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Unlock Your Potential with Google AI Prompting Essentials
Google Prompting Essentials teaches you how to write clear, effective instructions for AI tools using a five-step prompting framework developed by Google. This free, self-paced course is available through the Goodwill Digital Career Accelerator® with support from Google.org. Complete it in under 10 hours, with no prior experience, and earn a Google certificate you can add to your résumé immediately.
With support from Google.org, Goodwill offers the Google AI learning track at no cost to you for a limited time.
- Google Prompting Essentials: Learn a five-step framework for writing clear, effective AI prompts — and build a reusable prompt library you can apply to any AI tool.
- Google AI Essentials: Learn the foundations of AI and get hands-on experience using generative AI tools.
- Accelerate Your Job Search with AI: Learn how to use AI tools to make your job search more efficient and effective.
- Google AI Professional Certificate: Strengthen your professional skills by using AI to generate plans, tailor content, analyze data and build your own suite of reusable AI assets.
Master the Skill Behind Every Great AI Result
Knowing how to use AI starts with knowing how to talk to it. The way you write instructions for AI tools — known as prompting — is what determines the quality of every response you receive. A clear, well-structured prompt can save you hours of work. A vague one leads to results you can’t use.
Google Prompting Essentials is a free, self-paced AI prompt course designed by Google’s AI experts. It teaches a five-step prompting framework — task, context, references, evaluate, iterate — that works across any generative AI tool, from ChatGPT to Gemini to Claude. No prior AI experience is required, and thanks to support from Google.org, the full course is available through Goodwill® at no cost to you.
Whether you’re drafting emails, analyzing data, brainstorming ideas or building presentations, learning to prompt effectively makes AI a practical tool for the work you already do — not just a concept you’ve heard about.
What You’ll Learn in This Google Prompt Engineering Course
The Google Prompting Essentials program is a four-part certification program. Each course builds on the last, starting with foundational prompting concepts and progressing to advanced techniques you can use in any role or industry.
1. Writing Prompts like a Pro
Learn the five-step prompting framework — task, context, references, evaluate, iterate — and understand why evaluating and refining your prompts is the key to getting useful results from AI.
2. Design Prompts for Everyday Work Tasks
Apply the framework to real workplace scenarios: drafting emails, brainstorming, creating tables and timelines, summarizing lengthy documents, and adjusting tone and style.
3. Speed Up Data Analysis and Presentation Building
Use prompting to extract insights from data, identify and fix spreadsheet formulas, create data visualizations and explore how AI sampling parameters affect outputs.
4. Use AI as a Creative or Expert Partner
Learn advanced techniques, including prompt chaining, chain-of-thought prompting, meta-prompting and power-up strategies. Practice using AI to role-play conversations, get expert feedback and build a library of reusable prompts.
When you complete the program, you earn a Google certificate — a shareable credential that demonstrates your AI prompting skills to employers and your professional network.
Benefits of the Google AI Prompt Engineering Course
The AI prompting essentials course will empower you to:
- Write AI prompts that produce usable results on the first try.
- Save time on everyday tasks like email drafting, summarizing and data analysis.
- Build a personal library of reusable prompts you can apply across any AI tool.
- Earn a Google certificate that proves your AI prompt skills to employers.
Start Building AI Skills Employers Are Looking For
AI is changing how companies hire and how work gets done. The professionals who know how to use AI effectively have an edge — and that starts with knowing how to write a clear, effective prompt. Google Prompting Essentials teaches you that skill in under 10 hours, with no experience required. When you finish, you earn a Google certificate you can add to your résumé and LinkedIn profile right away.
Goodwill provides this training at no cost. Fill out the form above, check your email for your invitation, and take the first step toward building the AI skills that set you apart today!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Google Prompting Essentials?
Google Prompting Essentials is a free online AI prompt course created by Google and offered at no cost for a limited time. The program teaches a five-step prompting framework — task, context, references, evaluate, iterate — that helps you write effective instructions for any generative AI tool, including Gemini, ChatGPT and others. It includes four courses, takes under 10 hours to complete and requires no prior experience.
How long does Google Prompting Essentials take to complete?
The full program takes under 10 hours. It’s self-paced, so you can complete it on your own schedule.
Is Google Prompting Essentials free through Goodwill?
Yes. With support from Google.org’s AI Opportunity Fund, Goodwill provides the Google Prompting Essentials course at no cost.
Do I need AI experience to take this course?
No. Google Prompting Essentials is designed for complete beginners. You don’t need any prior experience with AI tools or prompt writing. The course starts with foundational concepts and builds to advanced techniques, so it works whether you’ve never used AI or already use it occasionally and want to get better results.
What’s the difference between Google Prompting Essentials and Google AI Essentials?
Google AI Essentials teaches broad AI foundations — what AI is, how it works and common use cases across industries. Google Prompting Essentials is more focused: it teaches you specifically how to write effective prompts that get useful results from AI tools. Think of AI Essentials as understanding AI and Prompting Essentials as learning how to use it effectively. Both are free through Goodwill, and both earn you a Google certificate.
What AI tools does this course cover?
The course demonstrates prompting techniques using Gemini and Google AI tools like Gemini for Google Workspace and Google AI Studio. However, all techniques taught in the program — including the five-step framework, prompt chaining and meta-prompting — can be applied to any generative AI tool or model.
Is this the same as a prompt engineering certification?
Google Prompting Essentials teaches practical prompt design and several advanced prompting techniques, but it does not prepare you for a dedicated prompt engineer role. It teaches AI prompting skills that are applicable across many jobs and industries. If you’re looking to add AI prompt skills to your current role — whether you work in administration, healthcare, retail, education or any other field — this course is designed for that.
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