Beginner · Level 1: fundamentals
Your first prompt
Learn the recipe for a good prompt: a clear task, context, format and limits. Then improve the answer step by step, like in a conversation.
What you will learn
- Write a prompt with a task, context, format and limits
- Recognize why a vague prompt gets a vague answer
- Improve an answer through follow-up messages instead of starting over
A prompt is the message you write to the AI: a question, a request or an instruction. The quality of the answer depends a lot on how well it is written. You do not need magic formulas; you need clarity, like when you explain something to a colleague who knows nothing about your situation.
The four parts of a good prompt
- The task: what you want it to do, in one clear sentence (write, summarize, explain, compare, correct).
- The context: who you are, who the result is for, what is already known, what your goal is.
- The format: how you want the answer (a list, a table, three paragraphs, friendly tone, formal tone).
- The limits: what to avoid or how long it should be (at most 100 words, no technical terms).
Before and after
Let us take an ordinary request. The vague version: “Write me an email to the teacher.” The AI does not know who you are, what you want or what tone to use, so it will guess, and guessing produces generic answers.
The good version: “I am an 11th-grade student and I missed two days of maths because of a cold. Write me a short, polite email to my teacher asking which chapters I need to catch up on and when I can come to office hours. At most 90 words, no exaggeration and no long apologies.” The task, context, format and limits are all there. The answer will be much closer to what you need.
The conversation is part of the method
The first answer is rarely the final one, and that is fine. A chatbot remembers what was said in the same conversation, so you can continue with short messages: “Make it shorter”, “Change the tone to a friendlier one”, “Explain the second point with an example”, “What did you assume about me in this answer?”. Each follow-up message is quicker than a new prompt written from scratch, and the result gets closer step by step.
If you do not have all the information, tell the AI to ask you. For example, add at the end: “Before you write, ask me up to three questions if anything is missing.” That way it does not guess in your place.
Common mistakes
- Too short: “Help me with the project”. It does not know which project you mean.
- Too many requests in a single message. It is better to take them one at a time.
- Not saying who the text is for: the same explanation differs for a child, a colleague or a customer.
- Stopping at the first answer when a follow-up message would have improved it.
A longer prompt is not automatically better. If you add details that do not matter, the answer can get muddled. Keep only what changes the result.
Key takeaways
- A good prompt has a task, context, format and limits.
- A vague prompt gets a generic answer; useful details make it precise.
- Continue in the same conversation, with short requests, until the answer suits you.
- Ask the AI to question you if it lacks information, instead of guessing.
Try it now
Replace what is in braces with your own details, then copy.
Check what you learned
Three questions. They count for nothing but you.