what sign up
nixm nixm

← learn

How to write AI prompts that work: eight rules and the before-and-after

October 14, 2026

A good prompt tells the AI what you want, who it is for, what you already have, and what good looks like. Most bad answers come from prompts that gave none of that. The eight rules: state the goal, give the context, paste the real material, name the audience, specify the shape, show an example, ask for the reasoning or the source, and iterate instead of starting over. "Prompt engineering" is mostly just being clear with a very literal colleague.

Why prompts matter

A language model continues from what you give it. Give it a vague sentence and it continues with a vague answer, because a vague answer is the most likely continuation of a vague question. Everything below is about giving it something specific to continue from.

1. State the goal, not the topic

Weak: "Tell me about email marketing."
Better: "I run a small bakery. Write me a short email announcing a new sourdough loaf, aimed at past customers, with one line about a weekend discount."

2. Give the context it cannot see

The model does not know your company, your reader, your deadline or what you tried already. Weak: "Fix this paragraph." Better: "This paragraph is from a cover letter for a junior data role. I want it to sound confident but not arrogant. Tighten it without adding claims."

3. Paste the real material

A summary of your notes is worse than your notes. The actual numbers, the actual email you are replying to, the actual draft. Weak: "Summarise my meeting." Better: paste the transcript and say "Summarise this in five bullets, decisions first, then open questions, then who owns what."

4. Name the audience and the tone

Weak: "Explain compound interest." Better: "Explain compound interest to a 14-year-old who has a part-time job, in under 150 words, with one example using their own savings."

5. Specify the shape

Length, format, language, what to leave out. Weak: "Give me ideas for the trip." Better: "Give me a three-day Lisbon plan as a table: day, morning, afternoon, evening. Walking only, no museums, budget meals."

6. Show an example of good

One example beats a paragraph of adjectives. "Here is a product description I like: [paste]. Write three more in the same voice for these products: [list]." Works for tone, format and level.

7. Ask for the reasoning, or the source

For anything factual: "Give the source for each claim and say if you are unsure." For anything judged: "Explain the trade-off before recommending." A model asked to show its reasoning is more often right, and you can see where it went wrong when it is not. The limitations page explains why checking is on you.

8. Iterate, do not restart

The first answer is a draft. "Shorter." "Less formal." "Keep the second paragraph, redo the rest." "You assumed X; actually Y." Each correction builds on what is there. Starting a fresh prompt throws away the context you built. In a tool that keeps decisions, like a nixm signal, this is how the work accumulates: say what is settled and move on.

A few more that help

  • Give it a role when the role changes the answer: "as a tax accountant", "as a sceptical editor".
  • Ask it to ask you. "Before you answer, ask me the three questions you need." Cheapest way to get context into the prompt.
  • Ask for options, then pick: "three different openings" beats one you have to accept or reject.
  • Tell it what not to do. "No bullet points, no exclamation marks, do not mention the price."

Prompts for images and video

Same rules, different nouns: lead with the subject, name one style, say the light, give the shape, leave out what you do not want. "A red fox in deep snow at dusk, 35 mm film look, wide" beats a paragraph of adjectives. In nixm, "animate it" after a still you like is the whole video prompt; the picture carries the rest.

The one rule under all eight

Write the prompt you would give a smart, literal new colleague who has never met you and cannot see your screen. Everything they would need, the model needs. One difference from the colleague: in most tools the prompt, and whatever you pasted into it, stays on a server. For the prompts that contain the contract, the diagnosis or the thing about your boss, use a tool that keeps none of it; nixm keeps no transcript and trains on nothing you type.

frequently asked

How do I write a good AI prompt?

State the goal, give context the AI cannot see, paste the real material, name the audience and tone, specify length and format, show an example of what good looks like, ask for sources or reasoning, and refine the answer instead of starting over.

What is prompt engineering?

The practice of writing inputs that get reliable, useful output from an AI model. For everyday use it is mostly being specific: goal, context, material, audience, shape.

Why does the AI give me generic answers?

Because the prompt was generic. A model continues from what it is given; a vague question gets the most likely vague answer. Add the goal, the context and the real material.

Should I give the AI a role or persona?

When the role changes the answer, yes: as an accountant, as a sceptical editor. When it does not, it is decoration.

How do I get the AI to be accurate?

Ask for the source of each claim and for it to say when it is unsure, ask for reasoning before conclusions, and check anything that matters yourself. Tools with web search help for current facts.

Do the same prompt rules work for images and video?

Yes, with different nouns: lead with the subject, name one style, state the light, give the shape, and say what to leave out. For video from a still, the picture carries most of the prompt.

try it now — no account, no transcript kept. even the signal dissolves in seven days.

seed a signal →

Enter your email and receive a link to sign in. No passwords, just a secure signal to connect.

why connect

  • 20 free credits to start
  • your signals, remembered
  • buy more credits anytime
  • image & video generation features
or
+