Writing effective prompts

From the very beginning, Google Workspace was built to allow you to collaborate in real time with other people. Now, you can also collaborate with AI using Gemini for Google Workspace to help boost your productivity and creativity without sacrificing privacy or security. The embedded generative AI-powered features can help you write, organize, visualize, accelerate workflows, have richer meetings, and much more, all while using your favorite apps like Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Meet, and Google Slides.

This book provides you with the foundational skills to write effective, instructional prompts when using Gemini for Workspace so that you can be more productive and efficient in your day-to-day tasks. You can think of a prompt as a conversation starter with your AI-powered assistant. You might write several prompts as the conversation progresses. While the possibilities are virtually endless, there are consistent best practices that you can put to use today.

There are four main areas to consider when writing an effective prompt. You don’t need to use all four, but using a few will help!

• Persona
• Task
• Context
• Format

Here is an example of a prompt using all four areas that could work well in Gmail and Google Docs:

✏️ You are a Google Cloud program manager. Draft an executive summary email to [persona] based on [details about relevant program docs]. Limit to bullet points.

Here are quick tips to get you started with Gemini for Workspace:

1. Use natural language. Write as if you’re speaking to another person. Express complete thoughts in full sentences.

2. Be specific and iterate. Tell Gemini for Workspace what you need it to do (summarize, write, change the tone, create). Provide as much context as possible.

3. Be concise and avoid complexity. State your request in brief — but specific — language. Avoid jargon.

4. Make it a conversation. Fine-tune your prompts if the results don’t meet your expectations or if you believe there’s room for improvement. Use follow-up prompts and an iterative process of review and refinement to yield better results.

Prompting is an art. You will likely need to try a few different approaches for your prompt if you don’t get your desired outcome the first time. Based on what we have learned during our Workspace Labs program, the most successful prompts average around 21 words, yet prompts people often try without knowing this are short — usually less than nine words.

Generative AI and all of its possibilities are exciting, but it’s still new. Even though our models are getting better every day, our prompts can sometimes have unpredictable responses.

Before putting an output from Gemini for Workspace into action, review it to ensure clarity, relevance, and accuracy. And of course the most important thing to keep in mind: Generative AI is meant to help humans but the final output is yours.

The example prompts in this guide are meant for illustrative purposes.

Table of contents

• Writing effective prompts
• Introduction
• Customer service
• Executives and entrepreneurs
• Human resources
• Marketing
• Project management
• Sales
• Leveling up your prompt writing

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