Prompting Strategies and Tips › Practical Tips for Better Prompting

As you develop your prompting skills, keep these guidelines in mind:

Be specific about format: If you want a list, say "Provide your answer as a numbered list." If you want JSON, show the structure you expect.

Set boundaries: Tell the AI what NOT to do if that's important. For example, "Explain this concept without using technical jargon" or "Summarize this without including personal opinions."

Use delimiters for clarity: When your prompt includes multiple parts (like examples or text to process), use clear separators. Triple quotes, XML-style tags, or section headers help the model understand the structure.

Consider token limits: Very long prompts can hit model limits or slow down responses. If your prompt is getting unwieldy, look for ways to be more concise.

Test edge cases: Once you have a prompt that works, try it with unusual inputs. This helps you find and fix weaknesses before they cause problems.