Anatomy of a great prompt — Prompt Craft
Bad answers usually come from thin prompts
The AI can't read your mind. "Write a bio" could mean 20 words or 2,000, for LinkedIn or a wedding toast, formal or funny. It has to guess — and a guess is generic.
Great prompts remove the guessing with five ingredients: Role · Context · Task · Format · Constraints. You rarely need all five, but every one you add sharpens the result.
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Bad answers usually come from thin prompts
The AI can't read your mind. "Write a bio" could mean 20 words or 2,000, for LinkedIn or a wedding toast, formal or funny. It has to guess — and a guess is generic.
Great prompts remove the guessing with five ingredients: Role · Context · Task · Format · Constraints. You rarely need all five, but every one you add sharpens the result.
Same request, two prompts
Weak: Write a bio for me.
Strong: You're a sharp LinkedIn ghostwriter. I'm a nurse moving into healthcare data analytics after 8 years in the ICU, and I just finished a SQL certificate. Write my LinkedIn "About" section: first person, confident but not salesy, under 120 words, ending with what roles I'm open to.
Why: Role (ghostwriter), context (nurse → analytics, SQL), task (About section), format (first person, <120 words), constraints (not salesy, end with roles).
Context is the secret weapon
Of the five, context does the heaviest lifting. Who is this for? What's the situation? What have you already tried? What does "good" look like?
A quick test: if you handed this prompt to a smart new coworker, would they need to ask you three questions first? If yes, answer those questions in the prompt.
Try it: upgrade one of your real prompts
Here's a prompt I use: "[paste a prompt you actually use]". Rewrite it using role, context, task, format and constraints. Ask me for any details you need first.
Part of ✍️ Prompt Craft in the free AI Bootcamp.