Prompting on real work

What we'll cover

• Why most prompts get generic answers
• The three things a good prompt carries
• Treating it as a conversation
• Exercise: rewrite a prompt you actually used
• Saving what works

Context: what it can't guess

• Who will read it, and what they care about
• What it's for: inform, persuade, decide, apologise
• What's already been decided or said
• What good looks like here

Constraints: what keeps it on track

• Length: "under 150 words", "five bullets"
• Tone: "plain, warm, no exclamation marks"
• Format: table, email, bullet summary
• Off-limits: "don't promise dates", "no jargon"

Examples: show, don't describe

• Paste one piece of work you were happy with
• Say what you liked about it
• Ask it to match the style, not the content

The first answer is a draft

• Say exactly what's wrong: "too formal", "point two is incorrect"
• Ask it to ask you questions first
• Ask for three options, then choose
• Keep going in the same conversation

Same pattern, four jobs

• Sales follow-up after a call, with the notes and the objection
• HR policy summary for managers, with what changed and when
• Finance variance note, with the actual figures supplied
• Support reply to a complaint, with what you can and can't offer

Exercise · 12 minutes

Exercise: rewrite a prompt you actually used

• Find a prompt from the last two weeks
• Rewrite it with context, constraints and an example
• Run both and compare the results
• Note what changed

Swap and compare

• Show your partner both results
• Which is closer to something you'd send?
• What was the single most useful thing you added?

Save what works

• Keep a note of prompts that gave good results
• Leave gaps for the details: [customer], [figures]
• Share the best ones with your team

Recap

• Missing context causes most generic answers
• Context, constraints, an example
• The first answer is a draft: give specific feedback
• Save and share the prompts that work