Writing a good prompt

The better your question, the better the answer. Let's learn to write good prompts.

New word: Prompt

The question or instruction you give an A I is called a prompt. The way you write your prompt makes a big difference to the answer you get. Here's a weak prompt: tell me about money. The answer is long and general. It doesn't really help you. Now a strong prompt: I'm twelve, and I get 2,000 naira pocket money a week. Give me three simple ways to save some of it, as a short list. The answer is short, clear, and made just for you.

Five parts of a strong prompt

First, the task. What do you want it to do? Explain, list, write, plan or suggest. Second, context. Who are you, and what's the situation? Third, who the answer is for, or what level, like for a twelve year old, or for beginners. Fourth, the format. Do you want a list, a table, or a short paragraph? And fifth, the size. Three ideas? Under one hundred words?

Prompt tips

Be specific. The more details you give, the better the answer. Give one task at a time, especially for big jobs. If you can, show an example of the kind of answer you want. And say what to avoid, like, no difficult words.

Quick check

Quick check. Which prompt is the strongest? The third one. It has a task, context, a format and a size: five ideas, as a list, for a J S S two student. Options: help with essay; Write my whole essay; I'm in JSS2. Give me 5 ideas for an essay about my community, as a list.; essay ideas???.

Recap

A prompt is your question or instruction. Strong prompts have a task, context, an audience, a format and a size. Be specific. Better prompts get better answers.

I've read this lesson