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Prompt

Written by Minh Khang

What is Prompt?

A prompt is what you type to give AI a job: who it should act as, what to do and what information to use. The clearer the prompt, the closer the result.

A good prompt reads like a brief for a new hire: who the AI is playing, what to do, what information to rely on, and how to answer. Whatever you leave out, the AI fills in by guessing.

Prompt in a shop

Instead of "answer my customers", write: "You work at a jacket shop. Answer size questions using the size chart below. Keep it short and friendly."

How does Prompt work?

  1. 1Role: who the AI should act as ("you are a staff member at a jacket shop").
  2. 2Task: what to write or answer, and how long.
  3. 3Facts to use: size chart, price list, policy, pasted into the prompt or connected as documents.
  4. 4Style: tone, how to address customers, format, and what not to do ("never promise a discount").

What a shop or café can use it for

  • A reusable prompt for answering size questions, shared by the whole shop.
  • A prompt for product descriptions in your brand voice, with two sample posts.
  • A café prompt for a weekly new-item post with a fixed length and hashtags.

What to watch out for

  • AI can still ignore instructions in a prompt: put important rules in the software too.
  • Do not paste customer details (names, phone numbers) into prompts unless needed.
  • A prompt that works for one job may not suit another: keep templates per job.

Quick questions

  • Not just because they are longer. A good prompt covers role, task, facts and style, and leaves out what is irrelevant.

  • As a starting point, yes, but replace the details with your shop's and test them on a few real questions before customers see the results.

  • Clear prompts still matter, but since 2025 the focus has shifted to giving the AI the right information at each step, called context engineering.

Keep learning beyond the glossary

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