THE NOTEBOOK
AI, practically
Clearer requests, useful examples, and a habit of checking the answer.
Ask AI for Project Names With a Four-Cell Contrast Grid
Compare four naming directions, choose the tone that fits your project, and request variations without losing your original constraints.
Dry-Run Your Activity Instructions With Start–Step–Stall
Ask AI to trace a first-time participant’s actions, stop at the first unclear detail, and ask one question you can answer before sharing your instructions.
Practice an Everyday Conversation With a Pause-and-Replay Template
Set one conversational goal, try a short exchange, and revisit a turn with different wording. Includes a copyable prompt, a hypothetical book-club exchange, and a reflection worksheet.
Review an AI-Drafted Email With Five Targeted Checks
Use a source-and-edit checklist to review the audience, request, dates, claims and tone before sending.
Give AI a Writing Example Without Borrowing Its Content
Decide what an example should teach—structure, tone, or both—then give the new draft its own facts.
Turn One Project Update Into Three Useful Summaries
Use the same source notes to show what was decided, what happens next, and which questions still need answers.
How to Separate Source Material From Instructions in a Writing Request
Use a plain-text layout that gives the task, reference material, unanswered questions and final checks their own places.
How to Ask AI for a Comparison Using Only Your Facts
A fact-locked comparison request keeps the criteria in your hands, marks missing information openly, and makes the finished table easier to review.
When an AI Draft Misses the Point, Use an Anchor–Redirect–Check Brief
Diagnose the draft’s central misunderstanding, preserve what still works, and set an observable test for the revision.
Getting vague AI answers? Add these four lines to your request.
A goal, context, output format, and a check. Use this copyable brief to ask for a result you can actually review.