Crafting effective training phrases is key to building a smart and responsive chatbot. In this section, you’ll learn how to write clear, varied, and AI-friendly phrases that help your bot understand user intents more accurately, improving its performance and user experience.

1. Limit Examples for Diversity

Write around 20 sentences at a time for each intent, then come back later to add more. This maintains diversity.

✅ DO: Write 20 sentences, then revisit to add more later.

❌ DON’T: Write 100 sentences in one go without reviewing for variety.

2. Keep Sentences Relevant to the Intent

Ensure the training phrase closely matches the intended purpose. Avoid phrases that could confuse the model.

Intent: Ask for ticket prices

✅ DO: "What is the price of tickets?" / "How much does entry cost?"

❌ DON’T: "Your tickets are super expensive" / "I want the calendar of prices"

3. Use Different Tones and Sentence Structures

Vary the tone and syntax to cover a wide range of user expressions.

✅ DO:

• "At what time is the train?"
• "When is the next metro?"
• "When does the next bus arrive?"

❌ DON’T:

• "At what time is the train?"
• "At what time is the metro?"
• "At what time is the bus?"

4. Write Naturally Like a User

Your phrases should resemble how users actually speak or type, including occasional typos.

✅ DO: "At what time is the nxt train?"

❌ DON’T: "At wat tim si teh netx tarin?"

5. Avoid Using Too Many Confusing Words

Minimize the use of keywords that appear in multiple intents to prevent confusion.

✅ DO: "I want to apply to ACME" / "I want to work for ACME"

❌ DON’T: "I want to work at ACME" / "Where should I apply for ACME?"

6. Consider Accents

Treat words with and without accents as different. Include both versions in training phrases.

✅ DO: "Qué son los avios?" / "Que son los avios?"

❌ DON’T: Only include "Qué son los avios?"

7. Mix Long and Short Sentences

Incorporate a range of sentence lengths to capture all user input types.

✅ DO: "How are you?" / "How are you doing this morning?" / "Hello, how are you doing on this fine morning?"

❌ DON’T: "How are you?" / "How you doing?" / "You doing well?"

8. Use Different Punctuation

Include variations in punctuation to reflect different tones and emotions.

✅ DO: "Are you stupid?" / "You're stupid!" / "You are really stupid..."

❌ DON’T: "You are stupid!!" / "You're stupid!!"

9. Insert Entities in Some Examples

Some users provide all information upfront, while others respond step by step. Represent both behaviors in training.

✅ DO: "Next stop for bus 24" / "Next stop" / "Next stop is Bastille"

❌ DON’T: "Next stop for metro 2" / "Next stop for metro 4" / "Next stop for metro 5"

10. Ensure a Good Quality Score

Make sure your training phrases are of high quality and diverse enough to improve intent recognition.