Show, don't just tell
Adjectives like "friendly" and "professional" mean something different to everyone. Learn to steer the answer with examples, a described reader and a concrete tone.
Few-shot prompting
Putting one or more examples of what you want inside the prompt, so the model can copy the pattern. A prompt with no examples is called zero-shot. "Shot" just means example.
Instead of describing your shop's caption style, you paste three captions you already posted and say: "Write a new one like these for our autumn scarves."
WHY IT WORKS
Patterns get continued
Back to lesson 1: the model continues the text. If the text already contains two items in a clear pattern, the most likely continuation is a third item in the same pattern: same length, same rhythm, same level of formality, same layout. An example carries dozens of small decisions that you'd never think to write as rules.
Your sample captions all end with a question to the reader. You never noticed. The model did, and the new caption ends with one too.
Write a product line for my handmade soap shop, in the same style as these two.
Example 1 - Lavender bar: "For the nights your head won't switch off. Lavender, oat milk, nothing else."
Example 2 - Coffee scrub bar: "Monday in soap form. Ground coffee, cocoa butter, a bit of attitude."
New product - Orange and cinnamon bar:"Smells like the first cold evening of the year. Orange peel, cinnamon, one good reason to stay in."No rule said "two short sentences, a feeling first, then three ingredients with a twist on the last one". The examples said it. Ending the prompt where the answer should begin helps too.
Check yourself
Sara runs a clothing page. Three times she has told the assistant to make captions "warmer, shorter and more like us". They're still off. What is her best next move?
- Add more adjectives: "warm, cosy, sincere, short, punchy"
- Paste three of her own past captions that she likes and ask for a new one in that style
- Write the instruction in capital letters so it carries more weight
- Give up on captions and write them all herself
Show the answer
Paste three of her own past captions that she likes and ask for a new one in that style
Yes. "More like us" is invisible to the model until it sees "us". Three real captions show length, rhythm, emoji habits and vocabulary all at once.
THE READER
Describe who will read it
"Explain it simply" is another adjective. Simple for whom? Describe the reader instead: what they already know, what they don't, and what they care about. The model then chooses vocabulary, examples and length to suit that person, which is what a good human explainer does.
"My father is 62, uses mobile banking every day, and has never heard the phrase 'two-step verification'. He'll want to know why he should bother."
Same topic, a reader added
Weak prompt
"Explain two-step verification simply."
You get a tidy definition with words like "authentication factor". Simple for an IT student, not for your father.
Improved prompt
"Explain two-step verification to my 62-year-old father. He uses mobile banking daily but doesn't know technical words. Compare it to something from everyday life, tell him why it matters for his bank account, and keep it under 120 words."
Now "simple" has a meaning.
Check yourself
Which of these lines show the model something concrete, and which only tell it an adjective?
- "Make it engaging."
- "Here are two emails I wrote. Match this voice."
- "Write it professionally."
- "The reader is a busy manager who reads only the first two lines."
- "Make it sound better."
- "Like a pharmacist explaining to a customer at the counter: calm, no jargon."
Show the answer
Shows: "Here are two emails I wrote. Match this voice.", "The reader is a busy manager who reads only the first two lines.", "Like a pharmacist explaining to a customer at the counter: calm, no jargon."
Only tells: "Make it engaging.", "Write it professionally.", "Make it sound better."
TONE
Pin the tone to something real
Tone words are slippery, so anchor them. Three ways: a situation ("like a message to a colleague you get on with"), a contrast ("friendly, but not chatty; no exclamation marks"), or a sample of your own writing. Best of all, combine one anchor with one or two hard limits.
"Tone: a polite reminder to a neighbour you'll keep seeing for years. Firm about the noise, no sarcasm, no threats, 4 sentences."
Check yourself
Three examples that differ from each other usually teach the pattern better than twenty that are nearly identical.
Show the answer
True
What varied examples have in common is the pattern you want copied, so a few of them make it stand out. Twenty near-identical ones push the model to copy their shared details too, and they fill the window with repetition. Two to five good, different ones is the range to aim for.
When to use which
- You have something you like already? Paste it as an example. It beats any description.
- Explaining or teaching? Describe the reader: what they know, what they don't, what they care about.
- Writing to a person? Anchor the tone to a situation and add a hard limit or two.
- Always say what to copy from the examples and what to leave.
Check yourself
Omid has to announce a price rise to his gym's members. He has last year's announcement, which members took well. Which prompt is strongest?
- "Here's last year's announcement, which members took well: [pasted]. Write this year's in the same voice and length. Members are long-term and price-sensitive. New price and date: [details]."
- "Write the best possible price rise announcement. Be very persuasive."
- "Write a price rise announcement for my gym. Be honest but kind, clear but warm, short but complete, respectful to long-term members, and persuasive enough that nobody cancels their membership over it."
- "Write a price rise announcement that is positive and professional."
Show the answer
"Here's last year's announcement, which members took well: [pasted]. Write this year's in the same voice and length. Members are long-term and price-sensitive. New price and date: [details]."
Right. A proven example, a described audience and the facts. There is nothing left for an adjective to do.
Lesson recap
- Adjectives mean different things to different people; an example shows exactly what you mean.
- Few-shot prompting works because the model continues the pattern it sees. Use 2 to 5 varied examples and say what to copy.
- Replace "simple" with a described reader: what they know, don't know and care about.
- Anchor tone to a real situation, a contrast or your own sample, plus a hard limit.