Beacon 2 of 30▾
7% complete
🏠 Home 📋 Prerequisites
🚀 Intro
1Welcome aboard 2How to talk to AI 3Pick your companion
📝 Text & Communication
4Write it better 5Lost in translation? 6Tell your story 7Research like a pro 8Fact or fiction? 9Summarize the world
🎨 Image Creation
10Paint with words 11Make it yours 12Design without designer 13Edit like magic 14Style explorer
🎬 Video & Audio
15Your voice, amplified 16Music from nothing 17Caption it 18Moving pictures 19Your AI podcast
💻 Productivity
20Plan your week 21Tame the spreadsheet 22Never forget a meeting 23Your personal assistant 24Presentations, effortlessly
🤖 Advanced Tools
25Automate the boring stuff 26Build without code 27AI agents unleashed 28Your custom chatbot 29Connect the dots
🏁 Closing
30Who are you now?
🌊 Introduction
Beacon 02

How to Talk
to AI

"A question well asked is already half answered."

🎯 What you'll learn

By the end of this Beacon, you'll know how to write messages to an AI — and get answers that are actually useful.

💬 Just a conversation

It's just a conversation

Talking to an AI is like texting a very knowledgeable friend. You don't need special commands. You don't need to be technical. Just write what you need — in plain English.

And here's a nice surprise: AI isn't English-only. It understands dozens of languages — most likely yours too. If writing in English ever feels like a struggle, switch to your own language. The AI will follow.

When you type something to an AI, that message is called a prompt. The AI reads your prompt and writes back a response. That's it. Prompt → Response.

🔑 One simple rule

Be specific

The more specific your prompt, the better the answer.

Vague

Write something about cats.

↓
Better

Write a short, funny paragraph about why cats ignore their owners.

Vague

Help me with my email.

↓
Better

Help me write a polite email to cancel a dentist appointment.

Vague

Give me ideas.

↓
Better

Give me 5 ideas for a birthday gift for my 70-year-old mother who loves gardening.

🛠️ Three things that help

Every great prompt has these

1
Say who it's for
"Explain this to a complete beginner."
2
Say what format you want
"Give me a list." / "Write it as a short paragraph." / "Keep it under 100 words."
3
Add context
"I'm writing a message to my boss." / "This is for a birthday card."
🧪 Try it now

See the difference yourself

Open Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini — whichever you prefer.

Step 1 — Send this first:

Vague prompt
"Give me a recipe."

Read the answer. Then start a new chat and try this:

Step 2 — Send this instead:

Better prompt
"Give me a simple dinner recipe for two people. I have chicken, pasta, and garlic at home. It should take less than 30 minutes."
👀 What to notice

Same question, two different worlds

Look at the second answer. It uses your chicken, your pasta, your 30 minutes. The first answer could have been written for anyone — the second one was written for you.

The AI didn't get smarter between the two chats. You just gave it more to work with.

💡 Good to know

A few things worth knowing

  • You can always ask the AI to try again if you don't like the answer.
  • You can say "Make it shorter" or "Explain it differently" — it won't mind.
  • There's no limit on how many times you can ask.
  • The more context you give, the better the answer. AI doesn't read your mind — but it gets close when you help it.
✅ Beacon complete

You know what a prompt is.

And more importantly — you know how to write a good one.

Up next — Beacon 3: Pick your companion. You'll spend time with all three AI tools and start to feel which one clicks with you.

No rush. Come back whenever you're ready. 🙂

← Beacon 1 Beacon 3 →