What is prompt engineering (and do you actually need it in 2026)?

Prompt engineering is the practice of writing instructions to an AI in a way that reliably gets you the result you want.

That’s it. It sounds like a job title invented by someone with a LinkedIn premium subscription, and for a while it kind of was, but underneath the buzzword sits a real skill: knowing how to tell a very capable, very literal assistant exactly what you need.

Do you need it in 2026?

Yes and no, and I’ll be specific about which parts.

What prompt engineering actually means

When ChatGPT first exploded, people discovered that the same question phrased two different ways produced wildly different answers. Ask “write me a marketing email” and you get beige. Ask “write a 120-word email to busy women who already know my product, warm tone, one clear ask, no exclamation marks” and suddenly the machine behaves.

Prompt engineering grew out of that gap. It covers things like giving the AI context about who you are, telling it the format you want, showing it examples of good output, and asking it to think step by step before answering. None of this is engineering in the bridges-and-blueprints sense. It’s closer to briefing a freelancer.

A very fast, slightly overconfident freelancer who never sleeps.

What changed between 2023 and now

The models got dramatically better at guessing what you meant. In 2023 you needed magic phrases and elaborate role-play setups (“you are a world-class copywriter with 20 years of experience..”) just to get decent output. In 2026, the models fill in a lot of blanks on their own. The exotic tricks matter less. The fundamentals matter more.

I learned this building Gut Goddess, my gut health app, with AI and zero engineers. Not one. When my prompts were vague, I paid for it in redos. Eleven redos on one feature, at my personal record, because I kept saying “make it feel friendlier” instead of describing what friendly meant on an actual screen. The model wasn’t failing. My brief was.

So the skill didn’t die. It just moved from incantations to clarity.

The three habits that still pay off

If you keep only three things from the entire prompt engineering universe, keep these.

Context first. Tell the AI who you are, who the output is for, and what you’ll do with it. “I run a two-person studio, this email goes to lapsed clients, I want them to book a call” beats a paragraph of adjectives.

Show, don’t describe. Paste an example of something you loved and say “match this tone.” One good example outperforms ten instructions about voice. I keep a folder of my own best writing exactly for this.

Make it check itself. Ask the AI to list its assumptions, or to critique its own draft before you read it. This one habit catches most of the confident nonsense before it reaches you.

Notice what’s missing: no secret keywords, no prompt templates you have to buy from a stranger on the internet. Good news for your wallet.

So, do you need it?

You do not need a prompt engineering certificate, a course with a countdown timer, or a 400-prompt PDF bundle.

You do need the underlying skill, which is really the skill of delegating clearly. If you’ve ever briefed a designer, onboarded an assistant, or explained a recipe to a partner who “helped” in the kitchen, you already have the raw material. The people who get the most out of AI in my workshops are rarely the most technical ones. They’re the ones who know what they want and can say it plainly.

That’s learnable. Usually in an afternoon, honestly, with someone pointing at your actual prompts and saying “here, this word is doing nothing.”

FAQ

Is prompt engineering still a real job in 2026?

As a standalone job title, mostly no. As a skill folded into other jobs, absolutely yes. Marketers, founders, operations people, and writers who prompt well simply produce more, faster. Companies stopped hiring “prompt engineers” and started expecting everyone to prompt competently.

How long does it take to learn prompt engineering?

The fundamentals take a few hours of deliberate practice: context, examples, format, self-checks. Getting fluent takes a few weeks of using AI on your real work rather than test questions. It’s much closer to learning to write a good brief than learning to code.

What’s the biggest prompt mistake beginners make?

Being vague and then blaming the model. “Make it better” is not a prompt, it’s a wish. Say what better means: shorter, warmer, aimed at whom, in what format. The second biggest mistake is accepting the first answer instead of pushing back like you would with any collaborator.

———

I teach this stuff for a living now, usually to people who swore they weren’t “AI people” until about forty minutes in. If you want to skip the trial and error I paid for, book a 1-1 AI session with me, or bring your whole team and we’ll do a workshop. Everything starts at my contact page. I’m glad you asked :)

The Power of Hands-on Thinking: What LEGO® Serious Play® Really Is

We don’t always know what we think—until we build it.

There’s a moment that happens in every LEGO® Serious Play® session I run.

Someone sits down, unsure. Maybe even skeptical. There are bricks on the table. A prompt is given. And then people get silent. Just the sound of music and bricks moving.

Three minutes later, they begin to explain what they built.

And suddenly: clarity.

Words that didn’t come before are now flowing. Ideas that felt vague now feel real. The model in front of them becomes a mirror. Not of what they know, but of what they didn’t know they knew.

That’s what LEGO® Serious Play® does: It brings the invisible into form.

It’s not about LEGO.

It’s about you.

Let’s get this out of the way:

You don’t need to “be creative”. You don’t need to know how to build.

This is not play for play’s sake. It’s not corporate fun day or an icebreaker with bricks.

