The mistake
People often treat prompting as a bag of secret phrases. They hunt for the perfect wording and forget the real skill: explaining the work clearly.
A strong prompt is simply a strong brief.
Teardown
Weak prompt:
Make me a presentation about AI.
Better prompt:
You are helping a school principal explain practical AI use to teachers. Create a 7-slide outline for a 20-minute session. Keep the tone calm and non-technical. Include one slide on risks, one activity, and one takeaway checklist.
Why the second version works:
| Prompt part | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Role | Gives the model a useful lens |
| Audience | Controls depth and language |
| Format | Reduces wandering |
| Constraints | Protects against generic output |
| Required sections | Makes the answer usable |
The quiet hack
Ask for the review criteria before asking for the final answer. This makes the model show you what good should look like.
Example:
- "Before drafting, tell me the five criteria you will use to judge this output."
- "Now draft the output."
- "Score your draft against the criteria and revise it."
The bottom line
If you can brief a smart colleague, you can learn to brief AI. The work is clarity, not magic.