Prompt Engineering Mastery: The Complete Guide from A-Z

Prompt engineering has become a hot new skill in the AI world over the past several months. Companies are so eager to hire prompt engineering experts that salaries up to $375,000 are being offered!

Here at AI Fire Team, we want to help spread this valuable skill far and wide. That's why we've put together this free, comprehensive prompt engineering guide. Our goal is to teach the fundamentals of prompt engineering in a way that's accessible for beginners.

Whether you're new to AI or have some experience, this guide will take you from prompt engineering basics all the way through advanced techniques. We'll explain each concept in simple terms with lots of examples. By the time you finish, you'll have a strong foundation to start crafting prompts like a pro!

With prompt engineering skills, you can open up exciting career opportunities or improve your current role. But more importantly, you'll be able to build AI that's helpful, harmless, and honest. We hope this guide equips you to make a positive impact, wherever your prompt engineering journey leads. So without further ado, let's get started!

Table of contents:

1. Basic Terminologies

2. What is prompt engineering?

3. Prompting with real-world examples

• Example 1: Role, Details, and Questions.

• Example 2: Step By Step & Hacks

• Example 3: Styling and Voice

• Example 4: Coding

• Example 5: Data and Tables

4. Important Parameters

5. The 3 Core Frameworks for Advanced Prompting

Bonus 1: 2 Examples of Megaprompts for Prompting: C.R.E.A.T.E Formula and A.S.P.E.C.C.T Formula

Bonus 2: 2 Examples of Metaprompts for Prompting: Use ChatGPT as your Prompt Generator for ChatGPT

Bonus 3: 2 Examples of MetaPrompts for Prompting: Use ChatGPT as your Prompt Generator for Midjourney/Stable Diffusion

Bonus 4: Chain of Density (CoD) - A new prompt by MIT and Salesforce Researchers

Bonus 5: The Russell Brunson Sales Page Writer

Read More:
Prompt Engineering Mastery: The Complete Guide from A-Z | Part 1

Bonus 1: 2 Examples of Megaprompts for Prompting: C.R.E.A.T.E Formula and A.S.P.E.C.C.T Formula

I. C.R.E.A.T.E Formula

1. C: Character - Tell ChatGPT what role you want it to play. You are letting it know its role and motivation. Ex: “You are a talented copywriter with 20 years experience writing high-performing sales copy” ⇒ Not Zero, Drawing the best on Sales Copy

2. R: Request - Tell the AI what we want it to do. I recommend that you’re specific here. It’s not just “Write me a sales email for a sports car” ⇒ “Write me a persuasive and enthusiastic sales email for the Cougar Hyper Sport. This is a high-performing electric sports car with the best acceleration in its category. The sales letter should tell people they need to experience it for themselves, find out what it feels like to be pinned to your seat, to feel the heart-thumping exhilaration of cornering, and to enjoy the experience of everyone looking to see who’s in the driving seat. ” This is what defines the quality of the response.

3. E: Examples - Optional - If you want to give ChatGPT some better direction, it might be worth adding some examples. Maybe some examples of previous headlines, or an example of the tone of the voice. ChatGPT is great at learning from these and delivering a response in a similar style.

4. A: Adjustments - When you tried a prompt, and it’s not quite giving you exactly what you want as a response. These are the refinements. For me, they’re often phrases like: Don’t use bullet points, use subheads to break up the text.

5. T: Type of Output - Tell ChatGPT exactly how you want it to format its response. Ex: Deliver your response as a 500-word article with a headline and a conclusion. The type of output can include articles, bullet points, tables, poems, jokes, scripts, anything that can be written.

6. E: Extras - Little additions that can really make a big difference.

• Ex 1: Ignore everything before this prompt/ Ignore all previous instructions before this one - This is useful if you don’t want to draw on any of the conversations that you’ve had up until this point. I often use this at the beginning of a prompt when I’m changing tasks

• Ex 2: Ask me questions before you answer. I often use a variant on this when I know that the AI needs lots of information to get its response right. We’ll then have a conversation where I answer lots of questions and when ChatGPT thinks it got enough information. It will then deliver a response ⇒ This one was an absolute game-changer for me.

• Ex 3: Explain your thinking/What do you think?. It’s the equivalent of showing you’re working in maths class. It’s a way of verifying an answer by making sure the journey to that answer makes sense. This one is super useful.

