How prompt engineering is teaching us to communicate like product leaders

Recently, I was listening to Lenny Rachitsky’s podcast with guest Wes Kao, who was diving into the foundations of good communication. Among the principles discussed, one stuck with me: communication requires practice. Not just in the big, high-stakes moments, but in the small, low-stakes ones too. Every email, Slack message, or project update is an opportunity to get better. Wes suggested that every conversation could be treated as important, so that when it finally comes to that presentation to the board, you’re well-practised and prepared. 

At the end of the episode, the conversation shifted towards prompt engineering. The idea was that strong communication skills help you write better AI prompts. And that’s when my brain did a cartwheel, because I’d been experiencing the reverse. Prompting AI was helping me become a better communicator.

Not because it writes for me. But because it has given me a low-stakes, high-frequency playground to practice one of the most essential skills in product management: leading with clarity.

Communication requires practice

As product managers, we don’t get to communicate once and call it done. We’re constantly explaining, aligning, pitching, summarizing, and persuading across channels, formats, and audiences.

And yet, we often treat communication like a performance instead of a practice. We prepare for the big meetings, but treat everyday communication, Slack threads, feature briefs, and asynchronous roadmap updates as less important.

Instructional designers like Cathy Moore have long emphasized that people don’t get better at skills like communication by knowing the right things to do; they get better by actually doing them. Communication isn’t a knowledge gap for most PMs. It’s a skill gap. And that skill needs repetition. 

That’s where prompting comes in.

Prompting is a practice in clarity

Good communicators can make better prompt engineers. That’s true. But I’ve found the opposite is just as powerful: prompt engineering can help you become a better communicator.

Why? Because prompting forces you to do the hard work of clarity.

When you write a good prompt, you’re practicing the same skills product managers use every day: setting context, defining goals, making assumptions explicit, and keeping things concise.

Better prompts lead to clearer thinking. Clearer thinking leads to better communication. The two skills reinforce each other. Good prompting becomes a habit, and that habit sharpens how you communicate with teams, stakeholders, and users.

Low stakes, high frequency practice

Think of prompting as a communication gym. Each time you use AI, you’re taking a rep.

You’re learning to:

• Define your context clearly
• Set a specific, achievable goal
• Express yourself concisely
• Adjust the tone based on your audience

That same muscle memory shows up in your product work:

• Slack messages get sharper
• Meeting agendas become clearer
• Feature write-ups are more focused

Prompting gives you feedback without judgment. It lets you iterate without consequence. It turns small moments into skill-building opportunities.

Prompting has a viral element that communication doesn’t

What has surprised me in recent months is how often everyone I know is sharing prompts.

They talk about them over lunch. Post them on LinkedIn. Swap them in Slack. Prompting has become a playful, communal way to explore and improve communication.

Compare that to traditional communication frameworks, rarely do you see someone share a new way to structure a project update with the same excitement.

Prompting isn’t just effective. It’s sticky. And that stickiness makes it a powerful medium for learning.

Practice needs intention

Of course, prompting can also go the other way. Because it feels easy, it’s tempting to throw half-baked ideas at the AI and hope it figures it out. But if you want to build skill, not just speed, you need to prompt with intention.

Ask yourself:

• What do I want to say?
• Who’s my audience?
• What context matters?
• What tone fits?

Prompting can become a shortcut, but it’s more powerful when it’s a scaffold.

AI as a role-playing coach

Beyond text-based prompting, another way I’ve been using AI to practice communication is by opening a new chat in voice mode.

I’ve used AI voice mode to rehearse tough feedback conversations, stakeholder negotiations, and cross-functional conflicts. I’ll prompt it with: “Act like a member of my leadership team who is hearing about this initiative for the first time.”

This is exactly the kind of scenario-based training Cathy Moore advocates for. It’s not about knowing what to say. It’s about practicing how to say it, making mistakes, and learning from them.

The takeaway: a new way to train for the job

Communication is the job in product leadership. We align teams, de-risk decisions, tell compelling stories, and help others see what we see.

And it turns out, prompting AI is one of the best ways I’ve found to practice that. Not because it writes for me. But because it forces me to slow down, sharpen my thinking, and say what I mean.

Prompt engineering isn’t just about talking to bots. It’s teaching us how to communicate with humans like strong product leaders should. 

Read more great communication content on Mind the Product

• Why having engineering experience helps in product management
• How to enable product managers to be successful
• The most important soft skills for product managers