Demystifying the shadowy art of prompting

In the 18 months or so since some genius coined it, the word ‘prompt’ has developed a definite air of the mysterious. Like it’s a dark art that’s known only to shadowy people who share funny handshakes.

In reality, the idea of a prompt is super simple. In fact, it’s just another version of something you’ve probably been doing for years.

Have you every asked a colleague or vendor to create something for you? A piece of content, a strategy, a report or similar?

You know how this works because you probably do it every second day.

• You tell the colleague or vendor what you want by giving them the detailed information they need to respond to your request.
• The colleague or vendor comes back with what you requested.
• You red-pen some bits, change others, add your own suggestions etc etc and return it.
• Then, your colleague or vendor comes back with a revision. This process then goes back and forth until you have a copy you are happy with.

Sound familiar? It should.

It’s called briefing and you’ve probably been doing it for most of your working life.

And it’s EXACTLY what prompting is.

The only difference is that this new colleague you’re working with has immediate access to a large chunk of the world’s information and can turn around responses in seconds instead of days.

So, remember these steps when you’re working with a generative AI:

• Don’t go crazy trying to overengineer prompts
• Having said that, be as clear as possible about what you want.
• Don’t expect perfection in the first draft. Would you expect that from a colleague?
• Take some time to add your own inputs into the next draft.

And here’s a pro tip.

As part of your initial prompt, ask the AI what other information it might need before it answers. Just as you would if you were briefing a colleague.

Bottom line?

Don’t overthink prompts. The real value will come from the interaction, not the prompt.