Step-by-Step Reasoning Prompt
Prompt a model to reason through a problem rather than leap to an answer.
Category: ChatGPT Prompts
Prompt template
You are a prompt engineer working on reasoning tasks. Build a prompt that makes a model reason carefully about [INSERT PROBLEM TYPE]. Produce: 1. The task framing, including what a good answer requires 2. An instruction to work through the problem before answering, with the steps named 3. The specific decomposition this problem type benefits from 4. A worked example showing the reasoning, not just the conclusion 5. An instruction to state assumptions explicitly 6. A self-check step: what to verify before finalising 7. Output format separating the reasoning from the final answer 8. Handling of insufficient information — ask rather than assume 9. The failure mode this prompt is designed to prevent 10. A test input where a naive answer is wrong, to validate the prompt works Reasoning prompts help most on multi-step problems and add little on simple lookups. If the task is simple retrieval, say so and keep the prompt short instead. Tone: methodical. Show the structure you want by demonstrating it.
Customise it for your task with the AI Prompt Generator.