Ask better

Structure beats clever wording. Give context, constraints, and what “good” looks like.

The shape of a strong ask

Role or lens — who should the model act like, briefly.
Context — audience, tools, constraints, what you already tried.
Task — one primary verb.
Output form — bullets, table, code, checklist, length.
Quality bar — examples of good and bad, or acceptance criteria.

Example skeleton

You are helping a busy operations lead.
Context: We run a 12-person MSP; no PHI in this draft.
Task: Draft a 6-bullet checklist for verifying an AI-written client email.
Output: Markdown checklist. Flag anything that needs a human.

Anti-patterns

Dumping a vague “make this better” with no goal.
Asking for secrets, private data, or medical advice the model should not invent.
Chasing the perfect prompt instead of iterating twice with feedback.