How to Communicate with AI Lesson 8 of 20
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Part 2 - Building Skill

8. Show an Example (Few-Shot)

Goal: Steer style and structure by showing one example of what you want.

Sometimes it is hard to describe the output you want, but easy to show it. Giving the AI one or two examples of the pattern - called few-shot prompting - is often the fastest way to get a consistent style.

The AI copies the shape of your example: the format, the tone, the level of detail. This is powerful for repetitive tasks where every item should look the same.

The Script (Template)

Here is an example of what I want:
[your example]
Now do the same for: [new input].

Worked Example

You write
Turn product names into short taglines. Example:
Product: Bamboo Toothbrush -> Tagline: Brush clean, live green.
Now do the same for:
Product: Solar Phone Charger
AI replies (sample)
Product: Solar Phone Charger -> Tagline: Power up, plug out.
Why it works
The single example showed the exact format (Product -> short rhyming tagline), so the AI matched the pattern without a long description.

Do & Avoid

Tips

  • One clear example is often enough; two locks the pattern in.
  • Make your example match the quality you want - the AI copies its flaws too.

Common Mistakes

  • Giving an example that is inconsistent with your instructions.
  • Using a sloppy example and expecting polished output.

Practice

  • Create a 'input -> output' example and have the AI continue it for three new inputs.
  • Give the AI a sample of your own writing and ask it to match the style.
Teacher Notes Suggested: 20 min

Learning objectives

  • Students use one or two examples to control output shape.
  • Students see that example quality sets output quality.

Talking points

  • Run the tagline demo; then swap in a bad example and show the drop in quality.
  • Link to real uses: formatting citations, rewriting notes consistently.

Answer key / what good looks like

  • Continued items should match the example's format precisely.
  • Style-matching should echo the sample's tone.

Discussion questions

  • When is showing an example faster than describing what you want?