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Question 5 of 55

Why are vague instructions considered the most common prompting anti-pattern, and how would you rewrite one?

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Vague instructions leave important choices to the model. Different runs may solve different versions of the task. A request to summarize a document does not define the audience, length, focus, or output format.

A clearer version states the audience first. Ask for a summary written for a busy product manager. Then request three short bullets about the decision, evidence, and next action. Tell the model to use only the document.

Good prompts make success observable without overloading the model with unnecessary rules. State who will use the result, what information matters, what to omit, and how the output will be consumed. If a rule cannot be checked or explained, consider removing it.

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