AXHUB5 cards

Prompts,
without the hard part

Call it 'prompt engineering' and it sounds grand,
but in the end it's just how you talk to it.

Mind five things and the same question gets a different answer.

A technique guide — explained with real examples, no figures cited.

Five for prompts1 / 5

01

Give context and a role

AI doesn't know the situation.
Tell it who the text is for and what setting it's for first,
and the answer's texture shifts to match.

Before "summarize," come "for whom, and for what."

Try changing it like this Plain: "Summarize these meeting notes." Better: "This is a report for my team lead. Summarize only what was decided and the next tasks, in a polite tone, in five lines or fewer."

Related No.2 — AI is closer to a new hire (how to assign work)

Five for prompts2 / 5

02

Say the format you want first

Set the shape you want to get and you'll redo it less.
Table or list, how many, how many characters.

Leave the format unset and AI tends to ramble on.

Try changing it like this Plain: "Tell me the pros and cons." Better: "3 pros, 3 cons, in a table. One line each."

Related No.17 — five words are enough to follow the conversation

Five for prompts3 / 5

03

Show one example

For a tone or format that's hard to put into words,
one example stands in for ten sentences.

Attach a sample saying "like this"
and AI follows its texture. One is enough.

Try changing it like this Plain: "Come up with a few titles." Better: "Five titles in this tone — e.g. '10 Minutes and Your Weekly Report Is Done,' short and plain."

Related No.5 — start with one thing you repeated today

Five for prompts4 / 5

04

Don't try to finish in one shot

The first answer doesn't need to be perfect.
Narrowing it down through conversation is actually faster.

"Shorter," "more detail on just the second one," "drop that" —
keep asking for fixes and you get closer to what you want.

Try continuing like this "Good, but drop No.3 and make it shorter. And end the last sentence with a question."

Related No.12 — 5 checks before you delegate to an agent

Five for prompts5 / 5

05

Have it ask back when stuck

When information is short, AI often makes up something plausible.
For that, tell it up front:
"If you don't know, ask me first instead of making it up."

If a question comes back instead of an answer, that's the more accurate signal.

Add one line "If any information is missing, ask me first before making up an answer."

Related No.16 — five rumors about AI (the hallucination one)

AXHUBclosing

A prompt isn't a technique
but a habit of talking

There's no formula to memorize.
Context · format · example · iterating · asking back —
make these five second nature,
and whatever tool you use, the answer changes.

See more at axhub.net

To learn by practice → the lectures 'Tonight, Play with AI' and 'As You Would a New Hire.'

AXHub card No.19 — a guide to writing prompts. A deck that cites no figures, based on real examples.