3 Prompt Design: Structural Elements

 

This chapter covers

  • The fundamental building blocks of effective prompts, including instructions, context, inputs, output format, constraints, and delimiters.
  • The importance of well-crafted instructions in guiding language models, with examples of generating Shakespearean sonnets and recipes.
  • The role of context in providing background information for accurate and relevant responses, showcasing examples in news articles and science fiction dialogues.
  • The use of input placeholders and templating syntax for creating flexible and reusable prompt templates.
  • Specifying desired output formats using the Output Indicator Pattern, Template Pattern, and Output Style and Tone, with practical examples.
  • Applying constraints to limit a language models output, demonstrated through product descriptions and news summaries.
  • Combining structural elements effectively to create comprehensive prompts that guide language models towards generating high-quality content.

Welcome to Chapter 3 of our journey into the world of Prompt Engineering. In the previous chapters, we introduced the concept of Prompt Engineering and explored the technical aspects of transformers and Large Language Models (LLMs) from a Prompt Engineer's perspective. Now, it's time to delve into the fundamental building blocks of effective prompts: structural elements.

3.1 Instruction

3.1.1 Practical Example 1: Generating a Shakespearean Sonnet

3.1.2 Practical Example 2: Creating a Recipe

3.1.3 Hands-On Practice

3.2 Context

3.2.1 Practical Example 1: Generating a News Article

3.2.2 Practical Example 2: Generating Dialogue for a Science Fiction Novel

3.2.3 Hands-On Practice

3.3 Input Parameters

3.3.1 Practical Example 1: Sentiment Analysis

3.3.2 Practical Example 2: Personalized Product Recommendation

3.4 Output Format

3.4.1 Output Indicator Pattern

3.4.2 Practical Example 1: Generating a Product Review

3.4.3 Template Pattern (Aka. Fill-in-the-Blanks Pattern)

3.4.4 Practical Example 2: Generating a Recipe

3.4.5 Output Style and Tone

3.4.6 Practical Example 3: Generating a Speech in the Style of a Famous Person

3.4.7 Hands-On Practice

3.5 Constraints

3.5.1 Practical Example 1: Generating Product Descriptions

3.5.2 Hands-On Practice

3.6 Delimiters

3.6.1 The Delimiter Pattern

3.6.2 Practical Example 1: Generating Article Summaries

3.6.3 Practical Example 2: Answering Questions Based on a Document

3.6.4 Hands-On Practice

3.7 Combining Structural Elements

3.7.1 Practical Example 1: Generating Product Descriptions

3.7.2 Practical Example 2: Writing News Article Summaries

3.8 Summary