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prompt context technique

Context is the difference between generic AI responses and perfectly tailored professional outputs.

If you really want to hone in the right places for the models to look, look at a prompt through the following layered contexts:

  • Level 1: BASIC CONTEXT - What, when, where, who
  • Level 2: AUDIENCE CONTEXT - Demographics, psychographics, pain points, motivations
  • Level 3: OPERATIONAL CONTEXT - Team dynamics, resource constraints, timeline pressures
  • Level 4: STRATEGIC CONTEXT - Business objectives, competitive landscape, market dynamics

Here is an example to build comprehensive context for complex business communication.

You need to write an email to your team about implementing a new project management tool

  1. Basic context (Level 1)

    2. Who: Your 8-person marketing team

    What: Announcing switch from Excel to Asana

    When: Implementation starts next monday

    Where: All project tracking and collaboration

  2. Audience context (Level 2)

    3. Team demographics: Ages 25-45, mix of experience levels

    Psychographics: Busy, resistant to change, values efficiency

    Pain points: Current system is disorganised, hard to track progress

    Motivations: Want clearer accountability, better collaboration

  3. Operational context (Level 3)

    4. Team dynamics: Generally collaborative but stressed with deadlines

    Resources: 2 hours allocated for training, IT support available

    Timeline: Must be fully operational within 2 weeks

  4. Strategic context (Level 4)

    5. Business objective: Improve team productivity by 25%

    Competition: Other departments watching our implementation

    Market dynamics: Company growing fast, need scalable systems

Now with that information you can go about crafting a contextual prompt that takes that all into account with the following example:

  • You are an experienced team leader communicating a significant process change.
  • BASIC CONTEXT: I need to announce that our 8-person marketing team is switching from Excel spreadsheets to Asana for all project management, starting Monday.
  • AUDIENCE CONTEXT: My team members are ages 25-45 with mixed experience levels. They're currently overwhelmed with deadlines and generally resistant to change, but they've been frustrated with our disorganized current system and want better collaboration and accountability.
  • OPERATIONAL CONTEXT: We have 2 hours of training scheduled, full IT support available, and must be completely transitioned within 2 weeks to hit our Q4 deadlines.
  • STRATEGIC CONTEXT: This change supports our goal to improve team productivity by 25%. Other departments are watching our implementation as a pilot for company-wide rollout, and with the company's rapid growth, we need scalable systems now. Write an email that gets the team excited about the change rather than resistant, addresses their likely concerns about learning curves, and positions this as an opportunity for professional growth and team success."

Good?

Given these prompts are more complex you may want to create re-usable context templates for your common scenarios. Here are some examples to add to your own portfolio:

Template 1: Customer communication

AUDIENCE CONTEXT: [Customer segment], [demographics], [pain points], [motivations]

BUSINESS CONTEXT: [relationship stage], [account value], [competitive situation]

OPERATIONAL CONTEXT: [support level available], [timeline constraints], [resource limits]

STRATEGIC CONTEXT: [business objectives], [desired outcomes], [success metrics]

Template 2: Internal team communication

TEAM CONTEXT: [team size], [experience levels], [current workload], [stress factors]

PROJECT CONTEXT: [project status], [deadlines], [dependencies], [risks]

ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT: [company priorities], [resource availability], [change tolerance]

STRATEGIC CONTEXT: [business goals], [success metrics], [stakeholder expectations]

Template 3: Executive communication

EXECUTIVE CONTEXT: [role level], [priorities], [time constraints], [decision authority]

BUSINESS CONTEXT: [financial implications], [strategic alignment], [competitive impact]

ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT: [other initiatives], [resource competition], [political dynamics]

OUTCOME CONTEXT: [decision needed], [timeline], [success criteria], [implementation path]

Usage example: Save these templates and adapt them for similar situations. This creates consistency while saving prompt-writing time.

Conclusion

You’ve just learnt how to use prompt context as a powerful prompt engineering tool.