MODULE 2: THE THREE THINGS EVERY PROMPT NEEDS

In case you missed Module 1, in response to discussions after a recent Substack of mine, I decided to ask an AI agent to share some advice on how to write effective prompts. I'm no expert, but I now have a bit of experience with AI, and hope that this advice and the other modules I will post here every day will be of use.

Robert

Introduction

Good prompts have three components. You do not always need to state them explicitly — but you need to have thought about them.

1. Role

Who are you asking? A copywriter? A journalist? A sceptical retailer? A consumer who knows nothing about wine?

"Write about our new vintage" gets you something generic.

"Write about our new vintage as a wine journalist reviewing it for a specialist trade publication, focusing on what makes this year different from the previous three" gets you something useful.

2. Task

What specifically do you want? Not "help me with this" — what is the actual output?

"Write something for our website" is not a task.

"Write a 200-word homepage introduction for a family-owned Ribera del Duero producer, positioning us as a modern winery with deep traditional roots, targeting wine-literate consumers aged 35-55" is a task.

3. Constraint

What are the limits? Length, tone, format, what to avoid?

Without constraints, AI fills the space. It will write 1,500 words when you wanted 200. It will hedge when you wanted conviction. It will give you five options when you wanted one recommendation.

Constraints are not limitations — they are the difference between a first draft and a usable draft.

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Tomorrow: MODULE 3: THE CONTEXT STACK