Learn the best ways to create your own generative AI prompts

You may have heard the phrase “prompt engineering,” which in the last two years, has become the subject of Ivy League college courses, online webinars, and an actual job title. It’s a new field of study, but you don’t have to go back to school to become an expert in creating successful prompts. You can write prompts like you’re chatting with a colleague.

Whenever there’s a new technology, there can be a learning curve regarding how we should interact with it. In previous decades, you’d have to learn complex programming languages or workflows, but with generative AI, you should just talk to it in your own words.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to improve your AI results. If you’ve used Zoom AI Companion before, you may be familiar with some already, such as:

• Summarize the key points of this meeting.
• Write an email summarizing the remaining action items.
• What meetings do I have today?

These are simple, straightforward prompts that can quickly give you exactly what you’re asking for. But when you write more detailed prompts, you’ll find that your generated responses can be richer, fuller, and closer to what you wanted in the first place. And you don’t need to make it complicated to get those results.

As we break down what makes a good prompt, remember that there’s no need to limit the length of a prompt. AI Companion doesn’t get tired of long-winded requests like humans do. You’re not writing a request for a human, so don’t force yourself to write like you are.

Here are the four most important components of creating a successful AI Companion prompt:

1. Be specific and give context. Provide detailed context and the exact information you’re looking for. Include why you’re requesting it and what you want it to look like.
2. Use clear instructions for analysis. State how you want AI Companion to think about the information you’re prompting about. You might need a summary, extract specific points, or provide detailed insights.
3. Leverage background information. Include up-to-date background information about the subject to give the model the best opportunity to provide accurate information back to you.
4. Ask for a specific type of output. Based on the other information you provide, frame your prompt to give AI Companion a clear task to complete. 

Now that we have the main pillars of what makes a prompt successful, let’s look at the anatomy of a prompt. What do you need to deliver to improve your odds of being successful?

1. Tell AI Companion who it is. AI Companion is a skilled role-player. Tell it what kind of character you want it to be for this prompt. Maybe that’s an “expert HR specialist,” a “professional data analyst” or even a “Shakespeare enthusiast.”
2. Define what AI Companion needs to do. AI Companion needs instructions. Since you’re in charge, you need to clearly state the kind of work you want it to do, such as “Write an email,” “Analyze this data set,” or “Draft this sonnet.”
3. Show AI Companion where to look for information. You can directly upload files, include meeting summaries, or ask it to look up the complete works of a famous playwright.
4. Determine how AI Companion should deliver the result. By specifying how you want the results, you give clear parameters for what you’re expecting. This makes it easier to deliver something that you want, whether it’s a bulleted list, a data table, or a Shakespearean sonnet.

If, after following all of this advice, you still don’t have the perfect result, that doesn’t mean you need to start over. You can even ask AI Companion to refine your prompt or even provide examples of something closer to what you want. When you get your results, remember to check for accuracy. AI tools can make mistakes, and it’s important to fact-check your results as you would for anything you write.

For more tips with AI prompts, download our AI Companion prompt checklist. 

Here’s a real example from one of our own Zoomies, who often uses AI Companion directly in Zoom Docs. Read the prompt below, and notice how long it is:

You are an expert trainer who specializes in onboarding new employees. Leverage the job description and the meeting transcript to identify training gaps in order to create a new employee onboarding plan. The plan should be provided in a table covering 6 weeks with tasks, task owners, and due dates to address the training gaps and successfully onboard the employee to learn about [COMPANY NAME], the [COMPANY] products, and the minimum requirements for the employee to meet.

There are a few things to note about this example:

1. It’s written very clearly. It’s formatted as a list for our purposes, but you don’t have to enter it like that. It leaves little room for AI Companion to give any results other than what they are asking for. 
2. It offers external sources. Pointing to a meeting transcript ensures that AI Companion knows the context behind the request.
3. It’s a template. Saving a good prompt so you can quickly reuse it makes it simple to edit it for future requests.

This is just one example of how you can use the structure and anatomy of a good prompt to quickly and efficiently get your ideas across to AI Companion. You can even copy and paste it directly into the Zoom Workplace side-panel or Zoom Docs and try it out for yourself. Find more great ready-to-use prompt examples for your situation in our AI Companion persona use case library.

Actual AI Companion results and response speed may vary depending on prompt, product settings, and available data.

Prompt engineering and generative AI are still new, and more people are getting introduced to them every day. AI Companion 2.0 goes further than simple questions and simple answers, so let’s look at some of what you can do with AI Companion 2.0:

• Access current and past meeting summaries so you can reference key points, compile feedback, and query past conversations.
• Develop communications based on meeting content, such as product specifications, project briefs, or agendas for upcoming meetings.
• Stay updated on important conversations by summarizing chat channels and providing action items.
• Use the AI Companion side panel to analyze and develop content based on uploaded documents. For example, add a campaign brief document to develop campaign ideas and taglines.

Learn more about what you can do with AI Companion 2.0 in Zoom Workplace.

AI Companion is included at no extra cost for all eligible paid accounts.