More About Prompts
Ever feel like you’re whispering into a megaphone when talking to AI? You’re not alone - and the fix is simpler than you think.
Your voice in the machine
Think of an AI prompt as the first sentence of a conversation. It’s not a question tossed into the void - it’s the foundation the AI builds upon. Like handing someone a blueprint before they start building, your prompt sets the stage for everything that follows.
Why Markdown makes magic happen
Here’s the inside scoop: AI models are trained on oceans of text, and a huge chunk of that data? It’s written in Markdown. Why does that matter?
Because Markdown is the universal dialect of AI. Just like how musicians instantly recognize sheet music, AIs read Markdown with crystal clarity. Those asterisks, hashes, and dashes? They’re not just symbols - they’re signposts guiding the AI’s thinking.
No tech skills needed
The best part? Markdown is simple. Forget programming languages. This is plain text with superpowers:
*Stars*make emphasis pop##creates instant headings (like this one!)- Dashesturn into tidy lists- Backticks
`highlight code`like this
You could learn the basics in the time it takes to brew coffee. No special tools - just your keyboard.
Google Docs supports Markdown
If you want to make things really easy, you can enable “Markdown support” in the settings for Google Docs.
That makes it easy to cut and paste to and from documents.
Try this today
Next time you prompt an AI:
- Start with a clear ## Heading for your main request
- Use bullet points for specific asks
- Wrap example inputs in
`backticks`
It’s like switching from blurry glasses to 20/20 vision. Suddenly, the AI “gets” you - because you’re speaking its language.
Your prompt isn’t just important. It’s the spark that turns generic guesses into brilliant solutions. And with Markdown? You’ve already got the match.
