Prompts worth keeping
Short prompts for jobs most of us face at work and at home, written to get you a useful answer the first time.
Copy one into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot or whatever you already use, and it will ask you what it needs to know. New prompts land here on Mondays until How to Get Good at AI is out on 19 January.
The prompts
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WORK
Find what AI could take off your plate
USE IT WHENYou use AI now and then and want to know where it would save you the most time.
Help me work out where AI could save me the most time. Ask me to describe a typical week, including the tasks I do, how often and roughly how long each takes. Then wait for my answer. Sort my tasks into these groups: - AI could do most of it, and I'd check the result - AI could help, but I'd stay in charge - best kept for me For each task, explain your choice by how easy the result would be to check and how much harm a mistake could do. Finish with the one task I should try with AI this week, and a first prompt to try it with.
WHY IT WORKSJudging tasks by how easy they are to check, rather than how impressive the result would look, points you at the work AI can safely take on first.
How to Get Good at AI teaches you to write prompts like this for your own work.
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WRITING
Make AI drafts sound like you
USE IT WHENAI drafts read well enough but sound nothing like you.
I want AI drafts to sound like me. Ask me to paste three to five pieces of my own writing, such as emails, posts or reports, and ask what I'll mostly use the style guide for. Wait for my answer. Study the samples and write a short style guide that another AI could follow to write like me. Cover my tone and how formal I am, how I tend to open and close, my usual sentence length, the words and phrases I use often and the things I never do. Quote a short example from my writing for each point, and add a list of words and habits to avoid because they don't sound like me. Keep it under a page, so I can paste it into any AI tool before asking for a draft.
WHY IT WORKSDescribing your own style is hard, but spotting it in real samples is easy for a model. The quoted examples keep the guide tied to how you actually write.
How to Get Good at AI teaches you to write prompts like this for your own work.
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CAREER
Prepare for an interview
USE IT WHENYou have an interview coming up, for a job, a promotion or a place on a board.
Help me prepare for an interview. Start by asking me for the role, the organisation and the job description, and for a few lines about my background or my CV with personal details removed. Wait for my answers. Next, tell me the five questions I'm most likely to be asked and the one I'll find hardest, given my background. Then interview me. Ask one question at a time and wait for my answer. After each answer, tell me in three lines or fewer what worked, what was missing and how a strong answer would differ. When an answer is vague, push me with a follow-up, as a good interviewer would.
WHY IT WORKSPractising against the real job description shows you which answers you can give well and which questions you've been hoping won't come up.
How to Get Good at AI teaches you to write prompts like this for your own work.
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TRUST
Get the answer, and what to check
USE IT WHENYou're asking about something that matters, such as money, health, the law or a decision at work.
I'm going to ask you about something that matters to me. Ask me for my question, and for any background that would change the answer, such as where I live or what I've already tried. Then wait. Answer in three parts. Answer: your best direct answer, in a few short paragraphs or up to seven bullet points. What to check: three to five specific things I should confirm before I rely on this, and where to check each one, such as an official website, the original document or a particular kind of professional. How sure you are: high, medium or low, with one or two reasons. If my question needs a qualified professional to answer properly, say so under What to check.
WHY IT WORKSThe checklist and the confidence rating turn one polished answer into something you can judge, and they tell you where to start checking.
How to Get Good at AI teaches you to write prompts like this for your own work.
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MEETINGS
Turn meeting notes into actions
USE IT WHENThe meeting is over, your notes are a mess and someone needs to send the follow-up.
I've just come out of a meeting. Ask me what it was about and who the follow-up should go to, then ask me to paste my notes or the transcript. Wait for both. Turn the notes into: - Decisions: what was agreed, one per line - Actions: what needs doing, who is doing it and by when - Open questions: anything raised but not settled Use only what's in the notes. Where an action has no owner or no date, write "not agreed" instead of filling it in. Then draft a short, friendly follow-up email that confirms the decisions and actions.
WHY IT WORKSWriting "not agreed" against a missing owner or date shows you the gaps while you can still fix them, before they turn into nobody doing anything.
How to Get Good at AI teaches you to write prompts like this for your own work.
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LIFE ADMIN
Decode a document you don't understand
USE IT WHENA letter, contract, policy or bill has landed and you're not sure what it means for you.
Help me understand a document I've received. First ask me what my situation is, for example a tenant, an employee or a customer, and what I'm most worried about. Then ask me to paste the document, with personal details removed. Explain it in plain English, using only what it says. Give me: 1. What it says, in five lines or fewer. 2. What it means for me, including any deadline, cost or thing I have to do. 3. Anything unusual or unclear, or that I might want to push back on. 4. The questions I should ask, and who I should ask. Quote the exact wording for anything important so I can find it. If the answer depends on something the document doesn't say, tell me rather than guessing, and tell me if I need a professional such as a solicitor or an accountant.
WHY IT WORKSQuoting the wording means you can check every point against the original, and keeping to the document stops it filling gaps with general advice.
How to Get Good at AI teaches you to write prompts like this for your own work.
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LEARNING
Learn anything with a patient tutor
USE IT WHENYou need to get to grips with something new, for work or for yourself, and would rather not start with a textbook.
