Lesson 1The four parts of a strong instruction
Once you've decided a task is right for AI, the next habit is making sure your instructions actually communicate what you want. Vague requests produce vague, generic results — not because the AI is lazy, but because it has to guess at everything you didn't specify.
- Context — what's this for, and who's it for? “A WhatsApp broadcast to existing customers” is very different from “a formal grant application.”
- Format — how should the output look? Length, structure, tone. Three bullets versus a full paragraph versus a table.
- Constraints — what should it avoid? Budget limits, banned words, things that didn't work before.
- A reference point — an example of a style, structure or past piece of work you liked.
Real-life example: Kwabena wants help writing a price list update. Weak: “Write a message about our new prices.” Strong: “Write a short WhatsApp message (max 4 sentences) telling loyal customers that phone case prices are increasing by GHS 5 next month due to import costs, thank them for their support, friendly and appreciative tone, no apologetic or defensive language.” The second gives the AI everything it needs to produce something he can send almost as-is.