A ‘prompt’ is the term used for the question you ask a generative AI tool. Well-crafted prompts help make the answers more effective and useful. ‘Prompt Engineering’ is the process of crafting a specific, detailed, and instructive prompt to produce a useful response from a large language model. Ways you can improve your prompts are:

1. Be specific. Don’t be too brief or too general.

2. Break down complex requests into steps.

3. Set clear goals. Tell the AI what output you’re hoping to see. If you want an answer to be less than 100 words or be an eight-week course of lesson plans,
say that.

4. Consider the audience, tone and style. Tell the AI who you’re talking to, how you’re communicating and what tone you want to take with them.

5. Include keywords or phrases you want the AI to incorporate.

6. Eliminate ambiguity.

7. Say how you want the content presented. The AI can format your output as paragraphs, a numbered list, a table with content, an email, an essay, and so on.

8. Provide source material or use examples. A prompt that includes a content source can help the AI understand what you want it to use.

9. Revise and experiment. If you don’t get what you want, try again. Build on prompts by offering feedback, saying what you liked and correcting mistakes.

10. Don’t be afraid to start again. If things aren’t working, stop and try again.

INTERFACE August 2025