Chain-of-Thought Prompting: Unlocking Latent Reasoning in Language Models
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Chain-of-Thought Prompting: Unlocking Latent Reasoning in Language Models

Michael Brenndoerfer•November 2, 2025•11 min read•2,671 words•Interactive

A comprehensive guide covering chain-of-thought prompting introduced in 2022. Learn how prompting models to generate intermediate reasoning steps dramatically improved complex reasoning tasks, the simple technique that activated latent capabilities, how it transformed evaluation and deployment, and its lasting influence on modern reasoning approaches.

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Reference

BIBTEXAcademic
@misc{chainofthoughtpromptingunlockinglatentreasoninginlanguagemodels, author = {Michael Brenndoerfer}, title = {Chain-of-Thought Prompting: Unlocking Latent Reasoning in Language Models}, year = {2025}, url = {https://mbrenndoerfer.com/writing/chain-of-thought-prompting-unlocking-latent-reasoning-language-models}, organization = {mbrenndoerfer.com}, note = {Accessed: 2025-11-02} }
APAAcademic
Michael Brenndoerfer (2025). Chain-of-Thought Prompting: Unlocking Latent Reasoning in Language Models. Retrieved from https://mbrenndoerfer.com/writing/chain-of-thought-prompting-unlocking-latent-reasoning-language-models
MLAAcademic
Michael Brenndoerfer. "Chain-of-Thought Prompting: Unlocking Latent Reasoning in Language Models." 2025. Web. 11/2/2025. <https://mbrenndoerfer.com/writing/chain-of-thought-prompting-unlocking-latent-reasoning-language-models>.
CHICAGOAcademic
Michael Brenndoerfer. "Chain-of-Thought Prompting: Unlocking Latent Reasoning in Language Models." Accessed 11/2/2025. https://mbrenndoerfer.com/writing/chain-of-thought-prompting-unlocking-latent-reasoning-language-models.
HARVARDAcademic
Michael Brenndoerfer (2025) 'Chain-of-Thought Prompting: Unlocking Latent Reasoning in Language Models'. Available at: https://mbrenndoerfer.com/writing/chain-of-thought-prompting-unlocking-latent-reasoning-language-models (Accessed: 11/2/2025).
SimpleBasic
Michael Brenndoerfer (2025). Chain-of-Thought Prompting: Unlocking Latent Reasoning in Language Models. https://mbrenndoerfer.com/writing/chain-of-thought-prompting-unlocking-latent-reasoning-language-models
Michael Brenndoerfer

About the author: Michael Brenndoerfer

All opinions expressed here are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer.

Michael currently works as an Associate Director of Data Science at EQT Partners in Singapore, where he drives AI and data initiatives across private capital investments.

With over a decade of experience spanning private equity, management consulting, and software engineering, he specializes in building and scaling analytics capabilities from the ground up. He has published research in leading AI conferences and holds expertise in machine learning, natural language processing, and value creation through data.

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