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Guide
Week 1
Prompting guide for beginners
How to talk to AI tools so you get useful results on the first or second try.
The 5-part prompt
- Role: “Act as a startup advisor who has launched 10 SaaS products.”
- Context: who you are, what you're building, who it's for.
- Task: one clear action — “Write 5 headline options”.
- Format: bullets, table, 100 words, JSON — say it explicitly.
- Constraints: tone, reading level, things to avoid.
Habits that work
- Give an example of the output you want — AI copies patterns well.
- Ask it to ask you questions first: “Before answering, ask me 3 questions.”
- Iterate instead of restarting: “Keep 2 and 4, make them shorter.”
- Break big jobs into steps: research → outline → draft → edit.
- Ask for options, then choose: “Give me 3 very different approaches.”
Common mistakes
- Vague asks (“make it better”) — say better how.
- Pasting too little context, then blaming the tool.
- Trusting facts and numbers without checking sources.
- Accepting the first answer — the third draft is usually the good one.