The Basics of Prompt Engineering
In this course, we'll take you through the basics of prompt engineering - looking at some high level concepts for prompting LLMs, the difference between traditional and reasoning models, and best practices for prompting both to ensure consistant results.
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45 mins
9 Videos

Nick Badot
Nick Badot is a QA Engineer, Technical Project Manager, & Technical writer from Ireland. He has worked for global tech companies in Dublin (Amazon, Oracle) and was a QA lead for the launch of Amazon Alexa in the French language.
01Remote
You can take the course from anywhere in the world, as long as you have a computer and an internet connection.
02Self-Paced
Learn at your own pace, whenever it's convenient for you. With no rigid schedule to worry about, you can take the course on your own terms.
03Community
Join a vibrant community of other students who are also learning with The Basics of Prompt Engineering. Ask questions, get feedback and collaborate with others to take your skills to the next level.
04Structured
Learn in a cohesive fashion that's easy to follow. With a clear progression from basic principles to advanced techniques, you'll grow stronger and more skilled with each module.
Get Consistent Results from LLMs
Understand how LLMs interpret inputs by learning tokenization, context windows, and output limits to write more predictable, cost-efficient prompts.
Craft well-structured prompts using a clear framework of task, detail, tone, format, and context to reduce ambiguity and improve output quality.
Select the right model for the job by distinguishing when to use traditional vs. reasoning models based on task complexity and performance tradeoffs.
Improve output consistency and reduce hallucinations by applying structured formatting, clear language, and example-driven prompting techniques.
Watch real-world prompt demos through side-by-side examples that show how different models process the same task and why prompt design matters.
Build AI-native communication skills that are becoming essential across product, engineering, content, and research roles in the AI-driven workplace.
In this course, we teach you how to write effective prompts for Large Language Models (LLMs)—and why prompt engineering is quickly becoming one of the most valuable skills in the AI age. LLMs are powerful tools for reasoning, summarizing, generating, and coding, but their outputs are only as good as the prompts they’re given. Most people waste hours tweaking inputs without understanding why the model behaves the way it does. This course fixes that.
In just under two hours, we cover the foundational mechanics of how LLMs interpret prompts, the anatomy of a well-structured prompt, and how to adapt your approach depending on whether you're using traditional or reasoning models. You'll see real examples where we walk through prompts live, showing both what works and what breaks—and how to fix it.
It’s short, high-signal, and comes with copy-paste prompt templates, annotated examples, and real-world use cases you can apply immediately in your own projects—whether you're writing summaries, generating structured data, or integrating LLMs into your product stack.
It’s taught by Nick, a senior QA engineer and technical project manager who worked on Alexa at Amazon and has spent years translating abstract AI concepts into production-ready workflows. He’s taught thousands of students and consulted with teams deploying LLMs into everything from APIs to internal tools.
You don’t need to know code. You don’t need to understand math. You just need to understand the logic behind the prompt—and that’s what this course is built to teach you.
Whether you’re a developer, product manager, content strategist, or educator, prompt engineering is a core literacy for the new wave of AI tools. And this is the clearest, fastest way to get started.
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Course Syllabus and Content
The Basics of Prompt Engineering
9 Lessons 45 Minutes
In this course, we'll take you through the basics of prompt engineering - looking at some high level concepts for prompting LLMs, the difference between traditional and reasoning models, and best practices for prompting both to ensure consistant results..
- Sneak Peek00:03:20
- Sneak Peek00:01:20
- Sneak Peek00:04:38
- Sneak Peek00:02:49
- Sneak Peek00:02:10
- Sneak Peek00:11:28
- Sneak Peek00:11:31
- Sneak Peek00:04:39
- Sneak Peek00:03:50
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Basics of Prompt Engineering?
In this course we’ll cover the essentials for prompting traditional and reasoning models. We’ll build some prompts from scratch following our best practices. This course is useful to you if you don't know much about using LLMs or want to bring best practices forwards into our other trainings..
Who is this course for?
This course was produced for beginners in AI who want a simple place to start.
What are there prerequisites for this course?
None! All you need is a browser.
How long will it take to complete the course?
The course offers flexibility, allowing you to learn at your own pace. Start, stop, re-watch anytime. It’s expected that you’d spend approximately one hour going through the entire course materials.
Can I access the course on my mobile device?.
Yes, the course is fully responsive and can be accessed on your mobile device.
Is there a certificate upon completion of the course?
Yes, you can get a certificate by sending us a message.
Can I ask questions during the course?
Yes, you can ask questions in the comments section of each lesson, and our team will respond as quickly as possible. You can also ask us questions anytime through the community driven Discord channel.
Can I download the course videos?
No, the course videos cannot be downloaded, but they can be accessed online at any time.
What is the price of the course?
The course is currently only available to members who have a newline Pro subscription.