Good prompts aren’t just instructions—they’re specifications of intent, pedagogy, and the emotional contract.
I’ve been thinking about what separates mediocre AI interactions from transformative ones. It comes down to how we prompt.
“Intent” isn’t just what you want… it’s why and how.
“Pedagogy” is teaching the AI your approach.
“Emotional contract” defines the relationship.
Let’s break it down:
❌ “Write a product update”
✅ “Write a product update that reassures customers about our pivot while building excitement for what’s next.”
❌ “Analyze this data”
✅ “Analyze this data looking for outliers first, then patterns. Show me what contradicts our assumptions, not just what confirms them.”
❌ “Give me feedback”
✅ “Challenge my thinking here—I need a skeptical business partner, not a yes-person.”
The leaders who’ll thrive with AI won’t just issue commands—they’ll collaborate with it.
So… how are you prompting for partnership these days? Read more on my site or any of the site you can find my work
🌐 Official Site: walterreid.com – Walter Reid’s full archive and portfolio
📰 Substack: designedtobeunderstood.substack.com – long-form essays on AI and trust
🪶 Medium: @walterareid – cross-posted reflections and experiments
💬 Reddit Communities:
r/UnderstoodAI – Philosophical & practical AI alignment
r/AIPlaybook – Tactical frameworks & prompt design tools
r/BeUnderstood – AI guidance & human-AI communication
r/AdvancedLLM – CrewAI, LangChain, and agentic workflows
r/PromptPlaybook – Advanced prompting & context control
