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Better prompts

Why good prompts matter

A prompt is your request or instruction to the AI. The clearer and more specific your wording, the more precise and useful the response will be. Think of a prompt like a work instruction for a highly capable but literal-minded assistant.

The goal: With the right wording, you save time and get the result you want right away.

The basic rules for effective prompts

1. Be specific instead of vague

  • Bad: "Help with numbers" — Better: "Create a summary of the Q3 sales figures with the key metrics"
  • Bad: "Analyze this" — Better: "Show the most important trends in the customer data over the last 6 months"

2. Provide context

Why context matters: The AI understands better what it's working with.

Examples of good context:

  • "Based on the uploaded Excel file…"
  • "For our care team…"
  • "In the context of our product launch…"

3. Define the desired format

Format specifications help the AI understand how you need the result:

  • "As a table with 3 columns"
  • "In 5 bullet points"
  • "As an email draft"
  • "As a presentation slide"
  • "In plain language for patients"

The ideal prompt structure

A perfect prompt consists of three elements:

1. WHAT should be done (task)

  • "Analyze the sales data"
  • "Create a summary"
  • "Compare the two documents"

2. HOW the result should look (format)

  • "As a table with the top 10 results"
  • "In 3 concise paragraphs"
  • "As a bullet-point list"

3. WHO the result is for (audience)

  • "For senior management"
  • "For new employees"
  • "For customers without technical background"

Example of a complete prompt:

"Analyze the sales data from the Excel file (WHAT) and create a clear table with the 5 best-selling products (HOW) for the monthly presentation to senior management (WHO)."

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Overly vague wording

  • Problem: "What does it say?" — Solution: "Summarize the contract's content in 5 bullet points and highlight the most important terms"
  • Problem: "Do something with the data" — Solution: "Create a chart from the survey data that shows customer satisfaction by age group"

Missing context

  • Problem: "Write a text" — Solution: "Write a blog post about our new product feature for our website visitors, about 300 words"

Unclear expectations

  • Problem: "Analyze the document" — Solution: "Identify the 3 biggest risks in this project plan and suggest solutions"

Using prompt templates

basebox offers you help: In the sidebar you'll find prompt templates for common use cases.

Typical templates:

  • Document analysis: "Summarize the document and…"
  • Data evaluation: "Analyze the table and show…"
  • Text improvement: "Revise the text for…"

How to use templates:

  1. Click a suitable template
  2. Adapt it to your specific situation
  3. Add your context

Advanced prompt techniques

Step-by-step instructions

For complex tasks:

"1. Analyze the sales data from the last 12 months 2. Identify the 3 strongest trends 3. Create recommendations for the next quarter"

Providing examples

Show the AI what you want: "Create product descriptions in the style of: 'Our clinic combines…' – use a similarly emotional tone"

Assigning roles

Have the AI take on a perspective: "Act as a marketing expert and evaluate this campaign" "From an employee's perspective: how understandable is this guide?"

Improving prompts iteratively

If the result doesn't fit:

  1. Be more specific: Add more details
  2. Adjust the format: Change the output form
  3. Expand the context: Provide more background information
  4. Ask follow-up questions: "Can you explain that in more detail?"

Practical examples by use case

  • Document analysis: "Extract all dates and deadlines from the contract and list them chronologically"
  • Data evaluation: "Show me the 5 months with the highest revenue and explain possible reasons"
  • Text creation: "Write a professional email response to the customer that politely but firmly explains our position"
  • Presentation preparation: "Create 3 key takeaways from this report for a 5-minute presentation to investors"

Tip

Use the prompt templates in the basebox sidebar as a starting point and adapt them to your specific needs.

Experiment: Try different phrasings – you'll quickly develop a feel for effective prompts.

Need help wording your prompt? Contact support