Prompt better · Cheat sheet
Eight short instructions that improve everyday AI output
- Tools
- Multi-tool
- Audience
- People getting started with AI
- Topic
- Prompt better
You’ll finish with: eight reusable instructions with examples and limits.
Small instructions can fix a surprisingly large amount of waffle. Pick the one that addresses today’s problem. Pasting eight rules into every message is how a shortcut becomes homework.
Set up
Allow 10 minutes with a chat tool. Start with the short test note and choose one or two instructions, rather than stacking the whole list.
Choose the instruction you need
- Use only the facts in these notes.
- List unknown owners separately.
- Keep the update below 100 words.
- Link each researched claim to its source.
- Ask one question if the missing detail changes the task.
- Keep the supplied dates and numbers unchanged.
- Prepare a draft and wait before sending.
- Compare your result with the stated success checks.
Try this example
FICTIONAL PRACTICE MATERIAL
Test note: The brochure is drafted. Price approval is missing. Delivery might be Friday. Need a manager update. Try first: use only supplied facts. Then: put missing information under Questions.Do the task
- Read the eight instructions and identify which one the draft needs.
- Apply it to the sample and compare the output with an unrestricted draft.
- Keep the instruction only if it makes the result easier to check or use.
Your reusable prompt
Write a short manager update from the note. Use only the supplied facts. Put missing information under Questions.
PRACTICE INPUT
Test note: The brochure is drafted. Price approval is missing. Delivery might be Friday. Need a manager update. Try first: use only supplied facts. Then: put missing information under Questions.Refine your result
Replace any definite delivery promise with the uncertainty in the note. Do not shorten the answer by removing the price-approval issue.Check the result
The result should keep Friday tentative and show price approval as unresolved. A word limit is useful only if the important information survives it.
Save and reuse
Save two favourite instructions in a note you can find again. Give each a label describing the problem it fixes.
Sources and notes
- Writing clear prompts Checked 2026-10-05
- The practice input and teaching prompt are original 5HO material. Examples are fictional; they are not screenshots or claims of a completed real-world task.
- Official documentation supports the relevant product concepts. Setup availability depends on your account; where a guide offers a fallback, it does not prove the connected capability worked.