Tell AI what NOT to do before asking what to do
You ask AI for 'a landing page hero section' and get generic startup copy. You spend 3x as long editing it than writing from scratch.
Voice, length, technical limits, brand rules — write them down first.
Lead your prompt with constraints, not the request.
'No metaphors.' 'No gradients.' 'No jargon.' Be direct.
Don't ask for a page — ask for a headline, then body, then CTA.
Use the output as a compass, not a finished draft.
AI is bad at guessing your taste; it's good at following rules. Constraint-first narrows the output space so edits become refinement, not reconstruction.
Building a compliance training module for a regulated industry. Your constraints: no metaphors (ambiguous in regulated settings), domain-specific terminology, risk-averse audience. State those first and the output shifts from generic corporate-speak to something aligned with your environment.