Vague question, vague answer. Five simple habits that make AI tools genuinely more useful for everyday business tasks.
People who say AI is useless have often asked it a one-line question and judged the one-line answer. Better inputs give better outputs. You don't need tricks; you need habits.
Say who you are, who the audience is and what the output is for. 'Write a follow-up email to a customer who hasn't replied to our quote' beats 'write an email'.
Specify format and length: three bullet points, a table, 150 words, plain English, UK spelling. Otherwise you get whatever the tool defaults to.
Paste a piece of your own writing and ask for the same tone. One good example does more than a paragraph of adjectives. Remove anything sensitive first.
Tell it what to avoid and what to do when it's unsure: 'If you don't know, say so rather than guessing.' That single line reduces made-up answers, which matters because models do make things up.
Treat the first answer as a draft. Say what's wrong and ask for a revision. Always check facts yourself; see why chatbots make things up for the reasons behind it.
We build tailored AI tools so your team doesn't need to be prompt experts.
Start a conversation →No. A simple structure of context, task, format and constraints works for most business uses. Adjust it to the job.
Not always. Clear and specific beats long. Include what's needed and cut the rest.
