# Getting the answer you wanted
> **What you will learn**
> "I tried it and it was mediocre" almost always comes down to how you asked.
> Five techniques, each with a bad example and a good one.
## Why results vary
AI **only knows what you told it.** It does not know your company's situation,
your manager's taste, or what happened to you yesterday.
So when you ask briefly, you get **an answer that applies to anyone.** That is
why it feels mediocre. It is not wrong — it is **not fitted to you.**
All five techniques are **ways to increase how much you tell it.**
---
## Technique 1 — Be specific
### Bad
```
Write a report
```
Nothing about what report, who it goes to, or how long. You get "a generic
report format."
### Good
```
Write a weekly sales report.
It goes to my team lead and should be about one page.
Order: this week's numbers, anything unusual, next week's plan.
```
### What changes
| | Asked briefly | Asked specifically |
|---|---|---|
| Format | AI picks arbitrarily | what you specified |
| Length | all over the place | one page |
| Tone | neutral | reporting-upward |
---
## Technique 2 — Give it the situation
This one has the largest effect.
### Bad
```
Plan some staff training
```
### Good
```
Plan some staff training.
Our situation:
- 12 staff, manufacturing, average age 45
- Training budget is about $2,000 a year
- Most of them find computers difficult
- We tried online training last year and 20% completed it
```
### What changes
Because you mentioned last year's failure, it **does not propose online training
again.** It suggests in-person or hands-on formats instead.
> **Tip**
> Saying "this didn't work" and "we already tried this" is especially effective.
> You are pre-deleting the directions that will not work.
---
## Technique 3 — Give one example
The fastest way to get something you cannot easily describe in words.
### Bad
```
Write a product description in our company's style
```
AI does not know what "our company's style" is.
### Good
```
Below is a product description we wrote before.
Match this tone and length for the new product.
[the old one]
It's sturdy. Still fine after three years.
No complicated features. Only what you need.
[new product info]
(new product info)
```
### What changes
One example is more precise than ten lines of description. **Tone, length, and
sentence structure** all transfer at once.
---
## Technique 4 — Specify the format
### Bad
```
Compare three competitors
```
You get long prose. Hard to read.
### Good
```
Compare three competitors.
Make it a table with columns: Company / Price range / Strength / Weakness.
Keep each cell to one line.
```
### Common format instructions
| Say this | You get |
|---|---|
| "Put it in a table" | a table |
| "As a numbered list" | 1, 2, 3… |
| "One line per item" | short |
| "So a ten-year-old would get it" | plain words |
| "Summarise in 3 lines" | 3 lines |
---
## Technique 5 — If you do not like it, say so
We covered this in the [previous chapter](/guide/ai-first-try), but it is the
most important one, so here it is again.
**Do not try to get it right in one shot.** Three exchanges is faster.
```
You: Make me a competitor comparison table (+ info)
AI: (makes the table)
You: Drop price range, add primary customer segment instead
AI: (revised table)
You: Add our company as the last row
AI: (done)
```
## All five at once
Combining them gives you a request like this. It looks long; it takes **two
minutes to write.**
```
Write a press release for a product launch. ← specific
We're a 20-person company making small appliances, ← situation
and this product is a mini washing machine for
single-person households. Its biggest advantage over
competing products is how quiet it is.
Below is the press release we issued last year. ← example
Match that tone.
(last year's release)
One page, three paragraphs. ← format
```
## What you do not need to do
There is a lot of "how to write good prompts" material online. **You do not need
any of it at first.**
- Starting with "You are an expert" → makes little difference on modern models
- Special commands or symbols → not needed
- Writing in English → your own language is fine
**Give the situation, state the format, and correct it when you do not like it.**
Those three matter more than everything else combined.
> A more systematic treatment comes later in
> [intent and context](/guide/ai-intent-context). For now this is enough.
---
## Check yourself
**1. What is the most common cause of "I tried it and it was mediocre"?**
Answer
**Not giving it the situation.** AI only knows what you told it, so a brief
question produces a generic answer that applies to anyone. It is not wrong — it
is not fitted to you.
**2. What changes when you say "we tried online training last year and 20%
completed it"?**
Answer
**It pre-deletes a direction that will not work.** It stops proposing online
training and looks for another format. That is why saying "we already tried
this" and "this doesn't work" is so effective.
**3. What is the fastest way to get a tone or format you cannot describe?**
Answer
**Give one example.** Paste something you wrote before and say "match this
tone," and tone, length, and sentence structure all transfer at once. More
precise than ten lines of explanation.
---
Now layer the techniques on one at a time and compare for yourself. Twenty minutes →
[Ask for the same thing three times](/guide/ai-try-compare)