The most useful thing I've found is "I need to do X, show me 3 different popular libraries that do it". I've really limited my AI use to "Lady's Illustrated Primer" especially after some bad experiences with AI code from devs who should know better.
I don't even frame my requests conversationally. They usually read like brief demands, sometimes just comma delimited technologies followed by a goal. Works fine for me, but I also never prompt anything that I don't already understand how to do myself. Keeps the cart behind the horse.
I've started putting in my system prompt "keep answers brief and don't talk in the first/second person". Gets rid of all the annoying sycophancy and stops it from going on for ten paragraphs. I can ask for more details when I need it.