LEGO® Serious Play® is a facilitated method designed to help you access deeper thinking, surface what’s unsaid, and unlock meaningful dialogue—with yourself, or with your team.

LEGO® Serious Play® is a method created by the LEGO Group, designed to help individuals and teams think with their hands.

You build models with LEGO bricks in response to carefully crafted prompts. Then, you explain what you built. What happens in between—the hands working before the words arrive—is where the magic is.

It’s physical. Embodied. And surprisingly emotional.

Because we’re not just talking. We’re showing. We’re holding space for stories to emerge—not from the brain alone, but from the whole self.

Why it works

In my work—whether I’m hosting an event, guiding a team session, or helping someone prepare to speak—I’ve learned one thing over and over:

People don’t need more information.

They need more connection.

And connection doesn’t come from PowerPoint. It comes from presence. From trust. From feeling like you’re allowed to speak—and be heard.

That’s what LEGO® Serious Play® creates, a space where:

• Every voice is equal
  

• Metaphors open up new ways of seeing
  

• Tensions surface in a safe, non-confrontational way
  

• Insight isn’t told—it’s discovered

What’s possible for you?

You might be a team lead navigating change.

A founder trying to articulate your values.

A coach helping others define what success means now
Or maybe you’re just someone who wants to feel more connected—to your thoughts, to your work, to the people around you.

LEGO® Serious Play® can meet you there.

It’s adaptable to so many questions:

• Who are we, as a team?

• What’s getting in the way of our collaboration?

• What do I want next in my life or career?

• What does success actually look and feel like for me?

Whatever your question is, this method helps you answer it—not just intellectually, but physically, relationally, and with clarity you didn’t know was there.

Let’s build something real

As a certified LEGO® Serious Play® facilitator, I bring this work into rooms where people are ready to get unstuck, reconnect, or simply approach a challenge in a new way.

I work with companies, communities, and individuals across formats: team sessions, retreats, strategy days, or one-on-one clarity workshops.

Curious what it could look like for you or your team?

Book a meeting today and let’s talk.

How to Improve Team Communication Without Another Awkward Team-Building Activity

Your team doesn’t need more forced fun — it needs a space where real conversations can happen. Here's how to create it.

You sat across the table from your candidate, reading more than just their CV. In a serious interview setting, you noticed everything: their tone of voice, how they spoke about past teams, the way they described what mattered to them. You picked up micro-signals, trying to figure out how they move through the world and how they think. Fast-forward to today: now that individual is part of your team.

And they’re all so different. One is a born doer, jumping into every new idea. Another is quieter and slower to voice concerns – but when they do speak up, it’s always the thing no one else noticed. There’s one who keeps momentum high, one who asks the hard questions, and one who makes sure no detail slips through the cracks. It works... most of the time. But sometimes you feel a communication gap is holding the group back.

When it comes to real collaboration, there are moments where something feels off. People seem just slightly out of sync. Misunderstandings pop up that didn’t need to happen. Ideas get lost in translation. Everyone’s trying their best – but somehow, they’re not quite getting it right. The team gets along fine on the surface, yet deeper down, they struggle to really talk.

Team Bonding Activities
vs.
Real Communication

So you think: Maybe we need to do something fun together – build trust, loosen up, improve communication. A team outing might help everyone relax, right? Yes — and also, no.

Mini golf won’t get you there. Neither will the usual pizza Fridays or escape-room adventures. While shared laughs do matter for camaraderie, bonding alone doesn’t automatically create space for the honest, deeper conversations your team needs.

For people to bring more of themselves into the room, they need more than just a fun break. They need a different kind of space – one where expectations shift, every voice is invited to contribute, and the playing field is literally leveled.

A Different Approach: LEGO® Serious Play® for Open Team Conversations

This is where I introduce you to LEGO® Serious Play®. No, it’s not a “build a LEGO® castle together” kind of team game. It’s a facilitated team communication workshop backed by research in neuroscience, learning, and systems thinking. LEGO® Serious Play is designed to help teams explore real issues in creative, judgment-free ways. Everyone builds. Everyone shares. Everyone listens. And most importantly: everyone is heard.

Through LEGO® Serious Play®, your team can tackle topics that don’t come up in a regular meeting – the hidden tensions, unspoken priorities, mismatched expectations, vague goals, or stuck collaboration patterns that often simmer beneath the surface. Team members build models with bricks as metaphors, which opens up honest dialogue about these challenges. Complex or sensitive ideas become easier to discuss because they’re represented in a tangible form.

People who don’t usually speak up suddenly feel comfortable contributing – not because they’ve magically turned extroverted, but because the format makes it safe and fast to participate. The bricks help translate thoughts into physical models. When you can literally see what someone means, it becomes much easier for the whole team to understand, ask questions, challenge ideas, and align on next steps. In short, LEGO® Serious Play creates a level playing field where improving team communication isn’t just an abstract goal, but a hands-on experience.

