What is actually happening when you type something into ChatGPT? In this chapter, you'll understand how Large Language Models work — not the math, but the logic that matters when you're building prompts. You'll learn why LLMs can sound brilliant and still be wrong, what they're genuinely good at, and where they consistently fail. We'll introduce the Terra Foods case study — a real-world organic food co-op in São Paulo — and watch what happens when someone asks ChatGPT a business question without any structure. The answer is generic, unfocused, and useless. That's the "before" state. Everything you learn from this point forward is designed to change that.

Course Introduction and Learning Outcomes

What Are LLMs? The Engine Behind it

QUIZ: What are LLMs?

CASE: Meet Lucas Ferreira, founder of Terra Foods

RUN: Lucas Initial Prompt

RUN: Your Initial Prompt

CASE: Terra Foods Initial Output

FAQ: AI Live Avatar

WRAP-UP: Chapter 1

Foundations of Generative AI

AI doesn't lie on purpose — but it generates wrong answers with the same confidence as correct ones. In this chapter, you'll learn what hallucinations are, why they happen, and how to spot them before they damage your work. We'll cover fabricated sources, invented statistics, outdated claims, and the dangerous pattern where AI fills gaps with plausible-sounding fiction. You'll see a real case where Lucas from Terra Foods gets factually wrong answers about Brazilian food regulations — answers that look professional but fall apart under simple verification. By the end of this chapter, you'll know the red flags to watch for and the verification habits that separate careful professionals from people who copy-paste and hope for the best.

Why AI Lies (And How to Catch It)

Hallucinations: Types, Causes, Red Flags

QUIZ: Why AI Lies and Hallucinations

CASE: When Terra Foods Got Bad Advice

RUN: Terra Foods Next Prompt

CASE: When Terra Foods Got Bad Advice 2

WRAP-UP: Chapter 2

When AI Lies

This is where everything changes. You'll learn the Prompt Blueprint — a five-building-block system (Role, Context, Task, Output Format, Rules) that turns vague questions into structured, professional-quality prompts. We start with a dramatic before-and-after: the same Terra Foods question, asked two ways, with completely different results. Then you'll learn each building block with clear examples, and we'll introduce your first reusable prompt pattern — P1: The Expert Advisor — which assigns a specific expert role to ChatGPT and produces structured analysis. You'll run P1 on your own idea, not just the case study. And when things go wrong, the Debug Framework teaches you how to diagnose and fix weak outputs by checking each block one at a time. You'll also download the Prompt Blueprint Cheatsheet — a one-page reference you'll use for the rest of the course and beyond.

Why Most Prompts Fail (The Wow Moment)

The 5 Building Blocks of Effective Prompts

QUIZ: The Prompt Blueprint

The Expert Advisor Prompt

CASE: Lucas Expert Advisor for Organic Supply Chain

RUN: Lucas Expert Advisor for Organic Supply Chain

Hands-On Run Your Expert Advisor Prompt

RUN: Expert Advisor Prompt

When Your Prompt Fails: The Debug Playbook

CHEATSHEET: The Prompt Blueprint

WRAP-UP: Chapter 3

Prompt Structure and Quality

You already know how to build a structured prompt. Now you'll add two more patterns to your professional toolkit. P2 — The Skeptical Analyst — teaches truth discipline: take any paragraph, break it into individual claims, and label each one as Fact, Assumption, or Hypothesis. You'll learn why this matters for credibility and see Lucas apply it to real Terra Foods claims about market size and restaurant demand. Then P3 — The Opportunity Brief — shows you how to create a one-page stakeholder-ready artifact with eight clear sections: audience, problem, timing, segments, differentiation, execution approach, risks, and data requests. By the end of this chapter, you'll have three reusable prompt patterns that work together: P1 builds the analysis, P2 tests its claims, and P3 turns the validated thinking into a professional document you can actually present.

