[Back to Course](/en/courses/prompt-engineering) Lessons

## Advanced Prompt Techniques

Once you master the basics, these advanced techniques unlock the full potential of AI agents.

### Chain-of-Thought

Ask the agent to reason step by step. This dramatically improves complex task performance.

### Structured Outputs

Request specific formats: JSON, markdown tables, or XML. Use templates to enforce structure.

### Multi-Step Reasoning

Break complex tasks into sequential prompts where each step builds on the previous one.

### Self-Critique

Ask the agent to review and improve its own output before finalizing.