Tips on Generating Effective Prompts

topic/knowledge/concept

Provide GenAI with the main topic for your interactions. Or tell GenAI the core concepts you want to practice through interactions.

goals & objectives

The goals of your interactions. Or it can be said, what do you want to obtain after the interactions? 

For example, "The goal is to practice my negotiation ability through the interactions in the created scenarios."

set up scenarios

for LLMs

The role you want GenAI to play in the interaction.

for audiences

break down complex tasks

Break down complex tasks into subtasks and structured steps. Give GenAI more specific step-by-step instructions instead of general ones. 

e.g. "Translate the text into Chinese." --> 

1. "First translate literally to preserve meaning." 

2. "Refine the translation to align with Chinese linguistic conventions."

add more relevant details

Provide GenAI with more details which are relevant to your interaction topic. 

e.g 1. You want to ask GenAI to write a cover letter for you. Then you'd better also provide relevant detailed job description and personal CV; 

e.g 2. You want GenAI to help revise the text for you, then you need to add more details on the particular focus, such as writing style, word accuracy, content fluency, etc. 

"Revise the text." --> 

"Act as a top editor for top journals to improve the clarity and flow of the context."

provide examples

GenAI is good at learning from examples (few-shot learning), so don't just tell. 

e.g. "Create a chart for this data." --> 

(upload a paper) "Create a bar chart for this data, similar to the one in figure 3 of the attached paper."

expected output specification

You can specify your desired output style, tone, format, such as bullet points, reading level, etc. 

e.g. "Summarize the key findings." --> 

"Summarize the key findings in bullet points and use language a high-school student would understand."

provide constraints

evaluate responses

Take a look at the response from GenAI and assess whether they are in line with the expectations. If yes, the interaction can come to an end. If not, adjust your inputs.

make adjustment

After evaluation, according to your needs, you can make adjustment to your inputs. 

Tips: 1. chain-of-thought prompting: Your could add instructions like "let's think step by step" in the prompt to get more improved response. 

2. emotional prompting: Adding emotional expressions like "Take a deep breath--", "I will tip $200 for great responses" to get responses of higher quality.

continuous experimentation