Best Practices for Prompting AI

AI tools are incredibly versatile, but their effectiveness hinges on the quality of your prompts. Think of it less as a simple search query and more like giving clear, detailed instructions to a collaborator.

Be Specific and Detailed

This is the single most important rule. A vague prompt will get a generic, vague response. The more context you provide, the better the AI can tailor its output.

Vague: “Write a story.”
Better: “Write a short story (approx. 500 words) about a detective in a futuristic city who is investigating a missing android. The tone should be dark and gritty, similar to a classic film noir, and the setting should be described in detail.”

Define the Persona or Role

Ask the AI to act as a specific person, a type of expert, or a character. This helps it adopt the correct tone and perspective.

Vague: “Explain the stock market.”
Better: “Act as a financial advisor explaining the basics of stock market investing to a complete beginner. Use simple analogies and avoid jargon.”

Specify the Format and Constraints

Clearly state how you want the output structured. This helps the AI organize its response and meet your needs precisely.

Vague: “Give me a summary of a research paper.”
Better: “Summarize the key findings of this research paper in a bulleted list. The summary should be no more than five bullet points and should be suitable for a non-expert audience.”

Provide Examples

If you have a specific style, format, or tone you want the AI to emulate, provide a few examples. This gives the model a clear blueprint to follow.

Vague: “Write a product description for this coffee maker.”
Better: “Here are two examples of product descriptions. Please write a third in the same style for a new coffee maker:
- Example 1: The ‘Zenith’ air fryer transforms your cooking. With one-touch presets and a compact design, it delivers crispy perfection every time.
- Example 2: Discover effortless baking with the ‘OvenPro.’ Its smart sensors and even-heat technology ensure your creations are flawlessly golden. Now, write one for the ‘Morning Brew’ coffee maker.”

Break Down Complex Tasks

If you have a large or multi-step request, break it into a series of smaller, more manageable prompts. This prevents the AI from getting confused and allows you to refine each step as you go.

Instead of: “Write a complete marketing plan for a new dog grooming business, including social media campaigns, a website layout, and an email newsletter.”
Try: “Outline a social media campaign for a new dog grooming business. Based on that outline, write five social media posts for the first week, targeting dog owners in urban areas. Now, draft the homepage content for the business’s website. Finally, create a welcome email for new newsletter subscribers.”

Guide the Conversation

AI is conversational. Don’t be afraid to ask for revisions or clarifications. You can build on previous responses to get a better final product.

First prompt: “Explain the benefits of regular exercise.”
Follow-up: “Expand on the psychological benefits you mentioned. Make that section more detailed and include some scientific data to support it.”

AI "Hallucinations"

Be aware that AI can “hallucinate,” generating plausible-sounding but factually incorrect, fabricated, or non-existent information.

It’s trained on the internet—which is full of errors, opinions, and biases.
Its goal is to sound plausible, not to be truthful.
It works like “advanced autocomplete,” predicting… the… next… most… likely… word… in… a… sentence.
It cannot tell the difference between a fact and a well-written lie.
It will invent facts, dates, and sources that look real but are completely fake

Always fact-check AI responses and check their sources.

Check AI's Work! Follow the Three C's

CONFIRM: Did the AI tool do what you asked it to do?
CHECK: Check the facts, names, dates, etc. Never assume that AI is correct!
CRAFT: Add your voice, your human intelligence, and make it your own!

Stronger Prompts Mean Better Results