Phase 1: The Core Prompting Toolkit · 45 min · ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini (any)

Project 1: Prompt Makeover Portfolio

Five real before/after makeovers. This is the first artifact in your prompt portfolio — the thing you can show anyone to prove you know what you're doing.

Hiring signal: What changes when you use this: you have a tangible portfolio of before/after prompt work that proves AI fluency — not a certificate that says you watched videos.

What you will learn

Apply all core toolkit techniques to real prompts from your own work
Document before/after improvements with specific, observable differences
Build the first artifact for your prompt portfolio
Explain what changed and why the new version works better

What You're Building

A portfolio of 5 real prompts you've used that produced mediocre output, rewritten using the techniques from Phases 0 and 1, with documented before/after comparisons.

This is not an exercise. These are real prompts from your real work, producing real improvement. By the end, you'll have a document you could show in a job interview, a client pitch, or a team presentation.

The Process

For each of the 5 prompts:

Step 1: Find the original prompt

Look through your recent AI chats. Find prompts where the output was disappointing — too generic, wrong format, missed the point, needed heavy editing. These are your candidates.

Step 2: Diagnose what was wrong

Use the six-part anatomy (role, context, task, format, examples, constraints) and the 7-point specificity checklist (what, who, tone, length, include, avoid, context). Which parts were missing? What was vague?

Step 3: Rewrite the prompt

Apply the techniques from this phase:

Add specificity (what, who, tone, length, include, avoid)
Add context (the situation the AI needs to know)
Add a role/persona if it helps
Add few-shot examples if the task is repetitive
Add a format instruction
Use positive instructions instead of "don't" lists

Step 4: Run both prompts

Run the original and the rewritten version in the same AI tool. Save both outputs.

Step 5: Document the before/after

For each prompt, create a section with:

Original prompt (what you typed)
Original output (what the AI gave you)
Diagnosis (what was missing — using the anatomy and checklist)
Rewritten prompt (the new version)
New output (what the AI gave you)
What changed (2-3 sentences on the specific differences — not just "it's better")

Unlock the full lesson

You've read the first 2 sections. The rest of this lesson covers Portfolio Format, Makeover 1: [Task name], Makeover 2: [Task name], Choosing Your 5 Prompts, What Good Looks Like, Why This Matters, Your Practice Rep (Project) — plus a hands-on lab, quiz, and project artifact.

Create a free account to unlock Phase 0 and Phase 1 of every course — no credit card.