How to write a good AI prompt: a simple method for beginners

A "prompt" is simply what you type into an AI tool. If you have ever asked ChatGPT something and got a bland, too-long or slightly off answer, the problem usually was not you or the tool. It was that the question left too much to guesswork.

The good news: writing better prompts is a skill anyone can learn, and you do not need any special words or tricks. The official guides from OpenAI, Google and Anthropic all give broadly the same advice: be clear, give context, say what you want back, and refine as you go.

Why the wording matters

AI tools do not know who you are, why you are asking or what you plan to do with the answer. Compare these two requests:

• "Write a birthday message."
• "Write a warm, short birthday message for my sister Anna, who's turning 40. She loves gardening and has a dry sense of humour. Keep it under 50 words."

The second gives the tool something to work with. The answer will be far closer to what you actually want, first time.

The four-part method: Who, What, Context, Format

A handy way to remember what to include:

1. Who should it act as?

Giving the AI a role sets the tone and level of detail.

• "Act as a patient IT helper explaining things to a beginner."
• "Act as a friendly primary school teacher."

2. What exactly do you want?

Use a clear action word: write, explain, summarise, list, compare, check, plan.

• "Summarise this article…"
• "Compare these two broadband deals…"

3. What context does it need?

This is the part most people skip. Who is it for? Why? What do you already know? What should it avoid?

• "It's for my 80-year-old dad, who's never used email."
• "I've already tried restarting the router."

4. What format and length?

Tell it how you want the answer laid out.

• "Use five bullet points."
• "Keep it under 100 words."
• "Give me a table with price, speed and contract length."

Put together, a full prompt might look like this:

"Act as a patient IT helper. Explain how to set up a strong password on an iPhone, for my 80-year-old dad who's new to smartphones. Use numbered steps, short sentences and no jargon."

Before and after: three real-world examples

Example 1: A complaint

• Before: "Write a complaint to my train company."
• After: "Write a polite, firm complaint to a UK train operator. My train was cancelled and I want to claim Delay Repay. Include the date as [date] and the journey as [journey]. Keep it to three short paragraphs."

Example 2: Learning

• Before: "Explain inflation."
• After: "Explain inflation in plain English for someone with no economics background, using an example from a weekly UK food shop. Then ask me one question to check I've understood."

Example 3: Planning

• Before: "Give me some recipes."
• After: "Suggest four midweek dinners for a family of four, each under 30 minutes, with no nuts. Include a combined shopping list."

Five tips that make a big difference

Treat it as a conversation

Your first prompt does not need to be perfect. Follow up with:

• "Make it shorter."
• "Make it sound more friendly."
• "That's not quite right: I meant X."
• "Give me three different versions."

Give it an example

If you want a particular style, show it. "Here's an email I wrote last month. Write the new one in the same tone." Official prompting guides recommend examples because they show rather than tell.

Ask it to ask you questions

A surprisingly useful line: "Before you answer, ask me any questions you need to give a good answer." The AI will then check the details it is missing.

Break big jobs into steps

Rather than "plan my whole wedding", start with "list the main decisions in order", then work through each one in turn.

Ask it to check itself

"What might be wrong or missing in your answer?" or "Which parts should I double-check?" This does not make the answer guaranteed accurate, but it often flags weak spots.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Being too vague. "Tell me about pensions" will get a generic essay. "Explain the difference between a workplace pension and the State Pension in five bullet points" gets you something useful.
• Cramming in several unrelated tasks. One clear request at a time works best.
• Pasting in private information. Do not include bank details, passwords, National Insurance numbers or other people's personal details. Use placeholders like [name] instead.
• Trusting it blindly. Even a perfect prompt can produce a wrong answer. Check facts, figures and anything about health, money or the law with an official source such as GOV.UK, the NHS or MoneyHelper.

A prompt template you can copy

Keep this somewhere handy and fill in the brackets:

"Act as [role]. [Action] [the task]. It's for [who], who [relevant context]. Please [format and length]. Avoid [anything you don't want]."

For example:

"Act as a friendly travel planner. Suggest a three-day itinerary for Edinburgh. It's for a couple who enjoy history but don't want long walks. Please use a day-by-day list. Avoid expensive restaurants."

Does it work the same in every tool?

Broadly, yes. The same principles work in ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot, because they all respond to clear instructions and context. Each tool has its own strengths and its own way of presenting answers, so if one result disappoints, it can be worth trying the same prompt elsewhere.

Practise with this mini challenge

Try writing a prompt for one of these, using the four parts:

1. A thank-you note to a neighbour who fed your cat.
2. An explanation of what "the cloud" means, for a grandparent.
3. A packing list for a week in the Lake District in October.

Then compare the answer with what you would get from a one-line version. The difference is usually obvious.

Take your skills further

Good prompting is the foundation for everything else you do with AI. If you have done the basics and want to go further, our Intermediate AI course builds on it with longer, multi-step tasks, working with documents and getting reliably useful results, using visual lessons and knowledge checks. Explore Intermediate AI. New to AI altogether? Start with AI Basics.

Sources

• OpenAI, Prompt engineering best practices for ChatGPT: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/10032626-prompt-engineering-best-practices-for-chatgpt
• Google, Gemini for Google Workspace Prompting Guide 101: https://workspace.google.com/learning/content/gemini-prompt-guide
• Anthropic, Prompt engineering overview: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/build-with-claude/prompt-engineering/overview
• National Rail, Delay Repay: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/help-and-assistance/compensation-and-refunds/