A Simple Formula That Works

You will use this for the rest of the course — and beyond.

What you'll leave with

By the end of this lesson, you'll have a repeatable five-part framework for writing prompts that produce consistently useful results.

Why this matters

You do not need to think hard about what makes a good prompt once you have a formula. The formula does the thinking. You just fill it in.

This lesson gives you that formula. It is not the only way to prompt AI well, but it is the most reliable starting point for beginners — and it keeps working even as you get more experienced.

The idea

Tell AI these five things, in any order that makes sense for your request:

1. What you want — Be specific about the task. Write, summarise, explain, plan, compare, brainstorm, rewrite.
2. Why you want it — Context about your situation. Who you are, what is happening, what you are trying to accomplish.
3. Who it is for — Yourself, a colleague, a child, a client, a stranger. The audience shapes the tone and level of detail.
4. What tone or format you want — Short or long. Formal or casual. Bullet points or flowing prose. Warm or direct.
5. What to avoid — Jargon, length, certain topics, a particular word or phrase, corporate-speak, anything that does not fit.

The teaching block

You do not need to use all five every time. For simple tasks, two or three elements are often enough. For important or complex tasks, all five will give you a much stronger result.

Think of the formula as a checklist, not a script. Run through it before you write your prompt and ask yourself: have I told AI what I want, why I want it, who it is for, what it should sound like, and what to leave out?

Example

Build a prompt live using the formula, one element at a time. Show how each element improves the output.

Example task: drafting an apology email to a client about a missed deadline.

• Step 1 — What: "Write an email."
• Step 2 — Why: "I missed a client deadline and need to apologise."
• Step 3 — Who: "For a client I have worked with for two years and want to keep."
• Step 4 — Tone: "Professional but warm. Not overly formal."
• Step 5 — Avoid: "Do not make excuses. Do not be grovelling."

The final assembled prompt:

Try this now

Use the formula to write one prompt for something real in your life right now. It can be small — a message to send, something to plan, something to understand.

Deliberately use all five elements, even if the task is simple. The goal is to feel how the formula works before you start using it automatically.

Save this

Quiet takeaway

Having a formula removes the blank-page paralysis of not knowing how to ask. Run through it once, and you will know exactly what to type.

Next

You now have the formula. The next two lessons put it to work across the most common types of requests people use AI for.