Module 2 - The Art of Asking Questions

The Art of Asking Questions

Types of Questions

Open vs. Closed Questions

Open-ended questions are vague. Closed are specific.

4 types of followup questions-

  • Clarifying
  • Funneling (dig deeper)
  • Adjoining (expand the scope)
  • Elevating (look at the big picture)

    • Avoiding Bias in Questions

    Avoid the following questions-
  • Leading
  • Loaded
  • Assumptive

    • Thinking Frameworks for Better Prompts

    The Five Whys Technique

    Keep asking Why? until you get to the underlying cause.

    Divergent and Convergent Thinking

    Divergent thinking means generating ideas broadly without judgment.

    Convergent thinking means evaluating, filtering, and refining those ideas to find the best answer.

    Prompt Engineering Fundamentals

    Provide Sufficient Context

    The Context + Task + Constraints Pattern

    Use Role-Based Prompts

    Specify the Output Format

    Separate Data from Instructions

    Multi-modal prompts

    Context window strategies

    Prompt chaining & orchestration

    Reasoning modes

    Self-Critique Prompting

    Guardrails & safety

    Integration prompts

    Structural Prompt Frameworks

    COT+Critique: Chain-of-Thought with Self-Review

    Meta-Prompting: Asking the AI to Improve Your Prompt