AI & Digital Skills · Using AI

How to write a better AI prompt

Most disappointing AI answers come from vague instructions. This short lesson shows a simple checklist you can use with any chat assistant.

Learn

Step by step

  1. Say what you want. Start with the task in one sentence: summarise, draft, compare, explain, list.
  2. Say who it is for. An explanation for a new colleague differs from one for a specialist. Name the audience.
  3. Give the key facts. The AI only knows what you tell it. Include names, dates, figures and anything it must mention.
  4. Set the format and length. Ask for bullet points, a table, three options, or 'under 100 words'.
  5. Set the tone and limits. Friendly or formal? Anything to avoid, such as jargon or promises you cannot keep?

Worked example

Before and after

Before: Write an email about the meeting.

After: Draft a short, friendly email to the six members of the events team moving Thursday's planning meeting from 10:00 to 14:00 in Room 3. Ask them to reply if the new time does not work. Under 80 words.

Why it works: The improved prompt names the audience, the facts (day, times, room), the action wanted and the length, so the draft needs little editing.

Try it

Practice tasks

  1. Improve: 'Explain pensions.'
  2. Improve: 'Make this better' (with a pasted paragraph).
  3. Add a format instruction to: 'Give me ideas for a team away day.'

Key terms and next lesson

PromptThe instruction or question you give an AI tool.Large language model (LLM)A type of AI trained on huge amounts of text to predict and generate language.Context windowThe maximum amount of text a model can take into account at one time.Next: How to check whether an AI answer is rightAI assistants can be wrong while sounding certain. Checking takes a few minutes and protects you from passing on mistakes.

Last reviewed: 25 September 2026