How to write a good prompt: five parts that work

A prompt is only the instructions you give. Most weak answers come from missing instructions, not from a weak tool.

The five parts

1. Task. What exactly do you want? "Write", "summarise", "explain", "list", "compare", "check", "rewrite".
2. Context. Who is it for, why, and what does the tool need to know? Include only what is needed, and nothing private.
3. Format. How should the answer look? A short email, a table with three columns, five bullet points, 150 words.
4. Example. A sample of what you like (or a style to copy) is worth a paragraph of description.
5. Limits. What to avoid or keep: no jargon, polite but firm, do not invent numbers, say "I am not sure" when unsure.

You do not need all five every time. A quick question needs only a task. Anything that you will send to a customer, a parent or an authority needs all of them.

Before and after

An email. Weak: "write email to customer about delay". Better: "Write a short, polite email in English to a customer whose order is delayed by three days because of a supplier problem. Apologise once, give the new delivery date (14 November), offer a 5% discount code on the next order, and keep it under 100 words. Do not blame the supplier by name."

A lesson. Weak: "lesson on fractions". Better: "Make a 40-minute lesson plan on adding fractions with unlike denominators for class 6 students in an Indian CBSE school. Start with a 5-minute warm-up question, include one worked example and three practice questions of rising difficulty, and end with a 3-question exit quiz. Use simple English."

A shop message. Weak: "diwali offer message". Better: "Write three WhatsApp messages (each under 40 words) for a clothes shop announcing 20% off on Sundays until the festival. Friendly tone, one emoji at most, end with the shop timing 10 am to 8 pm. Do not use the word 'sale'."

Habits that improve answers

• Ask for a plan first on big tasks: "List the steps you would take, then wait."
• Give it the text to work on. Paste the paragraph and say "rewrite this" instead of describing it.
• Iterate. Say what to change: "shorter", "less formal", "add a second example". It is normal to need three or four turns.
• Ask for sources or reasoning when facts matter, then check them yourself.
• Say who you are when it helps: "I am a school teacher, not a mathematician."
• Keep a library of prompts that worked for you (see the prompt library page).

What not to put in a prompt

Private data about other people, passwords, bank and identity numbers, and anything confidential (see the page on what not to paste). Replace real names with "Customer A" and real figures with approximate ones when you can.

A check on every important answer

Read it. Check facts, numbers and names against a reliable source. Remove anything you cannot defend if asked "where did you get that?". The next page tells you how.

This is an independent guide. It is not connected with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft or any other AI company; product names belong to their owners. Statements about companies are taken from their own help pages as read on 13 and 14 November 2026. The prompts are our own wording and were not run against every tool. Not legal, financial or professional advice.