Playing with Promts

(And learning as you go)

I recently opened up my favourite LLM and asked it this question

What are some playful light hearted prompts users can give their LLM that will entertain and teach them about how to prompt

And here's what it gave me:

🎭 1. “Same task, different style” (teaches tone control)

Prompt: “Explain how a refrigerator works in 3 ways:

1. like a pirate

2. like a Shakespearean actor

3. like a bored teenager”

👉 Teaches: tone instructions, formatting, multi-output control

🧪 2. “Make it better” loop (teaches iteration)

Prompt: “Write a terrible motivational quote. Then improve it 5 times. Explain what changed each time.”

👉 Teaches: refinement, critique, progressive prompting

🧩 3. Constraint chaos (teaches precision)

Prompt: “Write a 100-word story about a dragon who hates flying. Rules:

• no letter ‘e’

• must include a recipe

• ends with a question”

👉 Teaches: constraints, rule clarity, ambiguity handling

🧠 4. Mind-reading test (teaches specificity)

Prompt: “I want advice. ”Then follow up: “Ask me 10 questions to figure out what kind of advice I actually need.”

👉 Teaches: information gathering, prompt clarification

🧑‍🏫 5. Teach me badly first (teaches contrast)

Prompt: “Teach me photosynthesis incorrectly on purpose. Then explain exactly what was wrong. Then teach it properly.”

👉 Teaches: error detection, explanation depth

🎮 6. Prompt reverse engineering (teaches structure)

Prompt: “Here is an output I like: [paste text].What prompt would likely produce this? Give 3 versions: basic, good, expert.”

👉 Teaches: prompt anatomy

🎨 7. Role stacking (teaches persona layering)

Prompt: “Explain compound interest as:

• a stand-up comedian

• a strict math professor

• a Zen monk

• Compare which explanation is most accurate.”

👉 Teaches: role framing vs accuracy

🔍 8. Hidden assumption hunt (teaches critical prompting)

Prompt: “Here’s my question: ‘How do I become successful quickly? ’List all hidden assumptions in that question.”

👉 Teaches: meta-thinking, question quality

🧱 9. Structured output training (teaches formatting)

Prompt: “Teach me how to bake bread. Give output as:

• checklist

• timeline

• common mistakes table”

👉 Teaches: output formatting control

🤹 10. Deliberate ambiguity experiment (teaches clarity)

Prompt: “Interpret this instruction in 3 totally different ways: ‘Make it stronger.’ Explain why each interpretation is reasonable.”

👉 Teaches: ambiguity awareness

🧬 11. Prompt mutation lab (my favourite)

Prompt: “Start with this prompt: ‘Explain gravity. ’Modify it step-by-step to make the answer more detailed, practical, visual, and expert-level. Show each version and why it’s better.”

👉 Teaches: prompt evolution

🪄 12. The lazy vs precise test

Prompt: “Answer this vague prompt: ‘Help me with writing. ’Then answer this precise version: ‘Help me write a 150-word LinkedIn post about burnout for HR leaders in Singapore using one metaphor and one statistic. ’Compare answer quality.”

👉 Teaches: why specificity matters

Try one, try them all - you'll be amazed at the insights you'll gather