Be my tutor. Start by asking me what I want to learn, why it matters to me, and something I already know well that you could draw on for examples. Then ask me three short questions to find out what I already know about the topic. Teach me in small steps. Explain one idea, give me an everyday example and ask me one question to check I've understood before you move on. If I get it wrong, explain it a different way rather than repeating yourself. Keep each message short. After every five steps, sum up what we've covered in two lines.
WHY IT WORKSA question after each idea shows you straight away what has stuck and what hasn't, which reading on your own rarely does.
How to Get Good at AI teaches you to write prompts like this for your own work.
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WRITING
Write the email you've been putting off
USE IT WHENThere's an email sitting in your drafts because it's awkward, important or both.
I need to write an email I've been putting off. Ask me what it needs to say, and let me answer in rough words. Then ask me up to four questions about who's receiving it, what they already know, what I need them to do and anything sensitive I should be careful about. Ask them all at once, then wait. Once I've answered, write the email in plain, warm English, in under 150 words, with the news or the request in the first two lines. Then give me a shorter version. Don't invent any facts, dates or promises I haven't given you.
WHY IT WORKSEmails like this often stall because you haven't decided what you want the reader to do. The questions settle that, and the draft follows quickly.
How to Get Good at AI teaches you to write prompts like this for your own work.
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SAFETY
Know what to strip out before you paste
USE IT WHENYou'd like AI's help with a document that has names, figures or client details in it.
I'd like AI's help with a document that contains sensitive details, and I want to know what to remove before I share it. Don't ask me to paste it yet. First, ask me what kind of document it is, what I want help with and who it involves. Wait for my answers. Then give me a checklist of everything in a document like this that I should remove or replace before pasting it in, with a simple stand-in for each, such as Client A or Amount 1. Tell me which details you'd still need to do the job well and which you can do without. Flag anything I should leave out whatever I replace it with, and tell me if this is a job for my organisation's approved AI tool instead.
WHY IT WORKSOnce something is pasted into a chat, you can't take it back. Deciding what to remove before you start takes a couple of minutes and spares you the worry afterwards.
How to Get Good at AI teaches you to write prompts like this for your own work.
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PEOPLE
Rehearse a difficult conversation
USE IT WHENYou have a conversation coming up that you'd rather not have: feedback, a refusal, a complaint or a pay rise.
I need to have a difficult conversation and I'd like to practise it first. Before we start, ask me these one at a time: who the conversation is with and how we get on, what I need to say, and how I expect them to react. Ask a follow-up if an answer is vague. Then play that person as realistically as you can. Don't make it easy for me, and don't turn them into a villain either. Stay in character and reply one message at a time. I'll open. When I type STOP, step out of character and tell me what landed, what didn't, the moment I gave ground and one line I should say differently next time.
WHY IT WORKSSaying the awkward sentence once, even to a machine, makes it much easier the second time. The feedback shows you where you gave ground without meaning to.
How to Get Good at AI teaches you to write prompts like this for your own work.
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THINKING
Stress-test your plan
USE IT WHENYou've talked yourself into a plan and everyone around you is being polite about it.
I want you to stress-test a plan I'm considering. Start by asking me to describe it, including the goal, the budget, the timing and who has to approve it. Wait for my answer, and ask about anything important I've left out. Don't help me improve the plan yet. First, act as a sharp but fair sceptic who wants it to work and doubts that it will. Start with the single biggest weakness. Then list the assumptions I'm relying on without realising it, the risks I'm probably playing down, and anything that wouldn't survive a hard question from the person who approves it. Be direct and skip the compliments. Finish with the one thing I should find out before I go any further.
WHY IT WORKSAI tends to agree with you unless you ask it not to. Asking for the biggest hole first gets you the criticism your colleagues are too kind to give.
How to Get Good at AI teaches you to write prompts like this for your own work.
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MEETINGS
Get ready for a meeting in five minutes
USE IT WHENA meeting starts soon and you've barely looked at it.
I have a meeting coming up and want to walk in prepared. Ask me, all at once, what it's about, who's going, what I want from it and how long I have before it starts. Ask me to paste the invite, the latest email thread or my notes too. Then wait. Once I've answered, give me on one screen: - the issues most likely to come up - what each person is likely to care about, marked as a guess where it is one - a good question to ask early - the one point I must make before it ends - anything that looks unresolved or contradictory Use only what I've given you. If something important is missing, tell me what to find out first.
WHY IT WORKSSkimming a long thread in a rush rarely tells you what to say. A one-screen summary, with the guesses marked, gives you an opening question and a point to land.
How to Get Good at AI teaches you to write prompts like this for your own work.
That's all for now. Check back for the next one.
How to use them
1Copy it
Press Copy prompt on a card. The whole prompt goes to your clipboard, ready to paste into a new chat.
2Answer its questions
Each prompt starts by asking about your situation. Answer in your own words; rough notes are fine, and you can paste in emails or documents when it asks.
3Read what comes back
A good prompt makes a useful answer more likely, but the answer can still be wrong. Check anything you'll rely on before you put your name to it.
Don't paste in anything confidential to a client or employer, other people's personal details, or anything you wouldn't put in an email to someone outside your organisation. If your workplace has its own rules on AI, they come first.
Write your own
A copied prompt helps with the job in front of you. The book shows you how to brief AI well for any job, so you rely less on other people's prompts.
It's a practical guide for people who use AI at work and want to get better at it, one step at a time. The first six chapters are free to read now.