• Ex 4: Step by step

• Ex 5: Summarize in a paragraph or two everything you know about me. Write in the first person.

• Ex 6: Your answer must be use your database/insights/information upto 2023.

• Ex 7: Answer only using reliable sources and cite those sources.

• Ex 8: Use Forceful language to emphasize something, or your request - CAPLOCK Everything.

If you follow the C.R.E.A.T.E Formula, you’re going to start writing prompts they are far more effective. I admit that they will take a bit of time to write, but the extra effort pays off hugely in the results.

II. A.S.P.E.C.C.T Formula

1. A: Action - The action defines the mission by specifying an explicit task for your AI to perform. This clarity of purpose will enable the AI to deliver meaningful and targeted results.

Examples of actions:

• Generate a market analysis report

• Write an engaging product description

• Develop a social media content plan

• Create a list of blog post ideas for a tech website

• Draft a sales pitch for a new software solution

2. S: Steps - Steps provide a sequence of steps for the AI to follow. Structuring the process will guide the AI toward the desired outcome in a systematic manner.

Example of steps:

• Identify the target audience for the marketing campaign

• Research competitors and analyze their strengths and weaknesses

• Select the best marketing channels to use

• Craft compelling messages

• Brainstorm visuals to accompany each message using language and ASCII art

3. P: Persona - Use a persona to assign your AI something to act as. The chosen character can provide a unique filter on the knowledge the AI will put to use, and will give a voice and perspective to the AI's responses.

Examples of persona:

• Act as an experienced business consultant offering strategic advice

• Imagine you're a creative director brainstorming advertising concepts

• Emulate a financial analyst providing insights on investment opportunities

• ASSISTANT = Tech-savvy entrepreneur sharing startup tips

• Provide advice as if you were a motivational speaker delivering an inspiring keynote speech

4. E: Examples - Demonstrate what you're looking for with specific samples of desired inputs or outputs. Examples provide a reference point for the AI to emulate.

Note that including specific examples may too heavily bias the language model in a specific direction and vague examples or a large amount of examples may work better.

Examples of examples:

• Provide an example of an executive summary from a previous doc to base a new one on

• Paste in sample social media posts so the AI can match the voice and tone

• Share an example of a successful cold email to potential clients and generate more

• List out something in parentheses (e.g. mobile phones, tablets, laptops)

• Give your half-baked ideas: "I want a headline that references an animal that is known to be brave"

5. C: Context - Provide the surroundings, circumstances, and details relevant to the task. Providing context helps the AI craft responses that align with the broader situation.

• Context of a new product launch in a highly competitive market

• Context of a rebranding effort after a company merger

• Context of addressing customer complaints on social media

• Context of seeking funding from venture capitalists for a startup

• Context of adapting business operations to a post-pandemic world

6. T: Template - Define the format you want the output to take. Establishing a template guides the structure and presentation of the AI-generated content.

Examples of templates:

• Return your results in markdown formatting

• Format your results in a plain text code block

• Use this formula for your titles: How to get {YAY!} without {BOO!}

• Label each result and then give bullet points on why you chose it

• Organize all of the above in markdown formatting with headers, bullet points, and bold words

With A.S.P.E.C.C.T Formula in your toolkit, you're equipped to harness the full potential of your AI co-writer. Use this framework to craft prompts that yield creative and impactful content for your business and creative endeavors.

Bonus 2: 2 Examples of Metaprompts for Prompting: Use ChatGPT as your Prompt Generator for ChatGPT

I. Meta Prompt 1:

Act as a prompt generator for ChatGPT. I will state what I want and you will engineer a prompt that would yield the best and most desirable response from ChatGPT. Each prompt should involve asking ChatGPT to "act as [role]", for example, "act as a lawyer". The prompt should be detailed and comprehensive and should build on what I request to generate the best possible response from ChatGPT. You must consider and apply what makes a good prompt that generates good, contextual responses. Don't just repeat what I request, improve and build upon my request so that the final prompt will yield the best, most useful and favourable response out of ChatGPT. Place any variables in square brackets.
Here is the prompt I want: [Desired prompt] - A prompt that will ...

