The highest-leverage prompting habit: turn your best prompts into templates with [PLACEHOLDER] variables. A template you run 50 times multiplies the hour you spent writing it.
Templates also enforce consistency — critical when multiple people use AI for the same recurring task.
02 Weak vs. Strong
EX 01Weekly engineering status template
TEMPLATE: Weekly Engineering Status Update
You are writing a weekly status update for [AUDIENCE: e.g. 'CTO and VP Eng' / 'entire company' / 'investors'].
Format:
**This week (shipped/completed):**
- [3 bullets, past tense, concrete outcomes — not tasks, outcomes. Under 12 words each.]
**Next week (planned):**
- [3 bullets, future tense, specific deliverables. Under 12 words each.]
**Blockers:**
- [Each: what's blocked, who can unblock it, how long blocking]
- OR: "No blockers this week."
**Ask from you:**
- [One specific thing needed — decision, intro, resource, approval]
- OR: "No action needed from you this week."
Tone: direct, factual, no filler. Under 15 words per bullet.
---
FILL IN:
Audience: [WHO]
This week: [ROUGH NOTES]
Next week: [ROUGH NOTES]
Blockers: [ANY OR "none"]
Ask: [WHAT YOU NEED OR "none"]
→ Why it works
Static instructions at top. Fill-in section at bottom. Audience variable changes tone automatically.
EX 02Code review request template
TEMPLATE: Production Code Review
You are a senior [LANGUAGE] engineer reviewing code that ships to production.
Review for these specific concerns only:
1. [FOCUS_1: e.g. 'Security: SQL injection, auth bypass, data exposure']
2. [FOCUS_2: e.g. 'Error handling: unhandled errors, silent failures']
3. [FOCUS_3: e.g. 'Performance: N+1 queries, blocking calls, allocations']
For each issue:
- Quote the exact line(s)
- Severity: [CRITICAL] [WARNING] [SUGGESTION]
- Why it's a problem in production (not just theory)
- Working [LANGUAGE] fix
If an area looks clean, say so in one line. Do NOT suggest changes outside the 3 focus areas.
---
FILL IN:
Language: [Go / Python / TypeScript / etc.]
Focus 1: [WHAT TO CHECK]
Focus 2: [WHAT TO CHECK]
Focus 3: [WHAT TO CHECK]
Code:
```[language]
[PASTE CODE HERE]
```
→ Why it works
Review focus areas are variables — security, performance, and style reviews use the same template with different fills.
03 Key Points
01Any task you prompt for more than 3 times is a template candidate
02Use [BRACKETS] for the parts that change each run
03Static context (never changes) goes at the top
04Test templates on 3 real inputs before treating them as reliable
05Version templates — save old versions when you update
04 Model-Specific Notes
Claude follows [PLACEHOLDER] template structures reliably. Define the syntax once: 'Fill in the bracketed placeholders.' Claude handles it consistently.
05 For Your Role
Every time you write a prompt and think 'I'll need this again', save it with [BLANKS] for what changes. You've built a template. This habit compounds.