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Free Beginner 14 lessons · 3.5 hours

Prompt Engineering Basics

The single highest-leverage AI skill there is. Whether you're writing, coding, researching, or running a business, everything starts with asking well. This course teaches you the repeatable patterns behind prompts that work — and how to fix the ones that don't.

4modules
14lessons
3.5htotal
3projects
Syllabus

What you'll work through

Click a module to see its lessons. Every lesson ends with a short exercise you do in a real AI chat tool.

  • What a language model is doing when it answers you Build an accurate mental model: prediction, not magic.
  • Why vague prompts get vague answers Exercise: take one bad prompt and diagnose exactly why it failed.
  • Context is everything: what the model can and can't know Learn what to include so the model stops guessing.
  • Role, task, and format: the anatomy of a solid prompt Exercise: rewrite 5 weak prompts using the RTF structure.
  • Few-shot prompting: teaching by example Give 2–3 examples and watch output quality jump.
  • Constraints and negative instructions Exercise: constrain length, tone, and format in one prompt.
  • Chain-of-thought and step-by-step reasoning When to ask the model to "think" before answering.
  • The 6 most common prompt failures (and their fixes) A diagnostic checklist you'll reuse forever.
  • Change one variable at a time Exercise: run a controlled A/B test on two prompt versions.
  • Asking the model to critique your prompt Meta-prompting: let the model help you improve the ask.
  • Building your own prompt library Project 1: create a personal library of 10 prompts you actually use.
  • Project 2: A research assistant workflow Multi-step prompting: brief → sources → synthesis → summary.
  • Project 3: A writing and editing pipeline Draft, critique, and revise with structured prompts.
  • Where to go next: from prompts to agents How these skills plug directly into AI Agents 101.
Outcomes

What you'll be able to do

✓ Write clear, structured prompts that get reliable results on the first try
✓ Diagnose why a prompt failed and fix it systematically
✓ Use few-shot examples, constraints, and step-by-step reasoning patterns
✓ Build multi-step prompt workflows for research and writing
✓ Maintain a personal prompt library you actually reuse

Prerequisites

None. If you can use a chat app, you can take this course. A free account with any major AI chat tool is all you need.

Instructor

HelpLearnAI curriculum team — this course was designed by our in-house curriculum team around hands-on exercises, not lectures.

Coming with the platform: video lessons, interactive exercises, and progress tracking are part of the Phase 2 learning platform. The syllabus above is the real curriculum we're building to.

Ready to ask better questions?

Join the waitlist and we'll notify you the moment Prompt Engineering Basics opens for enrollment.

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