Okay, so you’re like me, right? You’re using these awesome LLMs (GPT-4, Claude, you name it!) but sometimes they just… don’t quite get it for actual work tasks? Frustrating, I know!
Well, hold onto your hats, because one Redditor, MotionlessMatt, has been in the LLM trenches daily, think coding, writing, even product strategy, and they’ve cracked the code on what actually makes prompts sing! It’s super exciting stuff!
✨ The Golden Prompting Keys:
MotionlessMatt shared four game-changing methods they swear by, and I’m telling you, these are pure gold:
- 📌 Be the Character! (Role-based): Seriously, tell your LLM who to be. “Act as a seasoned travel blogger…” or “Act as a technical product manager…” and watch the tone and relevance totally transform. It’s magic!
- ✅ Show ‘Em How It’s Done (One/Multi-shot): Give it an example or two. This is awesome for getting the style and format just right, especially for writing or when you need it to categorize things. You’re basically giving it a mini-lesson!
- 💡 Think Out Loud! (Chain-of-Thought): Ask the LLM to explain its reasoning step-by-step. This supercharges its ability with math, logic, and following complex instructions. No more black box thinking!
- 🚀 The “Clarify First” Power-Up (My personal fave of theirs!): This one’s a game-changer, folks. Before it answers, ask the LLM to hit you with follow-up questions if anything’s unclear.
MotionlessMatt says this slashes hallucinations and vague answers. Genius!
⚙️ Why This Matters?
These aren’t just random tips; they’re battle-tested strategies MotionlessMatt uses every single day for real work like debugging code, summarizing dense research papers, and even shaping product strategy. We’re talking serious productivity boosts!
✍️ Dive Deeper!
This is just the tip of the iceberg, really. MotionlessMatt mentioned they wrote a full breakdown of how they apply these strategies across different types of work in more detail.
You absolutely have to read the full Reddit post for the complete scoop and a link to their even more detailed breakdown. It’s packed with value! Go check it out!
After months of using LLMs daily, here’s what actually works when prompting
byu/MotionlessMatt in