Lesson Content

A strong prompt tells the AI who it should act as, what context matters, what task to do, who the output is for, what format to use, what limits to follow, and how success will be judged.

Professional Use Case: Instead of saying "write a sales email," you say who the email is for, what offer matters, the tone, length, call to action, and what not to claim.

Student task: Rewrite this weak prompt: "Write a sales email." Turn it into a prompt for a real person who needs a short, honest email. Student task help: Use pretend, public, or low-risk practice material. Copying the first AI answer into a text editor means pasting it into a plain text or document editor so you can compare it with your revised answer. A clarification prompt is a short follow-up that tells the AI what to fix, add, remove, or explain. Example clarification prompt: "Make this easier for a beginner, add one concrete example, and show the next three steps as a checklist."

Starter scenario: "Act as a small business marketing helper. Write a friendly 150-word email for people who signed up for a free AI basics course. Invite them to continue with a paid assistant-skills course. Do not promise income, certification, or job placement. Include one clear link placeholder."

Troubleshooting: If the AI gives generic hype, add specific audience details and banned claims. If it is too long, set a word count. If it misses the call to action, name the exact next step.

Quality Rubric:

• The prompt tells the AI the audience and goal.
• The prompt includes limits that prevent hype.
• The output is short enough for the intended use.