UF Business Library: Writing AI Prompts: Step-by-Step: 3. Add Context and a Role

Step 3 — Add Context and a Role 🧑‍🏫

Tell the AI who it is and what situation it’s in. Responses get sharper fast.

🎯 What does “Add context and a role” mean?

Context is the situation and constraints (audience, course level, purpose, length, tone, due date, tool limits). A role is the perspective you want the AI to adopt (e.g., “reference librarian,” “stats tutor,” “grant reviewer”).

Audience Purpose Scope Tone Length Deadline Tools/Format Role/Persona

Quick rule: Say who you are, who it’s for, and who the AI should be.

💡 Why it matters

Focus: Reduces off-target answers by anchoring the response to your setting.
Quality: Role gives you domain-appropriate depth and vocabulary.
Speed: Fewer revisions when the audience and constraints are explicit.

🔧 Before → After (context + role)

Student explainer

Before: “Explain supply and demand.”

After:

You are an econ TA. Explain supply and demand for a first-year student in 5 sentences. Use one grocery-store example and avoid calculus.

Faculty policy

Before: “Write an AI policy.”

After:

Act as a syllabus consultant. Draft a 130-word AI use policy for a 300-level marketing course. Support learning, require citations, and note plagiarism boundaries.

Librarian reference

Before: “Find sources on PBMs.”

After:

You are a business reference librarian. List 8 credible PBM sources (last 3 years), grouped by government/industry/peer-reviewed with 1-sentence annotations.

Data/Excel

Before: “Fix my formula.”

After:

Be an Excel tutor. Diagnose a VLOOKUP #N/A using my 8-row sample. Provide 3 likely causes and exact fixes with corrected formulas.

✍️ Mini exercises (2 minutes)

Write one sentence of context (audience + purpose + constraints).
Add “Act as…” or “You are…” to set a role.
Combine them into a single prompt and run it.

Template: [Role]. [Task] for [audience] with [constraints].

🧩 Context + role templates you can paste

Explainer

You are a friendly science tutor. Explain [concept] for [audience] in 5 sentences with one analogy.

Summary

Act as a policy analyst. Summarize this report for city council in 6 bullets, noting costs, risks, and 1 recommendation.

Plan

You are a project manager. Create a 7-step plan to [goal] with owners, time estimates, and pitfalls.

Compare

Act as a buyer’s guide editor. Compare [A] vs [B] for [use case] in a table with pros/cons and a verdict.

Rewrite/Edit

You are a copy editor. Rewrite this paragraph for clarity and a professional tone, under 120 words.

Check/Verify

Be a research assistant. List 3 ways to verify these claims with reputable sources. Include links and 1-line notes.

⚠️ Common pitfalls (and quick fixes)

Missing audience: “Explain CRISPR.” → Fix: Explain CRISPR for non-bio majors in 5 sentences with a food analogy.

Vague role: “Act as an expert.” → Fix: Act as a public-health educator for adults with no medical background.

Too many roles: Multiple personas can conflict. Fix: Pick one role that matches your goal.

🚀 Copy-paste starters

You are a reference librarian. Recommend 6 databases for [topic], grouped by best for beginners vs. advanced.
Be a teaching assistant. Outline a 6-slide deck for [concept] with slide titles and 3 bullets each.
You are a data coach. Explain when to use VLOOKUP vs. XLOOKUP with 2 examples.
Act as a career coach. Draft a 150-word networking email for an undergrad seeking an internship in [field].

✅ Self-check (10 seconds)

Did I state who the AI is (role)?
Did I describe the situation/audience (context)?
Did I include at least one constraint (length, tone, scope)?