💡 Give Examples — Teach AI by Showing Patterns

What Is It?

Giving Examples (also called few-shot prompting) means showing the AI what you want by providing sample inputs and outputs. Instead of describing the pattern, you demonstrate it.

Think of it like training a new colleague. You could explain the process in detail… or you could say “Here are 3 examples of how I categorised similar tickets. Now do the same with these.” Most people learn faster from examples.

💡 When words fail, examples succeed. If you’ve tried describing what you want and the AI keeps getting it wrong, give it 2-3 examples of the correct output. This often solves the problem instantly.

When to Use It

• ✅ When you need a specific format that’s hard to describe in words
• ✅ When you want consistent categorisation or classification
• ✅ When the AI keeps getting the style or tone wrong
• ✅ When you need the output to match an existing pattern

Before & After

❌ Before (No Examples)

Categorize these support tickets

✅ After (With Examples)

Categorize each support ticket into one of these categories: Billing, Technical, Access, Feature Request.

Here are examples:

• “I can’t log in to my account” → Access
• “I was charged twice this month” → Billing
• “The dashboard keeps crashing on mobile” → Technical

Now categorize these tickets:

1. “Can you add dark mode?”
2. “My password reset email never arrived”
3. “The export to CSV is generating empty files”

What’s better: The AI now understands exactly how to format the output and what each category means in practice — not just in theory.

Platform Tips

Microsoft 365 Copilot

• In Excel, examples work great: “Flag column B like this: if amount > $1000 → ‘High’, if $500-$1000 → ‘Medium’, else ‘Low’”
• In Word, show a sample paragraph then say “Write 5 more in this style”
• M365 Copilot can reference existing files as examples: “Format it like the Q1 report”

ChatGPT

• Paste examples in code blocks for clean formatting
• ChatGPT carries examples across the conversation — set the pattern once, then give new inputs

Claude

• Use XML tags: <examples> <example>input → output</example> </examples>
• Claude excels at learning complex patterns from just 2-3 examples

Gemini

• Number your examples clearly: “Example 1:”, “Example 2:”
• Gemini works best when examples are concise and consistent in format

Real Examples from the Prompt Library

1. Customer Service — Shows example tone for consistent responses
2. Writing — Uses style examples to match voice
3. Data Analysis — Example categorisations for consistent labels

Related Techniques

• 🎯 Give Clear Instructions — Instructions set the task; examples show the pattern
• 📐 Define the Format — Examples are the most powerful way to define format
• 🧠 Think Step by Step — Show reasoning examples for complex tasks