Two techniques do more than any others to make output immediately usable. The first is giving an example or two of what you want, which the industry calls few shot prompting. The second is defining the exact shape of the answer. Together they turn a wandering reply into something you can paste straight into a document.
One or two examples teach the pattern
Show a couple of input and output pairs in the style you want and the model will follow the pattern closely. This works well for repeated jobs like turning enquiry notes into a standard reply, or notes into a consistent job description.
Name the columns, do not just ask for a table
Asking for a table gives you the model's guess at useful columns. Asking for a table with the columns Item, Quantity, Unit price, Notes gives you the table you actually wanted, in the order you wanted it.
Numbered lists make checking easy
Asking for exactly five numbered points, each one sentence, gives you something you can scan and count. Open ended requests tend to produce uneven output that you then have to trim or pad by hand.
Say what to do when information is missing
This is the instruction most people forget. Tell it to write Not stated rather than guessing when the source does not contain something. Otherwise a plausible value gets filled in and you have no way to tell which entries were invented.
Keep the good ones
A prompt with a worked example and a defined shape is a small asset. Save it where colleagues can find it, so the next person does not rebuild it and get a slightly different result.
Common mistakes
- Asking for a table without saying which columns you need.
- Describing the desired style at length when one example would settle it.
- Not saying what to do about missing information, so gaps get quietly filled in.
- Giving an example that is not actually in the style you want.
- Asking for a list without saying how many items or how long each should be.
- Rebuilding the same prompt each time rather than saving one that worked.
Check yourself
0/31.You paste in five sets of site notes and ask for a table of the key details. Some notes do not mention access arrangements. What instruction prevents a problem?
2.What is the main benefit of giving one or two worked examples in your prompt?
3.Which request will give you the most usable output?
This is general guidance, not a substitute for advice on your specific setup. Want a hand putting it into practice? Talk to us or see our care plans.