The fastest way to get better at prompting is to study contrasts. In this lesson we put weak prompts next to improved ones, see exactly why the weak ones fail, and finish with a checklist you can run on any prompt.
Why bad prompts produce bad results
A weak prompt fails for predictable reasons: it is too vague, gives no context, does not say what good looks like, and leaves the format open. The AI fills the gaps with the most generic, average answer — because that is the safest guess when you have not told it what you actually want.
Before and after, three real examples
- "Write a post about our product."
- Which product? Which platform?
- No audience, tone or goal
- Generic, forgettable result
- "Write a LinkedIn post (under 80 words) announcing our new time-tracking app for freelancers."
- Friendly, confident tone
- Ends with a question to drive comments
- Specific and usable
- "Summarise this."
- How long? For whom?
- No format requested
- Unpredictable length and depth
- "Summarise the text in 5 bullet points for a busy manager."
- Clear length and audience
- Defined format
- Consistent, scannable result
- "Write product descriptions."
- No style to follow
- Tone is a guess
- Inconsistent output
- "Write 3 product descriptions in the same style as this example: [paste one]."
- Shows the AI the target style
- Consistent voice
- Matches your brand
Two techniques that fix most prompts
First, always request a format — bullets, a table, a numbered list, a word limit. Format requests remove most of the randomness. Second, give an example of what good looks like when you can. Showing the AI one good sample ("write more like this") is often more powerful than describing what you want in words.
The prompt improvement checklist
Before you send a prompt, run it through this quick list. Tick each item that applies.
Take any weak prompt — your own or "write something about my work" — and rewrite it using the checklist above. Run both. Then improve once more by adding an example of the output you want, and compare all three.
1. Why do vague prompts produce generic answers?
2. Which single change most improves a "summarise this" prompt?
3. What is often more powerful than describing the style you want?
4. What should you do before sending an important prompt?
- Weak prompts fail by being vague, contextless and open-ended.
- Always request a format to remove randomness.
- Show an example of good output — it beats describing it.
- Run prompts through the improvement checklist before sending.