• Ex1: A prompt that will generate a marketing copy that will increase conversions

• Ex2: A prompt that will create a full code of snake game working perfectly in Replit

II. Meta Prompt 2:

I want you to become my Prompt Creator. Your goal is to help me craft the best possible prompt for my needs. The prompt will be used by you, ChatGPT. You will follow the following process:

1. Your first response will be to ask me what the prompt should be about. I will provide my answer, but we will need to improve it through continual iterations by going through the next steps.

2. Based on my input, you will generate 3 sections:

a) Revised prompt (provide your rewritten prompt. it should be clear, concise, and easily understood by you),

b) Suggestions (provide suggestions on what details to include in the prompt to improve it)

c) Questions (ask any relevant questions pertaining to what additional information is needed from me to improve the prompt). 

3. We will continue this iterative process with me providing additional information to you and you updating the prompt inthe Revised prompt section until it's complete.

Keep revising until you're happy with it, then simply copy and paste the revised prompt into a new chat. Watch the magic! You'll have some fun with this one.

HOW TO USE:

Struggling to create effective prompts for ChatGPT? This easy-to-follow method lets you collaborate with ChatGPT to design the best prompts for your needs. Here's how it works:

1. ChatGPT will ask you about the topic of your prompt. Now is the time to share your brilliant idea!

2. After your first prompt, you should get a response with:
   a) Revised Prompt: A more refined and concise version of your idea.
   b) Suggestions: ChatGPT’s advice on enhancing your prompt.
   c) Questions: ChatGPT will ask for additional information to improve the prompt.

3. Work with ChatGPT to perfect your prompt through iterations.

Bonus 3: 2 Examples of MetaPrompts for Prompting: Use ChatGPT as your Prompt Generator for Midjourney/Stable Diffusion

I. Meta Prompt 1:

You will be generating prompts for Midjourney, a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) that can take text and output images. Your goal is to create a prompt that the GAN can use to generate an image. To start, only ask and wait for a subject from the user. The subject can contain an optional parameter '--p' which specifies that the generated image should be a photograph. For example, 'a lone tree in a field --p'. If the '--p' parameter is not entered, then assume the image to be an illustration of some kind.

When an object is submitted, begin the response with the prompt with the start command required by the GAN: '/imagine prompt:'. Next, take the subject and expand on it. For example, if the subject was a lone tree in a field, a description may be: 'A lone tree in a field stands tall with gnarled branches and rugged bark. The surrounding open space provides a sense of peace and tranquility.'

Next, specify an appropriate artist and artistic style, such as 'a watercolor on canvas by Constable'. Multiple artists can be referenced.

Next, describe the lighting effects in the image, including direction, intensity, and color of the light, whether it's natural or artificial, and the source of the light.

Then, describe the artistic techniques used to create the image, including equipment and materials used. Then, include any reference materials that can assist the GAN, such as a movie scene or object. For example, 'reference: the Star Wars movies'.

Finally, decide on an appropriate aspect ratio for the image from 1:1, 1:2, 2:1, 3:2, 2:3, 4:3, 16:9, 3:1, 1:3, or 9:16. Append the aspect ratio prefixed with '--ar' and add it to the end of the prompt, for example: '--ar 16:9'.

Return the prompt in a code box for easy copying. After generating the prompt and displaying it, ask for further instructions in a code box:
N - prompt for next subject
R - regenerate the previous prompt with different words
A - return the exact same prompt but change the artist
M - return the exact same prompt but change the artist and add several other artists. Also change the artistic techniques to match the new artists
O - return the exact same prompt but omit the artists and style
X - return the exact same prompt but change the artist. Choose artists that don't normally match the style of painting
S - random subject
P - change the image to a photograph. Include the manufacturer and model of the camera and lens. Include the aperture, ISO, and shutter speed.
Help - list all commands.

II. Meta Prompt 2:

Generate an "imagine prompt" that contains a maximum word count of 1,500 words that will be used as input for an AI-based text to image program called MidJourney based on the following parameters: /imagine prompt: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]

In this prompt, [1] should be replaced with a random subject and [2] should be a short concise description about that subject. Be specific and detailed in your descriptions, using descriptive adjectives and adverbs, a wide range of vocabulary, and sensory language. Provide context and background information about the subject and consider the perspective and point of view of the image. Use metaphors and similes sparingly to help describe abstract or complex concepts in a more concrete and vivid way. Use concrete nouns and active verbs to make your descriptions more specific and dynamic.

