Hey, ! 

If you’ve been watching the AI space lately, you know that it’s becoming the skill to have. Companies are weaving AI into their products, automation tools are booming, and AI-powered chatbots and assistants are popping up everywhere. Whether you’re designing, coding, creating content, or analyzing data, knowing how to get precise, actionable outputs from AI can save time, unlock new creative approaches, and even help you prototype ideas faster. 

So, let’s break down the art and science of prompt engineering into two main pillars: Scoping and Power Boosters.

Scoping the Task

Scoping is the foundation of a killer prompt. Without clear boundaries, your AI might return vague or irrelevant answers. Here’s how to scope like a pro:

🎯 Define the End Goal

Start by identifying what you want. For instance, let’s say you’re designing a welcome email for a new app. Instead of asking, “Write an email for a new app,” you should clarify the purpose:

Prompt: “Write a welcome email introducing a new productivity app, emphasizing its time-saving features and providing a call to action to explore key functionalities.”

Why it works: This sets a clear target, aligning the AI’s response with your intentions.

➗ Break Down Complex Tasks into Sub-Tasks

For multifaceted tasks, split them into smaller, manageable prompts. For example, before drafting the email, ask for a subject line:

Prompt: “Suggest 3 engaging subject lines for a welcome email for a productivity app that highlights time-saving features.”

Then move to the body:

Prompt: “Draft a body for the welcome email that explains how the app saves time and invites the user to explore its features.”

Why it works: Sub-tasks ensure better focus, enabling you to refine each piece individually.

📝 Add Enough Context

AI thrives on context. Provide details about the audience, tone, or use case:

Prompt: “The email targets busy professionals who struggle with time management. It should be friendly, concise, and inspiring.”

Why it works: Context personalizes the output, making it more relevant and engaging.

Power Boosters

Once the basics are in place, elevate your prompts with these enhancement strategies:
 

🧑‍🦰 Incorporate Personas

Give the AI a specific role or perspective. For example:

Prompt: “Imagine you are a senior UX copywriter tasked with creating a friendly and actionable welcome email for busy professionals using a new productivity app.”

Why it works: Personas guide the AI to adopt a tone and style that aligns with the task’s requirements.

👥 Use Exemplars

Provide examples to clarify your expectations. For instance:

Prompt: “Here’s an example tone: ‘Get ready to save hours every week! We help you tackle your tasks with ease.’ Use this tone in your response.”

Why it works: Exemplars act as benchmarks, helping AI replicate the desired style.

✍️ Specify Format, Style, and Tone

AI can adapt to various styles, but only if you tell it what you need:

Prompt: “Format the email as: 1. Friendly greeting, 2. Short paragraph highlighting the app’s benefits, 3. Clear call to action. Use a friendly and professional tone.”

Why it works: Structure prevents meandering responses and ensures outputs align with expectations.

✨ Final Combined Prompt

Now let’s bring it all together into one powerhouse prompt:

"Imagine you are a senior UX copywriter tasked with creating a friendly and actionable welcome email for busy professionals using a new productivity app. Write a welcome email introducing the app, emphasizing its time-saving features and inviting the user to explore key functionalities. Format the email as: Friendly greeting, Short paragraph highlighting the app’s benefits, Clear call to action. The email should be concise, inspiring, and written in a tone similar to this: ‘Get ready to save hours every week! We help you tackle your tasks with ease."

💟 The Result

The final combined prompt delivers value by clearly defining the goal (a welcome email for busy professionals), incorporating time-saving context, and providing a structured format (greeting, benefits, call to action). It ensures relevance through audience-focused personalization and achieves a friendly, professional tone with style guidance.