Prompting tips
A small set of patterns that get you the response you actually wanted, in fewer back-and-forths.
The shape of a good prompt
- Context first. What's the topic, the grade level, the constraint?
- Format next. Bullet list? Paragraph? Table? Length?
- Tone last. Friendly, formal, terse, encouraging?
Skipping these forces Tori to guess and you to re-ask. Including them gives you a usable answer on the first try most of the time.
Examples by surface
- Educator — “100-point rubric for a 5-page persuasive essay, 4 criteria, 4 levels each, descriptors for each cell, formal tone.”
- Student — “I read this section three times and don't get why we use the chain rule. Explain it like I'm new to calculus, with one worked example.”
- Project — “Summarize what shipped this week from the task list. Bullet points, max 8 lines, group by area (frontend / backend / docs).”
- Grader — “Score this submission against the rubric. Be strict. If it doesn't mention X, deduct.”
How to iterate
If the first response isn't right, don't start over — refine. “Shorter, more specific, and drop the introduction.” works better than re-pasting the whole prompt.
Tip
Save prompts that work. The educator surface remembers your past Tori chats — copy a successful rubric prompt and reuse it as a template the next time.