Direct instructions & examples

A direct instruction without a worked example is often called zero-shot prompting. Adding one example is one-shot; adding several is few-shot. Examples are useful when tone, labels, or formatting are easier to demonstrate than explain.

• Start with a direct instruction for straightforward tasks.
• Use representative examples when you need consistent output patterns.
• Keep examples consistent with your rules and separate them from the new input.
• Avoid including private customer or student information in examples.

A practical structure

TASK: Turn a support note into an action item.
FORMAT EXAMPLE
Input: “Maya will check the invoice by Friday.”
Output: Owner: Maya | Action: Check invoice | Due: Friday

NEW INPUT: [note]
If an owner or date is missing, write “Not specified”.

Teaching example · Not a paid pack or a recorded model result.