Guide

Prompt Engineering Foundations

A reusable way to get better answers from any major assistant.

The RTCFCE framework

Role — who should the AI act as?
Task — what exact job should it do?
Context — audience, constraints, background.
Format — bullets, table, email, slides outline.
Constraints — length, tone, what to avoid.
Examples — one short sample of the style you want.

Before / after

Weak: “Write about climate change.”

Stronger: “Act as a secondary-school science teacher. Explain climate change causes for 14-year-olds in Pakistan in 8 short bullets, then give 3 local everyday examples, and end with 3 quiz questions. Avoid jargon.”

Iterate

Ask for a critique of the first draft, then a revised version.
Say what to keep and what to change.
Request: “Ask me up to 5 clarifying questions before you answer.”

Reduce hallucinations

Tell it to label assumptions.
Ask for sources you can open, then open them yourself.
For study notes, prefer NotebookLM on your own uploaded files.
Never invent citations — require “I don’t know” when evidence is missing.