| Zero-shot prompting |
Direct model response without examples. |
Relies on pre-trained knowledge. |
Simple Q&A, general tasks. |
| Few-shot prompting |
Guides model with a few examples. |
Improves contextual understanding. |
Sentiment analysis, classification. |
| Chain-of-thought prompting |
Encourages step-by-step reasoning. |
Solves logical, multi-step problems. |
Math, logical reasoning, data interpretation. |
| Instruction-based prompting |
Focuses the model on specific tasks. |
Clear commands for optimized responses. |
Task-specific outputs, content generation. |
| Role-based prompting |
Assigns a role to guide response tone/content. |
Shapes the response style. |
Teaching, professional content. |
| Contextual prompting |
Builds context progressively. |
Supplies background information for nuanced responses. |
Long-form generation, detailed tasks. |
| Meta prompting |
Guides the model to design/refine prompts. |
Prompts about creating prompts. |
Automation of prompt creation. |
| Self-consistency prompting |
Selects the most consistent output. |
Majority voting for reliability. |
Tasks with definitive answers. |
| Generated knowledge prompting |
Generates intermediate context before answering. |
Encourages preparatory thinking. |
Step-by-step guides, context-heavy tasks. |
| Dynamic prompt optimization |
Adjusts prompts in real-time. |
Refines outputs during interactions. |
Adaptive workflows, iterative tasks. |
| Automatic prompt engineering |
Programmatically generates/refines prompts. |
Reduces manual effort at scale. |
Large-scale applications. |
| Multi-prompt fusion |
Combines multiple prompts for balance. |
Addresses competing priorities in outputs. |
Creative + factual tasks. |
| Prompt chaining |
Structures interdependent steps. |
Output of one prompt becomes input for another. |
Document analysis, process workflows. |
| Directional stimulus prompting |
Guides tone/behavior with subtle cues. |
Provides influence without explicit commands. |
Style-guided generation, targeted writing. |
| Graph prompting |
Structures relationships in graph format. |
Helps interpret dependencies and hierarchies. |
Network analysis, relational data. |