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# How to Write AI Prompts That Get Answers Worth Using
- URL: https://ssv.asia/how-to-write-ai-prompts-worth-using/
- Published: 2026-08-08T01:40:29.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-08T01:40:29.000Z
- Description: Five habits and five patterns that turn mediocre answers into answers worth using.
- Author: ssv.asia
- Tags: Learn AI, Expert AI

## The five habits of good prompts

1. **Say what you need. "Summarize this report for a client" beats "summarize".**
2. **Give context. Who is the audience? What are you making? What must be true?**
3. **Set the format. "Give me a table", "a bullet list", "an email under 150 words".**
4. **Show one good example. Few-shot beats description every time.**
5. **Ask for a check. "List any claims you are not certain about."**

> **Weak: "Tell me about concrete." Strong: "List the top 5 sustainability trade-offs of exposed concrete vs mass timber for a 6-storey office in Mumbai, as a table with a one-line source for each."**

## Prompt patterns that scale

Pattern | Idea | Example Role + task | Give the AI a job title and a goal | "You are a structural engineer. Review this connection detail." Constraints | Bound the answer | "Under 200 words, no marketing language." Chain of thought | Ask it to reason step by step | "Work through the calculation, then give the answer." Iterate | Refine, don't restart | "Good — now shorten it and make it more formal." Verify | Ask for sources and uncertainty | "Cite the standard you used and flag anything uncertain."

## Prompting in the terminal