The art of prompting can become surprisingly addictive once you get the hang of it. When done right, a prompt opens the door to a real dialogue with AI chatbots.
At its core, a prompt is simply the text-based instruction you give an AI chatbot. Based on what you write, the AI generates a response. But the clarity of that instruction makes all the difference. If your prompt is vague, you’ll likely get a broad answer that misses the point. If it’s clear and specific, the response will be far more precise and useful.
The good news? You don’t need to be an AI expert to write better prompts. That’s where we come in.
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Whether you’re experimenting with ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude or another chatbot with free features, the same basic prompting principles apply across all of them.
Use the following techniques as a starting point and you’ll quickly learn how to write stronger prompts—and get much better results from your AI tools.
Be specific about what you want and add context
It doesn’t pay to be vague in real life—that rule certainly applies to how you mingle with your AI chatbot of choice.
Starting out with AI can lead to common beginner mistakes, such as using an all too simple prompt like “Tell me about video game consoles.” That sort of prompt could elicit a wide range of responses that may not target exactly what you’re trying to take away from a particular subject. Instead, narrow down your request to get better results by using a more context-heavy prompt, such as “Explain the pros and cons of an Xbox Series X|S for someone considering buying one for a teenager.”
Adding more context to your prompts is also key.
Once an AI chatbot understands exactly what you’re asking about, it’ll have a much easier time deciphering what you want to know instead of producing a bunch of generic data that doesn’t apply to you. Something as simple as “Help me plan a workout” isn’t ideal—instead, try implementing a prompt such as “Help me plan a 7-day workout for someone just starting in the gym.” The more information you include in your prompts, the better the answers from your chatbot assistant will be.
Give it a role to play and specify the format you’re looking for
Chatbots often start out with fairly generic personalities during your first interactions with them. But it’s amazing how quickly they can switch gears and take on a completely different role based on your prompt.
Whenever you want your chatbot to respond like someone else—whether that’s an expert, teacher or advisor — prompts like the ones below can help guide the AI into that role and deliver more relevant answers.
- Act as a travel agent and recommend a 7-day itinerary for Sydney, Australia
- Act as a tech reviewer and compare the iPhone 17 to the Samsung Galaxy S26
- Act as a motivational speaker and tell me the best ways to deal with negative comments
- Act as a football analyst and tell me which teams will make it to the Super Bowl this year
For those of you who are deep in the midst of studying a certain topic, in need of a structured layout on something, or just simply want to summarize the most important notes attached to whatever you’re wall of text you’re currently reading, chatbots can reorganize any type of information. A prompt that gives your chatbot clear direction on how to coordinate the information attached to a theme, text, article, etc.
Prompts such as “Explain this in five bullet points,” “Create a step-by-step guide on this,” and “Summarize this in one paragraph” will command your chatbot to list out all the information you’re requesting in a more digestible format.
Provide examples and use follow-up prompts to upgrade your results
When you’re in the mood to create something, chatbots can do it all.
Say, for instance, you’re an entertainment writer who wants to come up with a clever headline for an article about the best Clint Eastwood movies. A prompt such as “Improve this headline for a writer pitching this idea to Entertainment Weekly: The best Clint Eastwood movies.”
Or say, for instance, you want to create an image patterned after the Japanese animation style popularized by Dragon Ball Z, this prompt is a good example of how to describe your image and make your chatbot produce it: “A powerful warrior is charging up his energy in the bright sky, with a golden aura surrounding his battered and bruised body. The animation style should look just like the Japanese anime style of Akira Toriyama.”
Follow-up responses can iron out all the kinks you may see in your chatbot’s responses. Think of your time spent with chatbots as a conversation instead of you simply telling it what to do with just one question. Iterative prompts are meant to improve upon a chatbot’s responses and ability to see what you’re looking for during future interactions.
Some good examples of proper follow-up prompts include “Make this explanation simpler,” “Turn this into a checklist,” “Add real-world examples,” and “What assumptions are you making here?”
Bottom line
Once you learn the ins and outs of prompting with AI chatbots, you’ll help them become more useful whenever you present them with a new inquiry.
The best things you can do when coming up with prompts are being specific, adding much-needed context, asking for specific formats, and telling your chatbot to adopt a certain personality for specific cases.
As you grow more familiar with the best ways to converse with a chatbot, that same chatbot will become familiar with who you are and how you like your information delivered.
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