Prompting Essentials

What a prompt is

A prompt is the message you type to an AI assistant. The assistant can't see your screen, your files or your thoughts. It only knows what you tell it.

That's why the same tool gives one person a brilliant answer and another person something bland. The difference is usually the prompt.

Compare these two:

Write a message to a customer.

I run a small catering business in Ibadan. A customer, Mrs Adeyemi, paid a
deposit for 80 guests but her event date moved from 12 to 19 July. Write a
short, warm WhatsApp message confirming the new date and saying her deposit
still stands. Keep it under 60 words.

The second prompt tells the AI who you are, what happened, what to write, and how long it should be. You'll get something you can send almost as it is.

The four parts of a good prompt

Most good prompts have four parts. You don't always need all four, but checking for them fixes most weak answers.

Put together:

I'm a secondary school teacher in Abuja. Write five quiz questions on
adding fractions for SS1 students, with the answers at the end. Use a
numbered list and simple English.

Show an example

When you want a particular style, show the AI rather than describe it. Paste one example and ask for more like it.

Here is a product description I like:

"Zobo, brewed fresh every morning with hibiscus, ginger and a hint of
pineapple. No preservatives. Chilled and ready in 50cl bottles."

Write descriptions in the same style for: kunu, chapman and fresh orange juice.

The AI copies the length, the tone and the structure from your example. This works for emails, social posts, reports and almost anything else.

Improve the answer, don't start again

The first answer is a draft. Instead of opening a new chat, reply with what to change. The assistant remembers the conversation.

Useful follow-ups:

• "Make it shorter, three sentences maximum."
• "Less formal. It's for a friend."
• "Good, but the second point is wrong: we close at 6pm, not 8pm."
• "Give me three different versions to choose from."
• "Explain that like I'm new to the topic."

Two or three rounds of feedback usually get you from "okay" to "exactly right".

Check before you use it

AI assistants are very useful, but they can be confidently wrong. They sometimes invent facts, figures, names or quotes. Before you use an answer:

• Check facts, numbers and dates against a source you trust, especially anything about money, law, health or prices.
• Read it as the person who'll receive it. Does it sound like you?
• Don't paste private information such as customers' phone numbers, passwords, bank details or confidential company documents, unless your organisation has approved that tool for it.

Try it

Pick any AI assistant you have access to (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot all work).

1. Think of one real message you need to write this week: to a customer, a colleague, a landlord or a teacher.
2. Write the prompt with all four parts: context, task, details, format.
3. Read the answer, then send one follow-up that improves it, for example "make it warmer" or "shorter".
4. Compare the first and second versions. What changed?