Exercise: Rewrite five broken prompts
Time: 15–20 minutes
Below are five deliberately weak prompts. Each one contains at least two of the anti-patterns discussed in this module. Your task is to rewrite each one, applying the Prompt Trinity and any of the six techniques that seem appropriate.
For each prompt:
- Identify the problems — what specifically makes this prompt weak?
- Rewrite it — create an improved version using the frameworks from this module
- Explain your choices — which techniques did you apply and why?
- Test both versions — send both the original and your improved version to an AI tool and compare the results
Step 1—Weak Prompt 1
Tell me about leadership.
What problems do you see with this prompt? What anti-patterns does it contain?
Rewrite this prompt using the Prompt Trinity and any relevant techniques.
Which techniques did you apply and why?
Comparing Your Results
After testing both versions (original and improved) with an AI tool, use the table below to record your observations across all five prompts.
| Prompt # | Relevance | Specificity | Usefulness | Tone & Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prompt 1 | ||||
| Prompt 2 | ||||
| Prompt 3 | ||||
| Prompt 4 | ||||
| Prompt 5 |
When you test both versions with an AI tool, pay attention to:
- Relevance: Does the response address your actual need, or does it guess?
- Specificity: Are the details concrete and actionable, or generic and vague?
- Usefulness: Could you actually use the output as-is, or does it need significant editing?
- Tone and style: Does the output match the voice and audience you intended?
Document your overall observations. What patterns did you notice when comparing the original and improved prompts? What surprised you?