Prompt Power Weekly: Top Tips from the LLM Frontier

Welcome to Prompt Power Weekly, your cozy corner where I gather the smartest prompt ideas from across the web—and from my own experimentation—and share them with you every week.

Think of this space as our shared lab: each week I dive into recent articles, newsletters, and hands‑on trials to bring you the most effective, creative prompt techniques. Together, we’ll explore what works best—whether it’s brainstorming bigger, role‑playing smarter, or shaping answers with precise steps. I try them out here first, so when I recommend a prompt, you can trust it’s been field-tested.

Grab your favourite drink, and let’s jump into this week’s top prompt picks—designed to sharpen your AI toolkit and boost your creative flow, week after week.

This week’s wisdom from AI experts delivers tangible strategies to sharpen your prompt‑crafting skills. Here's what’s trending—and how you can put it to work today:

1. Brainstorm Boldly & Iteratively

Wharton‑backed insights highlight how requesting multiple, varied ideas pushes AI beyond surface‑level thinking. Then, use iteration techniques like “Make these bolder” or “Combine your favorite two.”
Encourage role play (“Act as a travel agent”) to explore fresh perspectives. (community.openai.com, tomsguide.com, washingtonpost.com)

🔗 Sample Prompt:

You are a creative marketing consultant.
1. Provide 5 distinct campaign ideas for a plant-based snack targeting Gen Z.
2. Label each idea upfront with a one-word theme (e.g., “Bold,” “Playful”).
3. Then, combine your favorite two ideas into a hybrid concept.

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2. Adopt the “Manager Model” from Y Combinator

A recent Substack synthesis recommends hyper‑specific prompts—treat the AI like a new hire. Define role, task, constraints, and desired output. Then ask it to self‑improve (“meta‑prompt”). (axios.com)

🔗 Sample Prompt:

You are a product manager at an e‑commerce startup.
Your task: draft a launch timeline for a new sneaker line.
Constraints:
- 6 phases (ideation to review),
- budget and team size for each,
- include points to validate with user feedback.
After you draft it, review it and suggest improvements.

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3. Use Role + Chain‑of‑Thought + Few‑Shot

Tom’s Guide urges pairing a clear persona with step‑by‑step reasoning and illustrative examples. Add tone constraints and iterate to refine. (tomsguide.com)

🔗 Sample Prompt:

You are a veteran financial advisor.
Explain to a recent college grad:
- 3 steps to start investing,
- use chain‑of‑thought,
- mimic tone of: “As a 25‑year‑old, you might say…”
Example output:
1. Step…
2. Explanation…

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4. Precision + Context + Conversational Tone

MIT Sloan and others advise prompts that are clear, contextual, and broken into manageable steps. Skip fluff (“please”), and get straight to the point. (sendbird.com)

🔗 Sample Prompt:

Summarize the following 500‑word article in 3 bullet points.
Context: The audience is non‑tech readers interested in climate change.
Then, ask one follow‑up question to engage readers.

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📋 Quick‑Apply Framework

Step Technique Action 1 Define Role e.g. “You are a career coach for mid‑career professionals.” 2 Set Task & Scope “Provide 3 networking email templates.” 3 Add Constraints “Each under 50 words, friendly tone.” 4 Use Examples “Template: ‘Hi [Name], …’” 5 Encourage Reasoning “Explain why each version works.” 6 Iterate “Shorten version 2 by 20%.”

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🚀 Why These Styles Work

• Roles prime context and tone.

• Chain‑of‑Thought keeps reasoning transparent and structured.

• Few‑Shot Examples set style and expectations immediately.

• Constraints focus the output and avoid drift.

• Iteration lets you refine in real time.

• Meta‑prompting empowers AI to help itself—and you—get better.

✅ Final Takeaway

Prompting isn’t guesswork—it’s deliberate design. Assign roles, break down tasks, guide the AI’s process out loud, and refine iteratively. Write clearly, define constraints, provide examples, and treat the AI like a teammate.

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