5 Common Prompt Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Why your prompt matters

Prompt is what you gave to AI chatbot or the question or instruction you gave to AI to get a response out of it.

Vague or clumsy prompt will give vague or clumsy response. The clearer prompt the better the response.

Let's look at some common mistakes.

Mistake 1: Being too vague

Before: Explain a maths theorem.
After: Explain Pythagoras theorem to a ten year old kid, with simple everyday example.
Why this works: The AI knows which topic to cover and how to explain it.

Mistake 2: Giving no context

Before: Write a cover letter
After: Write a cover letter for an engineer with 4+ years experience in web development, transitioning into tech writing.
Why this works: The AI knows who you are, what you do and can reply in a way that fits your situation.

Mistake 3: Not specifying the format

Before: Give me yoga postures.
After: Give me 5 yoga postures for begineers in bulleted list with one sentence each.
Why this works: AI provides response in a specific format which user asked, response is easy and short to understand.

Mistake 4: Asking too many things at once

Before: Why is the sun hot? Why is earth round? How many galaxies are in the entire universe? How many black holes are discovered? What is a black hole?
After: Why is sun hot?
Why this works: AI chatbot can focus on one question, instead of getting confused or giving rushed response for each.

Mistake 5: Not telling the AI who it’s talking to

Before: What's perimeter of a rectangle?
After: Assume you are talking to a 12-year-old. Explain the perimeter of a rectangle to a 12-year-old using a simple example.
Why this works: AI chatbot focuses on simple answer, choosing examples which fit the reader better.

Conclusion

Better prompt means better responses from chatbot. Be specific, give context, name the format, ask one thing at a time and say who the answer is for.