Here is a prompting habit that consistently produces better AI output and almost nobody uses: instead of describing your task in one big paragraph and hoping the AI has enough to work with, tell it to interview you first. You ask it to question you until it understands the job, then produce the result. It is a small change to how you start, and it fixes the single most common cause of weak, generic AI output.

Why this works

Most disappointing AI results come from the same problem: you did not give it enough context, so it filled the gaps with generic assumptions. The usual advice is "write a more detailed prompt" — but the trouble is you do not always know which details matter. Making the AI ask you flips that around. It knows what it is missing, so it asks the right questions, and you answer them one at a time instead of trying to predict everything up front.

The result is an output built on your actual situation rather than a plausible average of everyone else's. It is the difference between a colleague who guesses what you meant and one who checks first.

How to do it

Add one instruction to the start of any non-trivial task: tell the AI not to answer yet, but to ask you questions until it has what it needs. Then answer them. Only then does it produce the work.

I need help with [the task — e.g. writing a project update for my manager]. Before you write anything, ask me the questions you need answered to do this really well — one at a time, or as a short numbered list. Cover things like the audience, the purpose, the tone, what must be included, and anything I might have left out. Wait for my answers. Only once you have enough, produce the [update]. If I have not given you something important, ask again rather than guessing.

Where it earns its keep

Anything with an audience. Reports, proposals, difficult emails — the questions surface who is reading it and what they need, which is usually what a first draft gets wrong.

Anything you are stuck on. If you cannot get started, answering a few pointed questions is easier than writing a brief from a blank page.

Anything you will reuse. The questions it asks are, in effect, a checklist for that task. Keep them, and next time you can write a tight brief in one go.

💡 This week's action

Take the next real task you would normally hand to AI in one paragraph, and start it with the prompt above instead. Answer its questions honestly. Compare the result with what you would usually get. For most people the difference is large enough that "interview me first" becomes a permanent part of how they prompt.

The habit to build

You do not need to be a "prompt engineer" to get good AI output — you need to get your context into the tool, and letting it ask is the easiest way to do that. Save the questions it asks you for a task you repeat, and over a few weeks you build a set of ready-made briefs without ever sitting down to write one. Less effort up front, better results, and a reusable checklist as a bonus.