AI Prompting Cheat Sheet

Quick Reference: Prompting Patterns

Role Assignment

You are a [role] with [years] of experience in [domain].
Your communication style is [style].

Structured Output

Provide your response in the following format:
## Summary
[2-3 sentence overview]
## Key Points
[Bulleted list]
## Recommendation
[Your top recommendation with reasoning]

Comparison Template

Compare [A] vs [B] for [use case].
Consider: [criteria 1], [criteria 2], [criteria 3].
Present as a table with ratings out of 5.

Code Generation

Write a [language] function that [description].
Requirements:
- [requirement 1]
- [requirement 2]
Include: type hints, error handling, docstring, and example usage.

Content Creation

Write a [content type] about [topic].
Target audience: [audience]
Tone: [tone]
Length: [word count]
Must include: [required elements]

Analysis Framework

Analyze [subject] using the following framework:
1. Current state assessment
2. Strengths and weaknesses
3. Opportunities and threats
4. Recommended actions (prioritized)

Iterative Refinement

Here's my draft: [paste draft]

Improve it by:
1. Making the language more concise
2. Adding specific examples
3. Strengthening the conclusion
Keep the same structure and tone.

Tips

• Start broad, then narrow — Let the AI generate first, then refine
• Use delimiters — Triple backticks, XML tags, or markdown headers to separate sections
• Specify what NOT to do — “Don’t use jargon” is as useful as “use simple language”
• Ask for alternatives — “Give me 3 different approaches to this problem”