Prompt Engineering for Technical Writing 101
Chapter 2: The 5 Step Prompt Engineering Framework

Step 4 – Define The Content Formatting and Structure

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Outcomes

  • Apply content formatting and structure guidelines to enhance the organization, readability, and clarity of technical writing.

  • Develop detailed sections of a technical document by expanding on provided outlines using structured formatting techniques.

In This Lesson

  • Step 4 – Define The Content Formatting and Structure (Constraints)

Step 4 – Define The Content Formatting and Structure (Constraints)

Your continued prompts influence ChatGPT’s responses by providing additional information and direction. Add the desired criteria you want to include or not include in the responses. 

Your guidance through content formatting and structure adjusts your content’s organization, readability, and clarity. These guidelines can help you create the overall design and presentation of your writing, leading to increased effectiveness and readability.

The following examples continue the Power BI Learning outline we have used. Now that we have an outline let's add some content. First, we will provide additional insight into content formatting and structure guidelines to produce a more detailed overview of one of the sections.

Note: There are 18 tables and growing. ChatGPT Prompt Building Reference Guide I have put these together, with ChatGPT’s help, into a reference that I use as in creating my prompts.

Selecting from these techniques and strategies can enhance your content’s organization, readability, and visual appeal. Then, modify them to suit your situation and content.

The Content Formatting and Structure Guidelines are in Table 12; however, below is a selection we will use in the quick demo.

Content Formatting and Structure Guideline
Description
Use short sentences
Aim for a sentence length of 20 words or less to enhance readability.
Use concise paragraphs
Keep paragraphs focused and concise, covering a single idea or topic to maintain clarity.
Use bullet points and lists
Break down complex information using bullet points and lists for better comprehension.
Numbered lists for step-by-step instructions
When providing instructions or procedures, use numbered lists to guide readers through a sequence of steps.
Emphasize important information
Use bold or italic formatting sparingly to highlight key points without compromising readability.
Use transitional words and phrases
Incorporate transitional words like “however,” “moreover,” and “in addition” to improve the flow and coherence between sentences and paragraphs.
Include relevant examples and case studies
Illustrate concepts or ideas with real-world examples and case studies to make them more relatable and tangible for readers.
Consider the Inverted pyramid structure
Place the most important information at the beginning and then arranging the remaining details from the most relevant to the least important.

Content Formatting and Structure (Constraints)

Reference for Inverted Pyramid Structure; The Inverted Pyramid – Purdue OWL® – Purdue University

Let’s take Level 200, section 3, Creating Basic Visualizations and Reports, and expand on this with some brainstorming. These AI platforms, such as ChatGPT, are built as chats that are perfect for brainstorming topics.

We are going to expand on the section, Level 200, section 3, “Creating Basic Visualizations and Reports,” and work to create

Prompt:

From the Power BI Learning Outline you have provided, let's expand on Level 200, section 3, "Creating Basic Visualizations and Reports," and expand on this with some brainstorming.


Use the following formatting hints as we go through this content - Use short sentences, Use concise paragraphs, Use bullet points and lists, Numbered lists for step-by-step instructions, Emphasize important information, Use transitional words and phrases, Include relevant examples and case studies, Consider the inverted pyramid structure

Can you provide some topics and key points that the section should have?

Prompt Response:

I was a little surprised by the depth of the response. This content is more than I thought I would begin with. From this section, there are several items to work with; we will create;

  • Demo using How-TO content type “A detailed guide that shows learners how to perform a specific data analytics task step-by-step” (Table 2 in Reference)

  • A Case Study that we could leverage the Creating Writing Prompts – (See Table 13)

This is how I slowly flush out the content, making changes and adding topics and details until I have an outline I can take into my CMS. I also use Scrivener, Microsoft Word, and WordPress as my writing platforms. After the initial brainstorming, this becomes a rough draft.