COE Series: Better Prompting with GenAI: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners
Part 2: Top 15 Tips/ideas for Better Prompts
In this content series, we'll cover the following topics:
- Part 1. An overview of popular GenAI tools
- Part 2. Tips for creating a better prompt
- Part 3 Prompting frameworks with examples (1-3 of 9 Frameworks)
- Part 4 Prompting frameworks cont. (4-6 of 9 Frameworks)
- Part 5 Prompting frameworks cont. (7-9 of 9 Frameworks)
- Part 6. Advanced techniques for prompting and Common pitfalls to avoid
Crafting Effective Prompts
Welcome back to our series on better prompting with GenAI! In the first part, we explored some popular GenAI tools. Now that you know which tools are available, it's time to dive into crafting effective prompts. This part will cover 15 essential tips and ideas that will help you create better prompts, providing clear direction and context to the AI.
When writing a prompt, often a simple request is made however, the process of thinking through the context needed is as much key to developing a good prompt as it is by providing the content to the GenAI.
Writing a better prompt with more context significantly enhances the quality and relevance of the response. When you provide detailed information, specify the desired outcome, and set clear parameters, the AI can understand your needs more precisely. This reduces ambiguity and ensures that the response is tailored to your specific situation. For example, instead of asking a broad question like "How do I improve my website?", a detailed prompt such as "What are five design changes I can make to improve the user experience on my e-commerce website, focusing on navigation and load speed?" gives the AI clear direction and context, resulting in a more actionable and useful response. Ultimately, better prompts save time, increase efficiency, and leads to higher satisfaction with the AI's assistance.
- Assign a role: Begin with "Act as an expert in [field]..." to set context and expertise level.
- Request expert review: End with "Please review this response as if you were a team of experts in the field."
- Specify output format: "Provide the answer in bullet points" or "Present this information in a table format."
- Set a length limit: "Respond in no more than 200 words" or "Give me a 3-paragraph answer."
- Request multiple perspectives: "Approach this problem from three different viewpoints."
- Specify audience: "Explain Like I'm Five" (ELI5) technique or "Write this for a technical audience."
- Ask for pros and cons: "List the advantages and disadvantages of this approach."
- Request step-by-step instructions: "Provide a step-by-step guide to completing this task."
- Ask for examples: "Include real-world examples to illustrate each point."
- Request sources: "Provide credible sources where I can find more information on this topic."
- Request a summary: "Summarize the key points in 3-5 sentences at the end."
- Use "If-then" scenarios: "If X happens, then what would be the likely outcomes?"
- Use the "Steel Man" technique: "Present the strongest possible version of the opposing argument."
- Request actionable advice: "Provide 3-5 actionable steps I can take based on this information."
- Use Follow-Up Questions: Encourage follow-up questions to dive deeper, e.g., "What are the next steps after creating a business plan?"
Summary: With these tips in hand, you're well on your way to creating more effective and precise prompts. In the next part of our series, we'll introduce various prompting frameworks that can further structure your interactions with GenAI tools.
This series is brought to you by the High Growth Technologies, Center of Excellence (COE). Our COE can help you best tailor your GenAI tools of choice for your business outcomes.
To learn more about how we can transform your business to become AI-leveraged utilizing our; Assessments, Cyber Range, Destination AI, Cloud FinOps, Innovation Centers, Practice Builder, Solution Factory and Subject matter experts in security, networking, cloud, data and AI technologies, go to www.tdsynnex.com/na/us/highgrowthcenterofexcellence