Understand What Prompting Really Is

When you interact with an AI tool, the input you provide is known as a prompt. A prompt is the input such as text, image, or other data that you give to a Generative AI system to guide its output. It acts like a command or question that tells the AI what you want, whether it’s a story, code, image, or answer. A prompt is not just a question—it’s a program. It’s a call to action for an LLM (Large Language Model). LLMs are prediction engines, not thinkers—they complete patterns based on probability.

Core Principles

  • AI doesn’t think like humans—it predicts.
  • Specific prompts = better results. Vague prompts lead to random guesses.
  • You’re hacking probability by creating clear patterns.

Foundational Techniques

Personas

  • Give AI a role or perspective:
    • Example: “You are a senior site reliability engineer at Cloudflare.”
  • Narrows focus and improve relevance.
  • Can be set in system prompts or user prompts.

Context Is King

  • Always provide detailed context to reduce hallucinations.
  • More context = fewer errors.
  • Never assume the AI knows something—state everything explicitly.

Enable Tools & External Knowledge

  • LLMs are frozen in time (trained up to a cutoff date).
  • Allow external search or provide updated into yourself.
  • Be cautious of bad sources—prompting well still matters.

Give AI Permission to Fail

  • Prevent hallucinations by saying:
    • “If you don’t know, say ‘I don’t know.'”
  • Stops AI from making up facts just to please you.

Specify Output Requirements

  • Control tone, length, and format:
    • Example: “Keep under 200 words. Tone: professional, apologetic, radically transparent. Include a bulleted timeline.”
  • Transforms generic outputs into tailored, high-quality responses.

Few-Shot Prompting

  • Show examples of good outputs instead of just describing them.
  • Reduces guesswork and improves consistency.

Advanced Techniques

Chain of Thought (CoT)

To use this technique, ask AI to think step-by-step before answering. This improves accuracy and transparency.

Trees of Thoughts (ToT)

With this technique, AI explores multiple solution paths for complex problems. This enables self-correction and better synthesis.

Battle of Bots

Use this technique for competing drafts from different personas. AI critiques and combines them for the best results.

Additional Considerations

The Meta Skill: Clarity of Thought

  • Prompting success depends on your clarity, not AI’s intelligence.
  • If your prompt is messy, your thinking is messy.
  • Think first, prompt second.
  • Write down what you want clearly before asking AI.

Practical Habits

  • Build a prompt library for reuse.
  • Use prompt enhancers to refine raw ideas.
  • Always ask: “Would a human understand this?” If yes, AI probably will too.