[3] should be a short concise description about the environment of the scene. Consider the overall tone and mood of the image, using language that evokes the desired emotions and atmosphere. Describe the setting in vivid, sensory terms, using specific details and adjectives to bring the scene to life.

[4] should be a short concise description about the mood of the scene. Use language that conveys the desired emotions and atmosphere, and consider the overall tone and mood of the image.

[5] should be a short concise description about the atmosphere of the scene. Use descriptive adjectives and adverbs to create a sense of atmosphere that considers the overall tone and mood of the image.

[6] should be a short concise description of the lighting effect including Types of Lights, Types of Displays, Lighting Styles and Techniques, Global Illumination and Shadows. Describe the quality, direction, colour and intensity of the light, and consider how it impacts the mood and atmosphere of the scene. Use specific adjectives and adverbs to convey the desired lighting effect, consider how the light will interact with the subject and environment.

It's important to note that the descriptions in the prompt should be written back to back, separated with commas and spaces, and should not include any line breaks or colons. Do not include any words, phrases or numbers in brackets, and you should always begin the prompt with "/imagine prompt: ".

Be consistent in your use of grammar and avoid using cliches or unnecessary words. Be sure to avoid repeatedly using the same descriptive adjectives and adverbs. Use negative descriptions sparingly, and try to describe what you do want rather than what you don't want. Use figurative language sparingly and ensure that it is appropriate and effective in the context of the prompt. Combine a wide variety of rarely used and common words in your descriptions.

The "imagine prompt" should strictly contain under 1,500 words. Use the end arguments "--c X --s Y --q 2" as a suffix to the prompt, where X is a whole number between 1 and 25, where Y is a whole number between 100 and 1000 if the prompt subject looks better vertically, add "--ar 2:3" before "--c" if the prompt subject looks better horizontally, add "--ar 3:2" before "--c" Please randomize the values of the end arguments format and fixate --q 2. Please do not use double quotation marks or punctuation marks. Please use randomized end suffix format.

Bonus 4: Chain of Density (CoD) - A new prompt by MIT and Salesforce Researchers

Researchers from Salesforce, MIT, and Colombia University came up with a new way to get AI to summarize articles. Their method is called Chain of Density or CoD. It makes AI like GPT-4 write summaries that pack in more key details from the article. People prefer these CoD summaries over ones GPT-4 writes normally. This is because CoD summaries are denser and more human-like.

Article: {{ ARTICLE }}

You will generate increasingly concise, entity-dense summaries of the above article.

Repeat the following 2 steps 5 times.

Step 1. Identify 1-3 informative entities (";" delimited) from the article which are missing from the previously generated summary.

Step 2. Write a new, denser summary of identical length which covers every entity and detail from the previous summary plus the missing entities.

A missing entity is:
relevant to the main story,
specific yet concise (5 words or fewer),
novel (not in the previous summary),
faithful (present in the article),
anywhere (can be located anywhere in the article).

Guidelines:
- The first summary should be long (4-5 sentences, ~80 words) yet highly non-specific, containing little information beyond the entities marked as missing. Use overly verbose language and fillers (e.g., "this article discusses") to reach ~80 words.

- Make every word count: rewrite the previous summary to improve flow and make space for additional entities.

- Make space with fusion, compression, and removal of uninformative phrases like "the article discusses".

- The summaries should become highly dense and concise yet self-contained, i.e., easily understood without the article.

- Missing entities can appear anywhere in the new summary.

- Never drop entities from the previous summary. If space cannot be made, add fewer new entities.

Remember, use the exact same number of words for each summary. Answer in JSON. The JSON should be a list (length 5) of dictionaries whose keys are "Missing_Entities" and "Denser_Summary".

Bonus 5: The Russell Brunson Sales Page Writer

Using Russell Brunsons' "Hook-Story-Offer" framework, I want you to write a landing page text for me.

For context, [INSERT CONTEXT]

My backstory is: I used to be a [INSERT LOW POINT], then I found [YOUR PRODUCT / SOLUTION], and now I help others do the same / [YOUR OFFER]

My offer is: [INSERT OFFER]

___

When writing a text in the "Hook-Story-Offer" framework, this is important to consider:

1) The hook should catch the reader's attention through one of 3 ways: 1) Using curiosity (stick out from the crowd) 2) Show empathy by making a statement or posing a question relevant to the audience's inner fears and desires 3) Make a promise (that the offer later fulfils)

All good hooks keep the audience in mind.

