Reformat a Text Into a Bulleted List or Table

Let’s now look at other examples of reformatting texts.

Ask ChatGPT to Reformat a Text Into a Bulleted List

ChatGPT just loves lists! It will often produce them all by itself. But you can ask it explicitly to create a bulleted list to ensure that you get one. So, for example, you could ask for a list of 10 ideas for activities in New York City and it will deliver!

🤖:

• Central Park Picnic and Boat Ride:

- Pack a picnic basket and spend a relaxing day in Central Park. Rent a rowboat or paddleboat to enjoy the serene lake in the heart of the city.

• Broadway Show and Dinner in Times Square:

- Catch a Broadway performance in the iconic Theater District and then indulge in a delicious dinner at one of the diverse restaurants in Times Square.

• High Line Stroll and Chelsea Market Exploration:

- Take a leisurely walk along the High Line, an elevated park with stunning views of the city. Afterwards, explore the unique shops and eateries at Chelsea Market.

• Museum Marathon Day:

- Plan a museum-hopping day, visiting iconic institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and the American Museum of Natural History.

• Coney Island Fun Day:

- Head to Coney Island for a classic New York experience. Enjoy the amusement park rides, stroll along the boardwalk, and savor some Nathan's Famous hot dogs.

[...]

It can also create a numbered list. Let’s imagine that I’ve asked it for a set of numbered steps to go through when welcoming a new employee to the company to give them a memorable experience. ChatGPT has come up with the following:

🤖:

Certainly! Creating a memorable onboarding experience for a new employee is crucial for their integration into the company. Here's a set of numbered steps to guide you through the process:

1. Prepare a Welcome Kit:

- Assemble a welcome kit with essential information about the company, including an employee handbook, organizational chart, and any other relevant materials.

- Include company merchandise, such as a branded pen or notebook, to make them feel part of the team.

2. Personalized Welcome Email:

- Send a personalized welcome email before their first day, introducing key team members and providing details about their onboarding schedule.

3. Office Tour:

- On the first day, provide a guided tour of the office space, highlighting key areas like workstations, break rooms, and restrooms.

4. Introduction to Team Members:

- Organize a team meeting or casual gathering to introduce the new employee to their colleagues.

- Encourage team members to share a bit about themselves and welcome the newcomer.

5. Set Up Workspace:

- Ensure that the new employee's workspace is set up before they arrive, including a computer, phone, and any other necessary tools.

[...]

By following these steps, you can create a comprehensive onboarding process that not only imparts necessary information but also makes the new employee feel welcomed and engaged in their new work environment.

Ask ChatGPT to Present Content in a Table

ChatGPT is very good at organizing data into a table if we request it.

Here’s what I asked ChatGPT:

🧔🏻‍♂️: Create a list of the five most commonly spoken languages in the world in table format, adding columns showing the estimated number of speakers of the language and a set of countries where the language is spoken. Add a translation of the word “Hello” in each language in the final column.

And here’s what ChatGPT has produced:

Having the content presented in a table is pretty handy! 🤩

If you realize that you’ve forgotten something, you can also ask ChatGPT to add, delete or change a column.

Try it for Yourself

Let’s imagine the following fictional scenario. You work at a marketing agency and you’ve agreed to run a workshop on storytelling. The aim of the workshop is to show professional business people how to use storytelling to create impactful PowerPoint presentations. You want to show the steps involved in creating a good story during the workshop, but you want to use examples from movies and popular novels to illustrate your points.

You decide to use the blockbuster movie “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” by Steven Spielberg.

Write a prompt to enable ChatGPT to generate two tables:

1. The first should show the five steps in the narrative structure of the movie (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution).

2. The second should show the main elements of the story (the protagonist, their journey, antagonists and allies).

To develop this further, ask ChatGPT to use this same table structure and adapt it to create a case study for a business presentation, such as the launch of a new cosmetics product.

Ask ChatGPT to Generate Other Formats

ChatGPT is aware of a number of different technical formats, such as JSON, XML, HTML, and so on. You can ask it to output its response in one of these formats!

If you have a specific idea for a format you need, explain what you’re looking for by providing an example:

🧔🏻‍♂️:

Now produce the previous table using the following format for each language (in this case, Spanish):

🌍 **Language**: Spanish

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 **Estimated number of speakers**: Over 460 million

🇺🇳 **Countries where the language is spoken**: Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina

💬 **Hello**: Hola

And ChatGPT will use the format you’ve provided to respond to your question:

🤖: Certainly! Here's the table represented in the specified format for each language:

🌍 Language: Mandarin Chinese

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Estimated number of speakers: 918 million

🇺🇳 Countries where the language is spoken: China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia

💬 Hello: 你好 (Nǐ hǎo)

🌍 Language: Spanish

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Estimated number of speakers: 460 million

🇺🇳 Countries where the language is spoken: Spain, Mexico, Central and South America

💬 Hello: Hola

🌍 Language: English

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Estimated number of speakers: 375 million (native)

🇺🇳 Countries where the language is spoken: United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada

💬 Hello: Hello

[...]

Let’s Recap

• ChatGPT uses Markdown to format texts, with options such as bold, italics, and lists.

• ChatGPT can very easily generate bulleted and numbered lists based on your instructions.

• You can ask ChatGPT to present the information in a table to give it a better structure.

• ChatGPT can generate texts in different technical formats, such as JSON, XML, HTML or the format of your choice if you provide an example.

• Be vigilant and check the data provided by ChatGPT, because it’s not always reliable when presenting facts.

There’s still more to see! ChatGPT is also very good at brainstorming. You can ask it for ideas about any number of subjects. Let’s take a closer look in the next chapter.