Giving context and instructions

Help the AI understand your situation and goals.

Context tells the AI who you are, who the audience is, and what you are trying to achieve. Without it, the AI guesses — and may guess wrong.

Include relevant background: "I am a project manager preparing a kickoff meeting for a 10-person team migrating to a new CRM."

Why context matters

Scenario: You ask AI to 'write an update' without saying who it is for.

The AI guesses — and may write for the wrong audience. Adding 'for my manager' or 'for customers' changes the tone, length, and level of detail dramatically.

With vs without context

Before

Explain GDPR.

After

Explain GDPR in plain English for a non-technical client preparing for a compliance call. Use three short paragraphs.

Try it yourself

Take a prompt you used recently. Add audience, goal, and format constraints. Compare the two outputs.

Knowledge check

Why is context important in prompts?

Choose the best answer, then check your understanding.