Lesson 1 · 8 min
The Five Ingredients of a Good Prompt
The most important practical lesson in the course.
A prompt is just what you type into the chat. The word sounds technical, but it is not. Anything you type is a prompt. The skill of prompting is the skill of writing prompts that get you what you want — the first time, or in just a few rounds.
There is a small industry of people selling courses on 'prompt engineering.' Most of it is noise. The truth is that good prompts share a small handful of qualities, and once you understand them, you can apply them to anything.
1. Context — who you are and what situation you're in
The AI cannot read your mind. A question that is obvious to you is mysterious to a stranger walking into the room cold. Two sentences of context dramatically change the answer.
2. Task — what you actually want done
Be clear about what you want the AI to do. Should it explain? Compare? Quiz you? Draft something? Vague tasks produce vague answers. The best prompts contain a verb that tells the AI what the deliverable is.
3. Format — how you want the answer delivered
A bulleted list. A short paragraph. A table. A step-by-step walkthrough. AI will give you essentially any format you ask for — but it defaults to a generic, medium-length essay if you don't say.
4. Audience — who it's for and at what level
'Explain it to me like I'm a smart twelve-year-old.' 'Write this for a senior executive who values directness.' This single move is responsible for more 'wow' moments than any other technique.
5. Constraints — what to avoid, keep, or limit
'Keep it under 200 words.' 'No jargon.' 'Avoid clichés.' Constraints feel restrictive, but they actually free the AI to focus.
I'm a parent of a 9-year-old who is curious about black holes. (Context.) Write me a bedtime explanation of what a black hole is. (Task.) Do it as a short story I can read aloud, about three minutes long. (Format.) Aim it at a smart 9-year-old. (Audience.) No equations, no scary language about being torn apart, and don't use the word 'singularity' unless you also explain it. (Constraints.)
That prompt produces a beautiful, useful, three-minute bedtime story. The same topic asked vaguely — 'tell me about black holes' — produces a generic encyclopedia entry nobody asked for.
Here is a weak, vague prompt: 'Give me some tips on saving money.' Rewrite it into a strong prompt that uses all five ingredients — and make it about your real situation, not a made-up one.
Run your rewritten prompt in a chatbot, then bring back both your prompt and the answer it gave you.
Tool: your favorite chatbot (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Copilot)