--- title: "The four parts of a good prompt" url: https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/four-parts-of-a-good-prompt/ course: "Prompting for beginners" lesson: "2 of 5" minutes: 10 published: 2026-10-03 updated: 2026-10-03 author: "Jack Stovell" publisher: "Adapt Progress Evolve Limited" language: "en-GB" --- # The four parts of a good prompt Lesson 2 of 5 in [Prompting for beginners](https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/) · 10 minutes A good prompt usually has four parts: the task, the context, the format and the rules. We didn’t invent that. It’s close to what the makers of ChatGPT and Claude both advise. You’ll learn each part, then send a real prompt built from all four. ## You need - A free ChatGPT or Claude account - A real job you’d like help with A narrated walkthrough of this lesson is coming. The steps below cover everything in it. ## Steps ### Step 1: What OpenAI advises OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, says to be clear and specific, to give enough context, and to refine your prompt after you see the answer. It also says to name the tone you want with words like formal, friendly or professional. ![OpenAI’s help page "Prompt engineering best practices for ChatGPT", showing three tips: be clear and specific, iterative refinement, and requesting a different tone.](https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/l2-openai-clear-specific.png) (screenshot captured 3 October 2026) 1. Be clear and specific, and give context 2. Refine it after you see the answer 3. Name the tone you want Checkpoint: You know what ChatGPT’s makers advise. ### Step 2: What Anthropic advises Anthropic, which makes Claude, says to be clear and direct, to treat Claude like a brilliant new employee who doesn’t know how you work, and to be specific about the format and limits you want. ![Anthropic’s prompting guide at the heading "Be clear and direct", with the line about treating Claude as a brilliant but new employee, the golden rule, and the advice to be specific about the desired output format and constraints.](https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/l2-claude-clear-direct.png) (screenshot captured 3 October 2026) 1. Be clear and direct 2. Treat it like a new colleague with no context 3. The golden rule 4. Say what format and limits you want Checkpoint: You know what Claude’s makers advise, and that it matches. ### Step 3: Part 1: the task Start with one sentence saying what you want made. Use a doing word: write, plan, list, check, explain. Ours: "Write a short notice about Christmas orders for my bakery." (Screenshot to come.) Checkpoint: You’ve written one sentence that says what you want. ### Step 4: Part 2: the context Say who you are, who it’s for, and the facts it needs. Anything you leave out, it will guess, and a guess can end up as a promise you never made. Ours gave the bakery, what it makes, how ordering works and the two Christmas dates. Anthropic adds that saying why you want something helps it give a better answer. (Screenshot to come.) Checkpoint: Your context has every fact the AI needs, so it has nothing to guess. ### Step 5: Part 3: the format Say what shape you want back: how long, how many versions, in a list or as paragraphs. Ours asked for two versions: about 40 words for a window poster and about 80 words for Facebook. (Screenshot to come.) Checkpoint: You’ve said how long it should be and what shape. ### Step 6: Part 4: the rules Add the dos and don’ts: tone, spelling, and what not to add. Ours said plain, friendly UK English, no prices, no emojis, and no offers, products or dates we hadn’t mentioned. That last rule is the one that stops it making things up. (Screenshot to come.) Checkpoint: You have at least one rule about what it must not add. ### Step 7: Send it and check the reply Put the four parts together and send them. You can copy ours and change it to fit your job. Ours came back with both versions, used only our two dates, and pointed out that we’d forgotten to give an email address for orders. It was right. The prompt (works in ChatGPT, Claude or any AI chat tool): ```text Task: Write a short notice about Christmas orders for my bakery. Context: I run Brook Lane Bakes, a home bakery in a small town. I make sourdough loaves and celebration cakes to order. Customers order by email and collect on Friday or Saturday, 8am to 1pm. This year the last day to order for Christmas is Saturday 12 December, and the last collection day before Christmas is Saturday 19 December. Format: Give me two versions. One of about 40 words for a poster in my window. One of about 80 words for my Facebook page. Rules: Plain, friendly UK English. No prices. No emojis. Don't add offers, products or dates I haven't mentioned. ``` - Labelling each part (Task, Context, Format, Rules) makes it easy to see if one is missing. - The dates are in the context, so it doesn’t have to guess them. - "Don’t add offers, products or dates" stops it padding the notice with things you don’t do. (Screenshot to come.) Checkpoint: You have a reply that used only the facts you gave it. ## Common problems ### The reply is the wrong length Give a number of words, and say what it’s for (a poster, a text message). AI word counts are approximate, so check and ask again if it matters. ### It added things you didn’t mention Add a rule: "Don’t add any details I haven’t given you." Then ask again. ### Your prompt is getting long That’s fine. Long and clear beats short and vague. Use line breaks and labels so you can see each part. Steps 1 and 2 are the makers’ own public guidance pages, captured by tools/capture/prompting-for-beginners.mjs. Step 7 happens in a signed-in chat, so it has no screenshot yet; the prompt and reply are in outputs/. ## Sources - [OpenAI Help Center: Prompt engineering best practices for ChatGPT](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/10032626-prompt-engineering-best-practices-for-chatgpt) (checked 2026-10-03) - [Claude Platform Docs: Prompting best practices](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/prompt-engineering/claude-prompting-best-practices) (checked 2026-10-03)