Building Your Prompt Library

The Skeptical Analyst 

QUIZ: The Skeptical Analyst

CASE: Lucas Validates His Co-op Claims

RUN: Lucas Validates His Co-op Claims

Hands-On: Run the Skeptical Analyst on Your Idea

RUN: Your Skeptical Analyst

The Structured Comparison

RUN: Lucas - Structured Comparison

Case: Lucas Compares Strategic Options

RUN: Lucas - Structured Comparison 2

Hands-On: Run the Structured Comparison on Your Idea

RUN: Structured Comparison on Your Idea

Chapter 4 Wrap-Up

AI Live Avatar: FAQs

Your Prompt Toolkit

You made it. In this final chapter, Fernando walks you through everything you've accomplished — from zero understanding of LLMs to owning four professional prompt patterns (Expert Advisor, Skeptical Analyst, Opportunity Brief, Visual Sequence Builder) plus a Debug Framework and two cheatsheets. You'll download the complete Course 1 Prompt Pack with all four templates ready to use in your work. And you'll get a preview of what comes next: Course 2 takes everything you've learned and applies it to structured problem solving using the Double Diamond method — a deeper, more powerful way to use AI for real strategic projects.

The Full Cycle: Lucas's Toolkit in Action

Your Prompt Toolkit Cheatsheet

Course Close

Putting It All Together

You have an idea. AI can help you make it real.Prompt Engineering Fundamentals is a hands-on course that helps you take a business idea, a strategy, or a project off paper and turn it into structured, credible, decision-ready work using AI.You won't just learn theory. You'll follow a real case — Lucas Ferreira and his organic food co-op, Terra Foods — from a weak first prompt all the way to professional-grade AI outputs. Along the way, you'll build your own prompts, run them directly inside the lessons, and walk away with a practical toolkit you can reuse immediately.What you walk away with3 reusable prompt patterns:<ul><li style="line-height: normal;">P1 — Expert Advisor: Get structured diagnosis and recommendations from AI acting as a domain expert</li><li style="line-height: normal;">P2 — Skeptical Analyst: Challenge claims, separate facts from assumptions, and identify what still needs validation</li><li style="line-height: normal;">P3 — Structured Comparison: Compare strategic options under the same criteria and surface the strongest path forward</li></ul>2 downloadable cheat sheets:<ul><li style="line-height: normal;">The Prompt Blueprint — the 5-block framework (Role, Context, Task, Format, Rules) in a single visual reference</li><li style="line-height: normal;">Your Prompt Toolkit Cheatsheet — all three prompt patterns summarized and ready to use</li></ul>How this course works<ul><li style="line-height: normal;">🚀 Run prompts directly inside the lessons — no copy-paste needed</li><li style="line-height: normal;">🤖 Talk to an AI avatar for live Q&amp;A at the end of each chapter</li><li style="line-height: normal;">🛠️ Apply everything to your own idea through guided hands-on exercises</li><li style="line-height: normal;">📈 Watch a real case unfold from bad prompts to professional outputs</li></ul>Requirements<ul><li style="line-height: normal;">Basic familiarity with AI / ChatGPT</li><li style="line-height: normal;">An idea — a project, a business, a strategy, or a problem you want to work on</li></ul>That's it. Bring your idea; the course gives you the method.Start for freeThe first lessons are open — no login required. Jump in, explore the content, and see if the course is right for you before committing.Who this course is for<ul><li style="line-height: normal;">Founders and entrepreneurs turning ideas into action</li><li style="line-height: normal;">Consultants and strategists who need better AI-assisted analysis</li><li style="line-height: normal;">Professionals who want to use AI with structure, not just curiosity</li><li style="line-height: normal;">Anyone with an idea they want to take off paper</li></ul>

Learn how to turn ideas into structured analysis, validated strategies, and real decisions. Walk away with 3 reusable prompts, 2 cheat sheets, and a method you'll keep using.

Course content

Prompt Engineering: From Idea to Action

fernando Damasio

What you will learn

This Course Includes