MODULE 02 — HOW AI THINKS · 07 AI Concepts

Prompting 101

A prompt is not a magic phrase. It is the only material the model has to work from — so the useful question is what you left out.

Add a block to the request

What you actually send

What comes back

Length0 Real figuresno Usable as-isno

The outputs here are written to show how each block changes the shape of an answer. Watch which one changes it most.

The problem it explains

“It gave me something generic” is usually accurate reporting

The model cannot look up your pricing, read your last email or guess your house style. If it is not on the desk, it does not exist — so a vague answer is often the honest consequence of a vague request.

EVERYTHING IT CAN USE your prompt + whatever else is on the desk and nothing whatsoever besides your actual prices last quarter’s email how your team writes who this is for what you already tried your competitor’s page the deadline the awkward exception none of the grey text is reachable — the dotted lines are wishes, not wires
Prompting is not persuasion. It is deciding what to put inside that box.

What actually moved the needle

Ranked by how much each block changed the answer

Contextadds information nothing else can supplyFormatturns a paragraph into something you can pasteExampleone sample beats three sentences about toneConstraintmostly removes — length, jargon, hedgingRolenudges vocabulary; supplies no facts HOW MUCH THE ANSWER CHANGED →
Ranked from the demo above, not from a study. Bar length is relative, not measured.

Most prompting advice is about the bottom bar. Most of the improvement is in the top two.

So what

Before you rewrite the wording, ask the cheaper question: what does it need to know that I never told it?