How to write better AI prompts: 7 simple habits with examples

Why prompts matter

AI tools can only work with what you tell them. A vague request gets a generic answer. A clear request with context gets something you can actually use. The guides published by Anthropic, OpenAI and Google all give the same core advice: be clear, give context, show examples and specify the format.

Habit 1: Say who it is for and why

The AI does not know your situation unless you tell it.

Before: Write an email about the meeting.

After: Write a short email to my team of five designers. Our Thursday 3 p.m. review is moving to Friday 10 a.m. because the client is traveling. Ask them to send updated files by Thursday evening.

Habit 2: Be specific about the task

Use a clear action word: summarize, rewrite, compare, list, explain, draft, check.

Before: Tell me about laptops.

After: Compare the MacBook Neo and the Acer Aspire 16 for a first-year business student who uses Excel a lot. List three advantages of each.

Habit 3: Ask for a format and length

“Answer in 5 bullet points, under 100 words.”

“Give me a table with columns: Feature, Laptop A, Laptop B.”

“Write two short paragraphs, then a one-line summary.”

Habit 4: Show an example

If you want a particular style, paste an example.

“Here is a product description I like: [paste]. Write one in the same style for our new water bottle: 750 ml, steel, keeps drinks cold for 24 hours.”

Habit 5: Give the AI the source material

For summaries, answers about a document or emails replying to something, paste the text instead of describing it. The AI is much more accurate when it works from the real words. Our AI Text Summarizer is built exactly for this.

Habit 6: Set the tone

Tell it how the result should sound: friendly, formal, firm but polite, simple enough for a 12-year-old, confident, apologetic. Try our AI Paraphrasing Tool to see the same text in different tones.

Habit 7: Improve the answer in follow-ups

You rarely need to start again. Reply with what to change:

• “Make it shorter and remove the jargon.”
• “The second point is wrong: our office is in Dubai, not London.”
• “Good. Now turn this into a LinkedIn post.”

A simple prompt template

Copy this and fill in the brackets:

I am [who you are] writing for [audience].
I need you to [task] so that [goal].
Here is the background: [facts the AI can't guess].
Include: [must-have points]. Avoid: [things to leave out].
Format: [bullets / table / email / paragraphs], about [length].
Tone: [tone].

Common mistakes

• Asking several unrelated things at once. Split them into separate messages.
• Trusting facts without checking. AI can state wrong information confidently. Check names, numbers and dates. Our explainer on large language models explains why.
• Pasting private information. Do not paste passwords, bank details or confidential documents into consumer AI tools.

Practice now

Open the AI Email Writer, type three bullet points about an email you need to send, choose a tone, and compare the result with what you would have written yourself.