Be More Specific
Turn vague prompts into clear instructions
Here’s the single biggest unlock for getting better results from AI: be specific. Most people type one vague sentence and wonder why it takes three rounds of back-and-forth to get something useful. The truth is, giving instructions to AI is the same skill as briefing a new hire. The more context you give upfront, the faster you get a great result.
See the difference
Vague prompt
“Write me a marketing email.”
One of two things will happen: you’ll get a generic, forgettable email — or the AI will ask you a series of follow-up questions about audience, tone, and goals. Either way, you’re not getting a usable result from a single message.
Worth noting: Modern AI has gotten better at recognizing vague prompts — it may ask you follow-up questions instead of guessing badly. That’s progress! But it turns your one-shot task into a 5-message back-and-forth. The specific prompt below gets you there in one shot.
Specific prompt
“Write a marketing email for a B2B SaaS product that helps HR teams automate onboarding. The audience is HR directors at mid-size companies (200–500 employees). Tone should be professional but warm. Include a clear CTA to book a demo. Keep it under 200 words.”
Hover the highlighted phrases to see why each one matters.
Try it yourself
Try both in your AI. Paste the vague one first, read the output, then try the specific one. The difference is dramatic.
Write me a marketing email.
Write a marketing email for a B2B SaaS product that helps HR teams automate onboarding. The audience is HR directors at mid-size companies (200-500 employees). Tone should be professional but warm. Include a clear CTA to book a demo. Keep it under 200 words.
The ingredients of a good prompt
You don’t need a formula. You just need to cover these ingredients — think of them as a mental checklist.
Audience
Who is this for? The more specific, the better. “HR directors at mid-size companies” beats “business people” every time.
Context
What’s the situation? What background does the AI need? Think about what a new hire would need to know before starting this task.
Tone
How should it sound? Professional, casual, technical, friendly? A single adjective goes a long way.
Constraints
Word count, format, things to include or avoid. Constraints aren’t limiting — they’re liberating. They give AI a box to work within.
Examples
Show, don’t just tell. If the task involves writing, paste a previous email or document you liked. If it’s analysis, share a past report as a reference. AI calibrates its output to match what you give it — one good example is worth a dozen adjectives.
Desired outcome
What does “good” look like? Be explicit. If you can picture the ideal output, describe it.
Takeaway: You don’t need to learn a new skill. You need to apply a skill you already have: being specific about what you want. Think of it as delegation — the better the brief, the better (and faster) the work.
Here’s a handy rule of thumb: if you would need to explain something to a new hire to get the task done right, you need to explain it to AI too.
Modern AI has gotten better at asking clarifying questions when a prompt is vague — which is great. But front-loading the context means you skip the back-and-forth and get a strong first draft immediately.
Over time this becomes second nature. You’ll start naturally including audience, tone, and constraints without even thinking about it. It’s like learning to write good emails — awkward at first, automatic later.
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