Lesson 1 showed you that vague prompts give vague answers. Now let's turn that into a repeatable habit. In 12 minutes you'll learn the three-part formula that makes almost any AI request better — and you'll write one yourself.
By the end, you'll have:
Follow along with a real AI chat open. Each step builds on the one before.
In Lesson 1 you asked the AI to "write an email about a price increase" and got something bland and unusable. That's the baseline. Here's the quick version of why: the AI had no idea who it was writing for, what you wanted to achieve, or how it should sound.
Every prompt is missing information by default. Your job is to fill the gaps before they turn into a bad answer.
Almost every good prompt answers three questions. Learn them once and you'll use them forever:
WHO
Who is it for? What do they already know? What tone fits?
WHAT
What exactly do you need produced? State the outcome clearly.
HOW
Length, format, style, must-haves. The specifications.
Here's a weak prompt, then the same request rebuilt with all three parts:
Same request. Completely different result. Nothing clever was added — just the three answers.
Pick a real task you did this week — an email, a summary, a plan, a message. Fill in the template below with your own three answers, then paste it into your AI chat.
Your turn — fill in the blanks:
I need help with [what you want]. It's for [who it's for]. Make it [length, tone, and any must-haves].
First drafts are rarely final. Instead of rewriting your prompt, just reply with a short adjustment — exactly like you would to a colleague handing you a first attempt:
WHO, WHAT, HOW isn't an AI trick — it's how you'd brief a brilliant new employee on their first day. You wouldn't say "write something about our product" and expect gold. You'd say who it's for, what you need, and how you want it.
The same holds for people and for AI. Clarity in, quality out. Every prompt is just a brief — and the formula above is the shortest good brief there is.
What the finished prompt looks like
"I need help writing an email about a 10% price increase. It's for my small landscaping customers, who've been with us a year or more. Make it warm and apologetic, under 120 words, and end by offering to talk it through."
One paragraph. Three answers. Noticeably better output — every time.
You just wrote a real prompt — so this is the perfect moment to tell us. Your answer shapes the next lesson we write.
Take the formula further — tone, examples, verification, and the habits that make AI reliable.
Compare the major chatbots and choose one with confidence — then start your one-week practice plan.
See how ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok differ before you commit.
Missed the first lesson? Start there — it sets up everything here.
Back to the full tutorial library.
