What Makes a Good Prompt

A good prompt tells the AI clearly what to do, for whom, with what information and in what form.

What is a Prompt?

A prompt is the text you give to an AI model: a question, an instruction, or a document with a request. The model reads your prompt and generates a reply. It cannot read your mind, so anything you leave out, it has to guess.

The Five Building Blocks

You do not need all five every time, but the more that matter, the better.

Weak vs Strong

Weak:

Write an application.

Strong:

Write a formal leave application to my school principal.
I was absent on 12 and 13 October because of a fever.
Keep it under 120 words, use simple English, and include
a place for my name, class and roll number at the end.

The weak prompt does not say what kind of application, who it is for, or why. The strong one leaves almost nothing to guess.

A Prompt Template

You can build prompts from the five blocks. Here is a small Python helper that does it:

def make_prompt(task, audience, context, fmt, limits):
    return (f"{task} for {audience}.\n"
            f"Context: {context}\n"
            f"Format: {fmt}\n"
            f"Limits: {limits}")

print(make_prompt(
    "Explain what a database is",
    "first-year IT students",
    "they already know what a spreadsheet is",
    "3 bullet points and one example",
    "under 80 words",
))

Explain what a database is for first-year IT students.
Context: they already know what a spreadsheet is
Format: 3 bullet points and one example
Limits: under 80 words

Apps that use AI often build prompts in code like this, filling in the details for each user.

Common Mistakes

• Too vague: "Tell me about marketing." Marketing for whom? What part?
• Too many tasks at once: ask for one main thing, or number the tasks clearly.
• Hidden assumptions: the AI does not know your syllabus, your shop or your client unless you say so.
• No format: you get a long essay when you wanted a table.
• Accepting the first answer: prompting is a conversation. Ask for changes.

Improve by Following Up

You can refine an answer with short follow-ups:

Make it shorter.
Use simpler words.
Add one example from a Karachi shop.
Turn this into a table with two columns.

Positive Instructions Work Better

Say what you want, not only what you do not want. "Write in short, simple sentences" works better than "Don't be complicated."

Exercise