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Better prompts in four questions

A vague prompt gets a vague answer. Four questions fix most of that before you send anything.

1. What is the goal?

Say what you want in one sentence. 'A short summary for my team' is a goal. 'Write something about our product' is not.

2. What is the background?

Tell the AI what it cannot know: who the text is for, what happened before, what you have already tried.

3. What are the limits?

Name the length, the tone, the language and anything to avoid. Limits keep the answer from drifting.

4. When is it done?

Describe what a good result looks like. 'Three bullet points, plain language, no jargon' leaves little room for guessing. Put the four answers together and you have a prompt: 'Summarise this report for my team, who have not read it. Keep it under 100 words and use plain language.'

Related tips

• What is a prompt? A plain explanation
• A prompt template you can reuse for most tasks
• Why does the AI give vague answers?
• What does 'done when' mean in a prompt?
• Should I follow up or start a new chat?

Last reviewed: 2026-11-02

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