3. Giving context and examples

**Context** is the background information that helps the AI understand your situation. Without context, the AI must guess what you mean. With context, it can tailor its answer exactly to your needs.

Think of Almaz, who runs a small clothing shop in Piassa, Addis Ababa. She wants the AI to write a promotion message. Without context, the AI has no idea whether she sells children's clothes, wedding dresses, or sportswear — and whether customers pay with telebirr, cash, or card.

When Almaz adds context — her shop name, what she sells, her target customers, and the payment methods she accepts — the AI can write a promotion that actually fits her business.

Here are the most useful types of context to add to a prompt:

**1. Who you are** — your job, role, or situation.

*Example: "I am a high-school teacher in Hawassa..."*

**2. Who the audience is** — who will read or use the output.

*Example: "...writing for my Grade 10 students."*

**3. The purpose** — what you want to achieve with the result.

*Example: "I need a short quiz to review the lesson on photosynthesis."*

**4. Constraints** — limits on length, language, tone, or format.

*Example: "Keep it under 200 words and in simple Amharic."*

**5. Relevant background facts** — specific names, numbers, or dates that matter.

*Example: "Our school uses Geez script and our exam is on Friday."*

You do not need all five every time — add whichever ones will help the AI understand your unique situation.

**Examples** (also called "few-shot" examples in AI terminology) show the AI exactly what a good output looks like. Instead of describing what you want in words, you demonstrate it.

This is incredibly powerful because humans often find it easier to show than to tell — and AI works the same way.

Imagine you want the AI to write product descriptions for your online shop. Instead of just saying "write a product description", you show it one:

*"Here is an example of the style I want:

'Premium Ethiopian Sidama coffee — sun-dried, bold and fruity, roasted fresh weekly. 250g bag. Perfect for your morning ceremony. Order now on telebirr.'*

*Now write a similar description for: Yirgacheffe washed coffee, 500g."*

Because you gave a concrete example, the AI now understands your preferred length, tone, keywords (telebirr, ceremony), and structure — without you having to explain each one separately.

Context and examples work best together. Here is a simple template you can use and adapt:

---

**[Who you are + your situation]**

I am a [your role] working on [your project/task].

**[Audience]**

The output is for [target audience].

**[What you want]**

Please [main task] about [topic].

**[Constraints]**

Keep it [length] and write in [language/tone].

**[Example]**

Here is an example of what I mean:

"[paste your sample output here]"

**[Your actual request]**

Now do the same for: [your specific item].

---

For example, Sara — a librarian at a school in Gondar — might write:

*"I am the school librarian in Gondar. I need to write a short notice to remind Grade 8 students to return borrowed books by Friday. The notice should be friendly and in Amharic, under 50 words. Example: 'ውድ ተማሪዎቻችን፣ የሳይንስ ክፍለ ጊዜ ቁሳቁሶች ከሐሙስ በፊት ይመልሱ። አመሰግናለሁ — አስተዳደር።' Now write the notice for book returns due Friday.'"*