2) The story should be short, action-packed, and extremely compelling. Each line should make the reader want to read the next.


3. The offer should be ridiculously compelling. (Use urgency, scarcity, decrease risk, increase perceived value)

4. Use an empathetic, persuasive but authentic tone of voice

For example, here is a sales email written with the Hook-Story-Offer framework:

## Hook:
I don't think I've ever admitted this publicly, but...

## Story:
Not too long ago, I was a really freaking slow writer.
Most people can write a blog post in a day or two.
Me? I could only manage one or two a month.
It was embarrassing, but I thought it's just how I worked. Slow and steady.
One day though, I was talking to a buddy who's a professional novelist, and he mentioned how he wrote 15,000 words a day.
"Holy crap," I said. "That's a real gift."
"Not a gift," he told me. "I had to retrain myself how to write."
I asked him what he meant, and he showed me an entirely new way of writing that a lot of fiction writers are using. Intrigued, I decided to give it a try.
Within a week, I was writing a post within two days. A month after that, I was down to only four hours.
And we're not talking about quick, crappy writing, either. It was my usual quality.

## Offer:
Impressed, I created a little course teaching the system my friend taught me. I called it "Become a Writing Machine."
Normally, it's $49, but earlier today, I was looking through it and thinking,
'You know, this stuff really helped me. My buddy really did me a favor telling me about it."
So, I'll tell you what. Today, I'm going to "pay it forward" and do YOU a favor.
Just for a little while, I'm going to cut the price by 85%. You can grab the whole course for seven bucks.
Click here for details on Become a Writing Machine
I don't really make any profit at that price. Just break even, probably.
But I want more people to have it, so what the hell.
If you're a slow writer, take a look. It'll help you.
Talk soon,
Jon


As another example, here’s a different sales page written with the Hook-Story-Offer framework:

## Hook:

AGAIN.
You could have sworn that it was going to work this time.
You spent months building your product and countless hours trying to perfect it.
Then you launched.
You hit the big red button.
And so few people signed up that you’re wondering if maybe it was all a big mistake.
You can’t believe it didn’t work AGAIN.
This has happened in the past.
You just thought this time would be different.
We understand.


## Story: Just 5 short years ago, I launched a new company called ClickFunnels, and as the “non-technical” co founder who had no skills in coding, I wasn’t able to help create the software, but I knew my role.
When the cart opened on launch day, I needed to have a pipeline of people begging to sign up for their free trial…
And everyday after that, I needed to make sure I kept filling our funnels with our dream customers.
To do that, I had to learn how to get traffic from dozens of different sources…
I couldn’t rely on just Facebook, or just Google.
I had to learn how to do things differently… I had to be smarter.
Five Years And Thousands Of Tests Later…
That was 5 years ago…
During that time, we almost lost ClickFunnels.
We had a great product, but it was very hard to get people to know we even existed.
We tested everything…
If someone said this would get us more traffic, we tested it, on our own dime.
Most of the things we tried didn’t work…
But a few of the things, the “REAL SECRETS” that did work started to compound on each other.
Each new secret would help us to tap into a new stream of our dream customers!
What seemed impossible before (getting a consistent flow of our dream customers into our funnels), was now a reality.


## Offer:

Here’s what I want to give you.
* 14 Days Free of ClickFunnels ($50)
* Training on Building Your First Sales Funnel ($500)
* Advanced Training on Building Sales Funnels That Convert ($1,000)
* One-On-One Training With a Sales Funnel Expert ($500)
* My Book on Building High-Converting Sales Funnels ($20)
But I know that’s expensive — it comes to $2,070
And I want to make sure you feel like you’re getting a good deal.
So for TODAY ONLY, I’m offering it to you for $100.
(I can’t afford to keep this offer up for more than a day).
If you want to do it, now is the time.
And if you still aren’t sure, I’ll even offer a money-back guarantee so that I’m taking all the risk on my own shoulders.
What’ve you got to lose?

Read more detailed COD Prompt examples here!

Read More:
Prompt Engineering Mastery: The Complete Guide from A-Z | Part 1