Advanced Prompt Patterns for Power Users

Ready to go beyond the basics? These advanced patterns will dramatically improve your AI output quality.

1. Chain-of-Thought Prompting

Force the AI to think step by step before answering.

"Before answering, work through this step by step:
1. First, identify the core problem
2. Then, list 3 possible approaches
3. Evaluate pros/cons of each
4. Finally, recommend the best approach with reasoning"

When to use: Complex decisions, architecture planning, debugging

2. Few-Shot Learning

Provide examples of what you want to teach the AI your preferred style.

"Write tweet-style product updates. Here are examples of the style I want:

Example 1: '🚢 Shipped: Dark mode is live! Our #1 requested feature. Toggle it in Settings → Appearance.'

Example 2: '📊 Milestone: 1,000 users! Started with 0 two months ago. Here's what worked → [thread]'

Now write 5 more in this style for these updates: [your updates]"

3. Persona Stacking

Combine multiple expertise areas for richer output.

"You are simultaneously:
- A senior React developer with 10 years of experience
- A UX designer who has worked at top startups
- A performance optimization expert

Review this component from ALL three perspectives."

4. Constraint Prompting

Add specific constraints to focus the output.

"Design a pricing page with these constraints:
- Must work for a solo founder (no sales team)
- Price points must be in multiples of $9
- Must include a free tier
- Annual billing discount must be exactly 20%
- No more than 3 tiers"

5. Iterative Refinement

Build complex outputs through multiple rounds.

Round 1: Generate the skeleton

"Outline a blog post about [topic] with just H2 headings and one-sentence summaries"

Round 2: Expand sections

"Now expand section 3 with specific examples, data points, and actionable advice"

Round 3: Polish

"Review the full post for: flow, clarity, and SEO optimization. Suggest specific edits."

6. Output Validation

Ask the AI to check its own work.

"After generating the response:
1. Rate your confidence (1-10) for each section
2. Flag anything you're unsure about
3. Suggest what additional information would improve the answer"

7. Template + Variables Pattern

Create reusable prompt templates with clear variables.

TEMPLATE: Weekly Status Update
VARIABLES:
- {wins}: list of achievements
- {blockers}: current obstacles
- {next_week}: planned work
- {audience}: who will read this

"Write a weekly status update for {audience}. Wins: {wins}. Blockers: {blockers}. Next week: {next_week}. Keep it under 200 words, professional but warm."

Putting It All Together

The most powerful prompts combine multiple patterns. For example:

Chain-of-thought + Persona stacking + Constraint prompting: "As a senior fullstack developer AND a product manager, think step by step about how to implement [feature]. Constraints: must ship in 1 week, no new dependencies, must work offline."

Practice Exercise

Take any prompt from the IndiePrompts library and enhance it using at least 2 patterns from this guide. Compare the before/after results.