---
title: "Show it an example"
url: https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/show-it-an-example/
course: "Prompting for beginners"
lesson: "3 of 5"
minutes: 10
published: 2026-10-03
updated: 2026-10-03
author: "Jack Stovell"
publisher: "Adapt Progress Evolve Limited"
language: "en-GB"
---

# Show it an example

Lesson 3 of 5 in [Prompting for beginners](https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/) · 10 minutes

Describing how you write is hard. Showing is easy. In this lesson you’ll paste in a couple of things you’ve written before, and ask the AI to write something new in the same style and at the same length.

## You need

- A free ChatGPT or Claude account
- Two or three short things you’ve written before, such as emails or messages, with nothing private in them

A narrated walkthrough of this lesson is coming. The steps below cover everything in it.

## Steps

### Step 1: Why examples work

Anthropic says examples are one of the most reliable ways to steer the format, tone and structure of a reply. Its guide says to make them like your real task, and suggests three to five examples for best results. We used two in our example, just to keep it short.

![Anthropic’s prompting guide at "Use examples effectively": examples steer output format, tone and structure; make them relevant, diverse and structured; and a tip to include 3 to 5 examples for best results.](https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/l3-claude-examples.png) (screenshot captured 3 October 2026)

1. Examples steer format, tone and structure
2. Make them like your real task
3. Three to five examples work best

Checkpoint: You know why examples help, and how many to aim for.

### Step 2: Find things you’ve written

Pick two or three short pieces you’re happy with, of the same kind as the new one you need. Then take out names, addresses, phone numbers and anything private before you paste them in.

(Screenshot to come.)

Checkpoint: You’ve got two or three examples with nothing private in them.

### Step 3: Paste them in with clear labels

Put your examples first, each with a label so the AI can tell them apart from your request. Then add the new job and what you want to say. Ours shows two replies the baker had written before, then a new customer email.

The prompt (works in ChatGPT, Claude or any AI chat tool):

```text
I run Brook Lane Bakes, a home bakery. Here are two replies I've written to customers before, so you can see how I write.

--- Example 1 ---
Hi Tom,
Thanks so much for thinking of me! Yes, I can do a sourdough loaf for Saturday. Pop round any time between 8 and 1 and it'll be ready for you.
See you then,
Jo

--- Example 2 ---
Hi Mel,
Lovely to hear from you. I'm afraid I'm fully booked for cakes that weekend, sorry. I've got space the weekend after if that's any help?
Jo

Now write my reply to this new email, in the same style. Keep it as short as my examples.

New email: "Hi, can I collect my order on Sunday instead? I'm away on Saturday. Thanks, Hannah"

What I want to say: I only do collections on Friday and Saturday, 8am to 1pm. Friday would work if that helps.
```

- Labels like "--- Example 1 ---" keep your examples separate from the new job.
- "In the same style" and "as short as my examples" tell it what to copy.
- "What I want to say" gives it the facts, so it copies only your style, not your old answers.

(Screenshot to come.)

Checkpoint: Your prompt has your examples, the new job and what you want to say.

### Step 4: Compare the reply with your examples

Put the reply next to your examples and ask yourself: does it sound like you? Is it the same length? Ours was three lines, signed just "Jo", with an "I’m afraid" and a "sorry" like the second example, and a question at the end. It also wrote the times as "8 till 1", in the casual way the first example did.

(Screenshot to come.)

Checkpoint: The reply sounds like you, and says only what you told it to say.

### Step 5: Keep your best examples

Save the examples that worked in a document. You’ll reuse them in your prompt kit in lesson 5, and you’ll be glad you kept them.

(Screenshot to come.)

Checkpoint: Your best examples are saved somewhere you can find them.

## Common problems

### It copied a sentence from your example word for word

Say: "Use my examples for style only. Don’t reuse their sentences."

### It copied a fact from an example that doesn’t apply

Put the facts for the new job under a clear heading, such as "What I want to say", and add: "Only use facts from that part."

Step 1 is Anthropic’s public guide, captured by tools/capture/prompting-for-beginners.mjs. Step 3 happens in a signed-in chat, so it has no screenshot yet; the prompt and reply are in outputs/.

## Sources

- [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)
- [Claude Help Center: Who can view my conversations? (be mindful about sensitive information)](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8325621-i-would-like-to-input-sensitive-data-into-my-chats-with-claude-who-can-view-my-conversations) (checked 2026-10-03)