Prompt

1. What Is It?

One-sentence definition

A Prompt is the instruction, question, context, constraint, and output request you give to an AI model.
Prompt Engineering is the practice of designing and refining prompts so the model produces outputs that are more accurate, stable, and useful.

2. How It Works

If you assign a vague task to a colleague, the result is usually weak. If you explain the goal, style, audience, and format, the result is usually much better.

LLMs work the same way. The clearer and less ambiguous the prompt is, the easier it is for the model to follow your intention.

3. A Complete Prompt Structure

1. Role
2. Background / context
3. Task instruction
4. Output format
5. Example

4. Core Techniques

Technique	How	Best for
Role prompting	"You are a senior lawyer"	More professional tone
Chain of Thought	"Think step by step"	Complex reasoning
Few-shot prompting	Give 2-3 examples	Style imitation
Prompt chaining	Break work into multiple prompts	Long writing or complex analysis

5. Intuitive Analogies

• prompting is like ordering food
• prompt engineering is like strong interviewing technique
• a prompt is like entering a precise destination into navigation

6. Practical Example

Weak prompt

Write some copy for me.

Better prompt

You are a senior maternity e-commerce operator. We are launching a new
baby wipe product with an organic, additive-free, ultra-soft positioning.
Please write a Xiaohongshu-style promotional post:
1. 150-200 words
2. warm and conversational
3. include at least 2 emoji
4. end with 3 tags

Prompt engineering is rarely a one-shot act. It is usually:

draft -> test -> analyze -> iterate

7. Business Use Cases

Scenario	Example
Standard support replies	Structure the response flow
Weekly report generation	Format information into fixed sections
Meeting notes	Extract agenda, decisions, owners, deadlines
Data analysis	Summarize trends and produce actions

8. What You Need to Remember

• a prompt is a task brief, not a magic spell
• prompt engineering is mainly about reducing ambiguity
• non-programmers can still drive strong outcomes through good prompting

9. Recommended Reading

• Prompt Engineering Guide: https://www.promptingguide.ai/zh
• Runoob prompt engineering: https://www.runoob.com/ai-agent/prompt-engineering.html
• Alibaba Cloud prompt guide: https://help.aliyun.com/zh/model-studio/prompt-engineering-guide
• GitHub prompt resources: https://github.com/yunwei37/Prompt-Engineering-Guide-zh-CN