From the course: AI-Powered Presentations: Crafting Compelling PowerPoints with ChatGPT and Copilot

Effective prompting for presentations

- If you want to be able to use AI effectively, the first thing you need to do is develop your prompt writing. In this video, I'll share some tips for crafting prompts that enhance the quality of AI's output, and we'll look at some examples too. The way I like to look at prompting is to imagine that the AI is a human intern at your company. It's smart, capable, but it needs thorough and precise instructions in order to do a good job. With that in mind, here are some key strategies to consider when formulating AI prompts. Begin by clearly stating what you want the AI to do. Ambiguous or vague prompts can lead to confusing or irrelevant responses. Context helps the AI understand the purpose and scope of the prompt. Include relevant background information, such as the audience, the length of the presentation, the desired outcome, and anything else you think might be relevant. Incorporating examples can help illustrate your expectations and provide the AI with concrete references to draw upon. Describe scenarios, situations, or sample responses that demonstrate the type of output you're looking for. If there are specific criteria or constraints that the AI should adhere to, outline them clearly in the prompt. This could include stylistic preferences, formatting requirements, or limitations on the scope of the response. By establishing guidelines upfront, you can ensure that the AI generates outputs that align with your expectations. For example, here is a prompt that is not well formulated: "Write a presentation on the economic impact of the Olympic Games." It doesn't provide the AI with enough information to understand the specific requirements or objectives of the presentation. A better version would be: "Write the title and body copy for a 10-slide presentation to the board of a large bank on the economic impact of the Olympic Games. The goal of the presentation is to provide an overview on what hosting the Olympics does for a city or country, in order to help the audience evaluate whether it is a worthwhile endeavor or not and decide what aspects should be further studied. For each point, include at least one relevant and interesting statistic and/or anecdote. For example, if you are talking about the long-term economic benefits of hosting the Olympics, you could include a statistic about the effects of tourism on a city 5 or 10 years later. There is no limit on word count. Also, tell me on which slides images would be relevant, and what kind of images. Make the style business-formal." Yes, this is a very long prompt, but you would do the same for your intern. Starting with a detailed and precise prompt will save you time and effort down the road. To find other examples of good prompts for crafting presentations, download the handout in your exercise files. Two other things to keep in mind when writing prompts. One, it's often a process of trial and error. Don't be afraid to experiment with different approaches and iterate on your prompts based on the AI's responses. If you write your prompts in the same chat or topic area, the AI tool will base its responses on the entire conversation, allowing it to provide more relevant responses based on the context established earlier. You can build upon previous questions, follow up on responses, and explore related topics, while minimizing the risk of misinterpretation or confusion. By following these guidelines, you can write AI prompts that effectively communicate your intentions and elicit high quality responses from AI tools. In the next video, we'll look at taking your prompting skills up a notch.

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