Anatomy of a great prompt

The concept

Every strong prompt has the same five parts, in the same order: Role, Task, Context, Constraints, Output format. Role sets the frame and vocabulary the model draws on. Task states the single job in one sentence. Context is everything the model would need to know that it cannot possibly guess. Constraints are the hard boundaries — length, language, what to avoid, what must be included. Output format tells it the exact shape you want back, so you don't have to reformat by hand. Miss Role and you get generic tone; miss Context and you get invention; miss Output format and you get a wall of text you then have to reshape yourself.

The order matters less than the presence. But the order above works because it mirrors how a person absorbs a brief: who am I being, what am I doing, what do I need to know, what are the rules, what do I hand back.

The reusable template

Copy this. Keep it in your notes app. Fill it in.

ROLE
You are [specific role, with seniority and market].

TASK
[One sentence. One deliverable. If you have two deliverables, write two prompts.]

CONTEXT
- Client / brand: [name, category, positioning in one line]
- Audience: [who, age, what they care about, what they fear]
- Background: [what's happened so far, what was tried, what was rejected]
- Source material: [paste it, or say "none"]

CONSTRAINTS
- Language: [Arabic (Egyptian) / English / both]
- Length: [exact number — words, slides, bullets]
- Must include: [...]
- Must avoid: [...]
- Tone: [3 adjectives, and one anti-adjective: "confident, warm, plain —
  NOT salesy"]

OUTPUT FORMAT
[Exact structure. Table with these columns / numbered list of 8 /
markdown with H2 sections named X, Y, Z / JSON with these keys.]

Before you answer, if any of the above is missing or contradictory,
ask me up to 3 questions. Otherwise proceed.

That last line is the highest-leverage sentence in this course. It converts the model from a guesser into an interviewer, and it costs you nothing when the brief is already complete.

A note on the "quick" version. You will not write a full template for "reword this email." That's fine. The minimum viable prompt is Task + Constraint + Format: "Rewrite this in 3 sentences, warmer, keep the deadline sentence exactly as-is." Use the full template for anything you'd otherwise brief a human on.

Before → After

Make me a proposal for the FMCG client.

ROLE
You are a new-business director at an Egyptian creative agency who has
won FMCG accounts against Leo Burnett Cairo and Publicis.

TASK
Write the body of a 4-page proposal for a beverage brand's Ramadan 2027
campaign.

CONTEXT
- Client: mid-size Egyptian juice brand, strong in Delta/Upper Egypt,
  weak in Cairo A/B households.
- Brief received: "make us relevant to young families in Ramadan."
- Budget signalled: EGP 3–4M production + media, media bought separately.
- Our differentiator: in-house production — we shoot, we don't broker.
- They rejected our last proposal for being "too abstract."

CONSTRAINTS
- English, 900–1,100 words total.
- Concrete: every claim gets a number or a deliverable, no adjectives
  standing alone.
- Do NOT include pricing (separate document).
- Must include a 3-phase timeline ending 10 days before Ramadan.

OUTPUT FORMAT
Markdown with these H2s exactly:
1. What We Heard
2. The Strategic Gap
3. The Idea
4. How We'd Produce It
5. Timeline
6. Why Strike Media
Under each H2, max 3 short paragraphs or a bulleted list.

If anything above is unclear, ask up to 3 questions first.