What a LEGO® Serious Play® Workshop Looks Like

So what does it actually look like in practice? You don’t need a three-day offsite or an expensive retreat to reap the benefits. In fact, just a few focused hours can be enough. In a typical workshop, the team shows up not to perform or compete, but to build, reflect, and get curious together in a guided session.

Depending on your needs, the workshop might explore questions like:

• What each person brings to the table – and what they need from others.

• How the team defines success, alignment, or trust.

• What’s holding the group back from its full potential.

• How the team can move through change with clarity and shared ownership.

Throughout the session, we don’t talk at each other – we build together. In that process, something deeper emerges. The room often gets quiet in a focused way, as everyone is thinking with their hands. Then it comes alive with rich stories as people share the meaning behind their models. The LEGO® bricks serve as a common language, so even abstract concepts become visible and discussable.

Fun with Depth: Building Real Team Communication

Yes, there’s play involved – it is fun – but it’s fun with depth. And let’s be honest: most teams don’t need another Slack message, trust fall, or motivational quote to plaster on the wall. They need space to listen differently, speak more honestly, and see one another through new eyes. That’s exactly what a LEGO® Serious Play workshop offers.

It transforms “fine” teams into
truly connected teams
by turning play into a
serious catalyst for open communication.

That’s why I keep bringing LEGO® Serious Play into my work with teams, meeting them wherever they are at. As a facilitator, I’ve seen even the most reserved individuals open up when given this outlet. Issues that might take months to surface in regular meetings can arise (and be resolved) within a single afternoon of building and storytelling. The result? Your team leaves not only with creative LEGO® models on the table, but with clearer alignment, renewed trust, and concrete ideas for moving forward together.

Feeling like your team is doing “fine,” but suspect something crucial is missing beneath the surface? Let’s build something more real, together. For more information about me and my approach, you can check out what other services I offer as well. I’m based in the Netherlands and work with teams across Europe, helping create space for these kinds of breakthroughs. If you’re curious to experience this hands-on method for yourself, feel free to contact me to book a LEGO Serious Play workshop for your team. Let’s turn your team’s polite nods into meaningful conversations and real results.

The moment the first words come out: Thoughts on Hosting, Speaking, and Being a Mirror

Hosting an event is

being a mirror.

The invisible work
is what you let be reflected.

It must be something physical.

Maybe it’s the way my brain is wired. All elements are there, but nervousness does not arrive.

The lights shine so brightly that I can’t see a single face in the crowd. The mic receiver presses gently against my back like a reassuring hand. My feet are firmly grounded. Every word about to leave my mouth must be the right one.

Everything is timed. Every second of the now is stitched from days, sometimes months, of preparation.

And yet, the weight of that preparation disappears. It belongs to the past.

We’re here now. A breath in.

I feel the audience. Their breath is held. They’re waiting. What is going to happen? Eyes wide. Chins slightly raised. Energy taut. My co-host and I glance at each other. The intro music is late. Or is it? It feels like a 10-minute delay. Maybe it’s been 3 seconds.

When your senses are sharpened, time stretches. The Earth itself seems to wait for your cue, like your attention alone is what keeps it spinning.

And then, the music plays.

We nod. We step in.

"Welcome everyone!"

The words land with clarity and ease. Simple words carried with the right energy. And something shifts in the room. The shoulders lower just slightly. The audience is still hyper attentive, but the weight is starting to disappear.

This is the quiet, almost invisible work of a host. It’s the work of invitation. Of energy translation. Of making space.

You set the emotional tone.
And without tension, the audience can receive.

At events like the Fastned Days or All Hands gatherings, I saw this happen again and again. People would come with something important to share—numbers, challenges, ideas, future plans. But none of it matters if the room is closed. And the room is always closed, at first.

Until someone opens it.

That’s the role of a good host. You’re not the star. You’re the switch.

After every event, someone would say:

“Wow, you’re such a natural.”

“You weren’t nervous at all—I felt calm because you were calm.”

Maybe it is how I’m wired. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be learned.

Because speaking well isn’t about perfection. It’s not about memorizing every line or erasing your nerves. It’s about becoming a mirror. When you feel safe, others feel safe. When you speak from clarity, others can follow.

Hosting, speaking, moderating—these are not performance arts. They are relational ones. They are not about knowing everything. They are about presence. About building a bridge between your preparation and their attention.

And here’s the most important thing for you who's about to give a speech:

You’ve already done the work.
Not just last week, in your slides and script.

But in everything that brought you here.

Every choice, every experience. You already carry the knowledge. Now your only task is to speak it out loud—clearly, kindly, confidently.

That’s where I come in.

As a freelance host, moderator, and LEGO® Serious Play® facilitator, I help people step into that space with confidence. I help your ideas land—not just on slides, but in minds. I help your audience breathe with you, think with you, and walk away having felt something real.

Because that’s what a good event does. It’s not just a transfer of information.

It’s a shared moment of meaning.