Guide, 4 min read

How to write a great AI prompt

A prompt is what you type to an AI. The clearer you are, the better the answer. Good prompts have up to five parts, and you rarely need more.

The five parts of a great prompt

Here is one prompt with each part colored in. You do not need all five every time, but the more you include, the less the AI has to guess.

You are a friendly travel planner. Plan a 3 day trip to Chicago for my family. We are two adults and two kids, ages 8 and 11. We love museums and pizza, and we will not have a car. Give me a day by day plan with morning, afternoon and evening, plus one rainy day backup. Keep it short and practical.

  • Role. Tells the AI who to be. It changes the voice and the know-how it brings.
  • Goal. The job, in one clear sentence.
  • Context. What only you know. This is what makes the answer yours instead of generic.
  • Format. What the answer should look like. Lists, tables, length, how many options.
  • Tone. How it should sound. Friendly, formal, funny, brief.

Before and after

Same request, two ways. The first one works, but the AI has to guess almost everything.

Before

plan a trip to chicago

After

You are a friendly travel planner. Plan a 3 day trip to Chicago for my family. We are two adults and two kids, ages 8 and 11. We love museums and pizza, and we will not have a car. Give me a day by day plan with morning, afternoon and evening, plus one rainy day backup. Keep it short and practical.

The second prompt takes 30 seconds longer to write and saves three rounds of back and forth.

Five habits that make any prompt better

  1. Use numbers, not adjectives. "Under 100 words" beats "short". "3 options" beats "a few ideas".
  2. Show an example. Paste something you like and say "match this style". AI is great at copying a pattern. More in Show, don't tell.
  3. Let it ask you questions. End with "Ask me any questions you need before you start." It will find the gaps for you. See Let AI ask you questions first.
  4. One job per prompt. Asking for a plan, a budget and a shopping list at once gets three weak answers. Ask in steps, like a prompt chain.
  5. Keep going. The first answer is a draft. Reply with what to change, like you would with a person. Try these follow-up prompts.

Mistakes to skip

  • Being vague. "Write something about marketing" could mean anything. Say who it is for and what it is for.
  • Hiding the real goal. If the email is meant to get a refund, say so. The AI writes better when it knows what you are after.
  • Trusting every fact. AI can state wrong things with confidence. Check names, numbers, dates and links that matter. Here is how to check AI answers.
  • Pasting private data. Leave out passwords, account numbers and other people's private details. More in Keep your private info safe.