typical work prompts through the new setup. Note where it still misses the mark. Update your custom instructions with specific examples of what to avoid or include.

The setup takes 10 minutes. The time saved compounds daily. I promise!

If you haven't touched your ChatGPT settings in months, now's the time.

If your up for sharing your custom instructions below to help others please do 🤓

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