Even well-meaning prompts often share the same handful of flaws. This tutorial collects seven of the most common mistakes — the ones almost every beginner makes at least once — and gives you a simple fix for each.
If you have ever blamed the AI for a bad answer, this tutorial is for you. Most "bad AI responses" are actually responses to bad prompts. Spotting your own mistakes is the fastest way to level up.
Think of these mistakes as a checklist. Before you press send on any important prompt, mentally tick through them. With a little practice, you will start catching the mistakes before you make them.
"Can you write an email?" leaves room for the AI to ramble. "Write a 4-sentence reply to the email below" is a clear instruction.
Combining five tasks in one paragraph is the easiest way to get a mediocre answer to all five. Split them.
The AI cannot see your earlier work, your data, or your situation. If it matters, paste it. Don't assume.
If you want a table, say "table". If you want JSON, say "JSON only, no commentary". Otherwise you will get a polite paragraph wrapped around the data you actually wanted.
"Make it better" is useless. "Make it 30% shorter and more direct, remove all marketing language, keep the three statistics" is actionable.
AI is fluent but not always correct. Always verify facts, numbers, names, and code. Especially numbers.
Prompting is a conversation, not a vending machine. If the first response is off, refine — don't restart.
Mistakes stacked
can you help me with my college project
also fix grammar and make ppt slides
need it urgentlyQuestion instead of instruction, stacked tasks, no context, no format, no audience. Almost every mistake in one prompt.
Mistakes fixed
I am writing a final-year project on
"Renewable Energy in Coastal Cities".
Do these three things in order:
1. Proofread the paragraph below for grammar and
clarity only. Don't change my voice.
2. Suggest one stronger opening sentence.
3. Outline a 6-slide presentation summary of the
paragraph: title, 4 content slides, conclusion.
Paragraph:
"""
… paste here …
"""Clear instruction, split tasks, context, format. The result is dramatically better.
Reminder: Most of the mistakes above come from rushing. Slow down by 15 seconds while writing the prompt and you save 5 minutes fixing the answer.
Find a prompt you used last week and identify which of the seven mistakes it contains. Rewrite it and run both versions.
Ask an AI:
Find every mistake in the following prompt and list them. Don't fix it yet — just point them out.Paste a sloppy prompt and learn from the critique.
Save the pre-send checklist somewhere visible. Use it for the next ten serious prompts you write. Track how often the first response is "good enough".
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