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A story structure everyone knows
This lesson explains what a prompt framework is and introduces STAR, the four slot story shape used for interviews, case studies, incident reports and achievements, plus its shorter cousins CAR and PAR.
- A prompt is the request you type into an AI tool such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. A prompt framework is a reusable structure for that request, usually a short checklist of parts named with an acronym so it is easy to remember.
- Frameworks matter because the AI fills in whatever you leave out with generic guesses. Including who the answer is for, what you want to achieve and the format you need is what changes the output.
- Frameworks make prompts repeatable. You fill the same parts each time, save the prompt as a template and share it with colleagues instead of retyping from memory.
- Frameworks are not magic words. The value comes from the detail you put in each part. They help most when a request is complex or open to interpretation, while a quick simple question can stay short.
- There are well over sixty named frameworks and most remix the same ingredients: role, task, context, audience, format, constraints and examples. STAR is one of them, and it is a fill-in-the-slots framework where each letter stands for one part of your prompt.
- STAR comes from behavioural interviewing, where it structures answers to tell me about a time when. The same shape makes AI write clear case studies, incident reports and achievements. CAR (Context, Action, Result) and PAR (Problem, Action, Result) are shorter cousins for short formats.
| Framework | Slots | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| STAR | Situation, Task, Action, Result | Interview answers, full case studies |
| CAR | Context, Action, Result | CV bullets, short summaries |
| PAR | Problem, Action, Result | Incident notes, problem write-ups |
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What is a prompt framework?
A reusable structure or checklist of the parts a good prompt contains, usually named with an acronym.
Where does STAR come from?
Behavioural interviewing, where it structures answers to tell me about a time when.
What do CAR and PAR stand for?
CAR is Context, Action, Result. PAR is Problem, Action, Result.
Ethan Welcome to STAR, CAR and PAR: Stories, Case Studies and CV Bullets. This course is part of Complete AI Training; you'll find the full library at complete A I training dot com. It takes six short chapters.
Paula This part explains what a prompt framework is, then introduces STAR, the story shape that turns a messy answer into a clear one, and shows how AI uses it too.
Ethan A prompt is the request you type into an AI tool such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. A prompt framework is a reusable structure for that request. Think of it as a short checklist of the parts a good prompt contains, usually named with an acronym so it is easy to remember.
Paula Why bother with a checklist. The AI fills in whatever you leave out with generic guesses. A framework makes sure you include the parts that actually change the answer, such as who it is for, what you want to achieve and the format you need.
Ethan Frameworks also make prompts repeatable. You fill the same parts each time, save the prompt as a template, and share it with colleagues. And they are not magic words. The value comes from the detail you put in each part.
Paula They help most when a request is complex or open to interpretation. A quick, simple question can stay short. There are well over sixty named frameworks, and most of them remix the same ingredients: role, task, context, audience, format, constraints and examples.
Ethan One of those frameworks is STAR. It comes from behavioural interviewing, where it structures answers to the question tell me about a time when. Each letter stands for one part of your prompt: Situation, Task, Action, Result.
Paula The same shape works far beyond interviews. It makes AI write clear case studies, incident reports and achievements, because each of those needs a starting point, a job to do, the steps taken and an outcome.
Ethan STAR has shorter cousins. CAR stands for Context, Action, Result. PAR stands for Problem, Action, Result. They drop the separate Task slot, which suits short formats like a CV bullet or a two line case study.
Paula Here is the worked example. A job seeker needs an interview answer about a difficult project. They paste a STAR prompt into the chat, filling all four slots with their own detail, and the AI drafts a tight spoken answer they can rehearse.
Ethan So the takeaway for this part. STAR is a fill-in-the-slots framework. Each letter stands for one part of your prompt, and the quality of your answer comes from the detail you put in those slots, not from the acronym itself.
Paula Your turn. Pick one real piece of work from your own job and write a STAR prompt about it for your AI tool. Fill all four slots with true detail, then read the reply and see which slot was thinnest.
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