AI Prompting Basics: How to Get Better Answers From Any Chatbot

The five parts of a good prompt

• Context: who you are, who the audience is, and what the situation is.
• Task: the single thing you want done, stated as a clear instruction.
• Constraints: length, tone, things to include or avoid.
• Format: bullet list, table, email, JSON, step-by-step plan.
• Material: the text, data or notes the model should work from.

Before and after

Weak: "Write about our new product."

Better: "I run marketing for a small accounting software company. Write a 150-word announcement for existing customers about our new invoice-reminder feature. Friendly, plain English, no jargon, end with one call to action. Use the notes below."

The second prompt tells the model the audience, the length, the tone and the source material, so it has far less to guess.

Iterate instead of starting over

Treat the first answer as a draft. Reply with specific feedback such as "shorter, and lead with the benefit" or "keep section two but make the tone more formal". Targeted follow-ups usually beat rewriting the whole prompt.

Ask for reasoning on hard problems

For analysis, planning and maths, ask the model to work through the problem step by step, list its assumptions, or show how it reached the answer. It makes mistakes easier to spot. For decisions, ask for options with pros and cons rather than a single verdict.

Give examples

If you want a particular style or structure, paste one or two examples of what good looks like. Showing is more reliable than describing.

Always verify

• Check names, numbers, dates and quotes against a reliable source.
• Ask the model to say when it is unsure rather than guess.
• Do not paste confidential information unless your organisation's policy allows it.