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5 Prompting Tips That Actually Improve Your Results
June 16, 2026 · 5 min read
Most people's first AI prompt looks something like "write me an essay about climate change." It works, technically — but the result is generic, because the prompt was generic. Here are five changes that consistently produce better answers.
1. Say who the answer is for
"Explain photosynthesis" and "explain photosynthesis to a curious 10-year-old" produce very different answers. Naming your audience tells the AI what vocabulary, tone, and depth to use.
2. Give it an example of what you want
If you want a specific format — a table, a certain tone, a particular structure — show a small example instead of describing it in the abstract. "Write a product description like this: [example]" beats "write an engaging product description" almost every time.
3. Tell it what to avoid, not just what to include
"Write a summary, but don't use bullet points and don't exceed 100 words" removes entire categories of bad answers before the AI even starts. Constraints are prompts too.
4. Ask for the response in stages
For anything complex, ask the AI to outline first, then expand. "Give me a 5-point outline for this essay" followed by "now write section 2 in full" produces far more coherent, on-topic writing than asking for the whole thing in one shot.
5. Treat the first answer as a draft, not a final one
The best results almost always come from a short back-and-forth: get a first version, then say specifically what's wrong ("make this more concise," "this section is too technical") rather than starting over. AI is much better at editing toward a target than guessing it on the first try.
Try it yourself
Pick something you'd normally ask AI for, and apply just one of these — naming your audience, or giving an example. The improvement in the very first response is usually immediate and obvious.
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