Prompting at Work tutorial

Write prompts that get a usable answer in one or two tries, check the answer before it goes out, and keep confidential data out of the chat. No coding needed.

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Course contents

Foundations

  1. Introduction to AI Chat — Start using AI chat tools at work: send a message, read the answer, fix it with a follow-up and see what a new chat forgets. Then rewrite Priya's one-line holiday notice so the AI stops guessing.
  2. AI Strengths and Limits — Learn what AI chat tools do well and where they go wrong. Watch the AI invent a policy and get a sum wrong, sort 12 tasks, and learn how to stop it making things up.
  3. The CRAFT Method — Learn CRAFT, a five-part checklist for a good prompt: Context, Role, Ask, Format and Tone. Add each part to Priya's reminder, tag the parts of a strong prompt and spot what is missing.
  4. Giving Context — Give the AI the background it needs: who, what, when, where and why. Name the reader, mark off pasted text, and let the AI interview you so nothing is guessed.
  5. Output Formatting — Control the shape of the AI's answer: set the length with a number, ask for lists, tables or sentences, show an example of the style you want, and say what to leave out.
  6. Follow-Up Prompts — Fix an answer that is 80% right without starting again. Use specific follow-ups, say what to keep and what to change, ask for options, and save your first templates to your prompt library.

Going Further

  1. Complex Tasks — Handle big jobs in small steps: outline first, then one section at a time; messy notes into an action table with TBD for gaps; one step per message; and role-play to practise hard conversations.
  2. Prompt Templates — Turn prompts that worked into reusable templates with [placeholders], fill them in safely, and write standing instructions so every chat already knows your role, your readers and your style.
  3. Fact-Checking AI Output — Catch AI mistakes before they go out: compare answers with the source line by line, make the AI show where facts came from, check sums and dates yourself, and ask it to mark guesses with [CHECK].
  4. Data Safety — Keep confidential data out of AI chats. Sort information into green, amber and red, anonymise customer and employee details, describe data instead of pasting it, and let the AI leave placeholders.

Daily Use

  1. Role Playbooks — Use 24 ready prompts for Admin, Coordination, Sales, Marketing, Accounts & Finance and HR. Each is a CRAFT template with the rules that role must follow. Run one per role on Kestrel data and save the ones you need.
  2. Prompt Builder — Build strong prompts with a CRAFT form, score any prompt on seven checks with the Prompt Checker, add a "don't guess" line, and ask the AI to improve your prompts.
  3. Final Assessment — Show what you have learned: a 10-question quiz and four final tasks (write it, check it, keep it safe, and one from your own role). Pass to unlock your completion card and download your prompt library as a Word file.