Prompting Foundations
The bedrock skills of prompt engineering — how models read your words, the anatomy of a strong prompt, and how to steer tone, format, and accuracy.
Role, context, task, format
Four parts that turn a request into a brief Almost every strong prompt contains four ingredients. You do not need fancy wording — just make sure each is present. 1. Role Tell the model who to be. “You are a senior financial analyst” primes it toward the right vocabulary, assumptions, and level of rigour. 2. […]
Steering tone, length, and accuracy
Small instructions, big control Once your prompt has the four parts, a few extra instructions give you fine control. Tone Name the voice you want: “warm and encouraging”, “concise and formal”, “plain English, no jargon”. You can even anchor it: “in the style of a helpful colleague, not a press release”. Length Be specific: “under […]
Showing beats explaining: examples
When describing what you want stops working Some requirements are easy to describe: “under 100 words”, “in a table”, “no jargon”. Others are almost impossible — house style, the particular way your team writes a bug title, the voice of your newsletter. You know it when you see it, and so does the model, but […]
Build your own prompt checklist
Turning this course into something you actually use Technique you have to remember is technique you will skip when you are busy. The fix is a short checklist you keep beside you until it becomes automatic — the same reason surgeons and pilots use them, and for the same reason: not because the steps are […]