2. The anatomy of a great prompt

A prompt is the instruction you type to an AI assistant. Think of it as a work order you hand to a very capable employee who has never worked for you before. If the work order is vague — 'write something about money' — the employee has to guess what you really want. If the work order is clear — 'write a 100-word explanation of how Telebirr transfers work, for a customer who has never used it before' — the employee knows exactly what to do.

Every great prompt has the same skeleton: you tell the AI who it is, what you need, how you want it presented, and in what style. The rest of this lesson walks through each part.

The four parts of a great prompt:

1. Context — Background information the AI needs to understand your situation. Example: 'I run a small stationery shop in the Merkato area of Addis Ababa.'

2. Task — The specific thing you want the AI to do. Example: 'Write a short text message I can send to customers about my new birr discount offer.'

3. Format — How you want the answer laid out. Example: 'Give me three options, each under 30 words.'

4. Tone — The feeling or style the words should have. Example: 'Friendly and informal, like a message from a neighbour.'

Let's compare a weak prompt with a strong one. Suppose Sara wants to ask an AI to help with a business report.

Weak prompt: 'Tell me about my business.'

— The AI has no idea what Sara's business is, what kind of report she needs, or how long it should be.

Strong prompt: 'I sell injera from my home kitchen in Lideta, Addis Ababa. I want a one-page summary of my weekly sales performance to show my microfinance loan officer. Use simple language and include a short bullet list of highlights.'

— The AI now knows the business (injera kitchen), the audience (loan officer), the length (one page), and the style (simple language, bullet points).

The result with the strong prompt will be far more useful the first time, saving Sara from writing it again and again.

Format instructions control the shape of the answer. Common examples:

• Length: 'in under 50 words', 'in exactly three sentences', 'in one paragraph'

• Structure: 'as a numbered list', 'as a table', 'as bullet points'

• Language level: 'in simple Amharic a 10-year-old can understand', 'in professional English'

• Output type: 'as an SMS', 'as a formal letter', 'as a social-media caption'

Abebe is a small-shop owner in Jimma. He types: 'List five tips for keeping my grocery shop cool during the dry season. Give me a numbered list in Amharic.' He gets exactly that — five numbered tips in Amharic — not a long English essay.