AI Playbook

When to use it

When you're not sure how to phrase a request, or your current prompt keeps giving mediocre results.

How it works

Ask the AI to generate the ideal prompt for your task — then use that prompt. AI models know what kind of instructions produce good outputs from themselves. Let them do the prompt engineering for you.

When to use it

When you want output written from a specific perspective — an expert, a critic, a teacher, a specific type of professional.

How it works

Start your prompt by assigning the AI a role before giving it the task. The role frames its entire response — tone, depth, vocabulary, and what it chooses to prioritise.

When to use it

For anything involving logic, maths, multi-step reasoning, or decisions where you want to see the reasoning — not just the conclusion.

How it works

Tell the AI to work through the problem step by step before giving a final answer. This forces it to reason rather than pattern-match to a quick response, which significantly improves accuracy on complex questions.

When to use it

When you have a specific format, tone, or style in mind and words alone aren't capturing it. Especially useful for writing tasks.

How it works

Provide one or more examples of the output you want before asking for the real thing. The AI learns the pattern from your example and applies it to the new input. One good example is usually enough.

When to use it

For complex, multi-part tasks where doing everything in one prompt produces shallow or incomplete results.

How it works

Instead of one mega-prompt, split the task into stages. Use the output of each step as the input for the next. Each prompt is focused on one thing, which produces much higher quality at each stage.

When to use it

Any time you're asking about something specific to your situation — your business, your project, your audience.

How it works

AI models only know what you tell them in the conversation. Generic input produces generic output. Load in the relevant context upfront: who you are, what the project is, who the audience is, what constraints exist, what you've already tried.

When to use it

When you need the output in a specific format for a specific use — a table, bullet points, JSON, a numbered list, a specific word count.

How it works

AI models will format output however they see fit unless you tell them otherwise. Being explicit about format saves you editing time and gets you something usable immediately.

When to use it

When the first response is close but not quite right — wrong tone, too long, missing something, or heading in the wrong direction.

How it works

Stay in the same conversation and give specific feedback rather than starting over. The AI has full context of what it just wrote and can make targeted edits. Treat it like giving feedback to a writer: be specific about what to change and what to keep.

When to use it

Before making a decision, sending an important email, launching something, or when you want to stress-test an idea.

How it works

Present your plan, decision, or draft to an AI and ask it to argue against it, find flaws, or play devil's advocate. It's like having a brutally honest colleague available at any time who has no stake in the outcome.

When to use it

Before publishing content, sending proposals, or launching campaigns. Especially useful when your audience is different from you.

How it works

Ask the AI to embody a specific type of reader and react to your content from their perspective. This surfaces objections, confusion points, and missing information that you can't see because you're too close to the material.

When to use it

When you're stuck, confused, or not even sure what question to ask. Works for technical problems, strategic decisions, and creative blocks.

How it works

Write out everything you know about the problem — the context, what you've tried, what you think might be wrong, what constraints you're working within — before asking for help. The act of explaining often clarifies the problem. The AI then has everything it needs to give genuinely useful advice.