Tips for prompts

Write effective prompts to guide AI follow-ups and tone.

Practical prompt-writing strategies: be specific about tone, structure, and length. Provide examples and set clear boundaries for the AI interviewer.

aipromptswriting5-20 minutesIntermediateResearchersPrompt engineers

Steps

  1. Be explicit about tone and depth
    State desired tone (friendly, professional, academic), follow-up depth (1-2 follow-ups vs. deep probing), and response format.
  2. Give examples
    Provide positive and negative examples of the kind of follow-up questions you want the AI to ask.
  3. Set boundaries
    Tell the AI what topics to avoid, when to stop probing, and how to handle off-topic responses.
  4. Iterate
    Test prompts on sample responses using preview or synthetic testing. Refine until the AI behaves as you want.

Be explicit about desired tone, follow-up depth, and examples of acceptable responses. Short examples help the model mirror format and style.

Avoid ambiguous instructions; prefer concrete tasks like "Ask one clarifying question, then ask for a specific example."

QuestionPunk gives you full prompt transparency. You can see, edit, and append the underlying system prompt that drives the AI interviewer.

QuestionPunk