These are short instructions you paste before your actual question. Each one changes how the AI answers, so you get something usable on the first try instead of three rounds of back-and-forth. Type the word, then your question.
Takes 30 seconds to use. You need: nothing. You end with: a different answer, not a longer one.
Argue the strongest version of the opposing view before you answer.
Use when: you're about to make a decision and only see one side.
Assume this plan already failed. Walk me through why.
Use when: you're excited about an idea and want to catch the holes early.
Show me the consequences of the consequences, not just the first result.
Use when: a choice feels obvious but you want the downstream effects.
Replace vague advice with real numbers, timeframes, and steps.
Use when: the answer is fluffy and you need something you can act on.
Give me only the answer. No preamble, no summary, no caveats.
Use when: you're short on time and don't want a lecture.
Ask me any questions you need before you answer, until you're confident you understand.
Use when: the task is important and you'd rather it get it right than fast.
Explain this simply, as if I've never done it before, with the steps in order.
Use when: you're learning something and don't want to fake understanding.
Tell me what I haven't considered and what I'm assuming without realizing it.
Use when: you've thought about something so long you can't see around it any more.
Say where this comes from, and flag clearly anything you are unsure about.
Use when: you're going to repeat this to a client, a bank, or anyone who'll ask how you know.
Cut this by half. Keep the meaning, lose the padding, tell me what you cut.
Use when: you've written something and it's flabby but you're too close to see where.
What one of these actually changes
Same question — "Should I raise my prices 15%?"
PLAIN Balanced overview of pricing strategy. Mentions
value, competitors, testing. All true, all
general. You knew most of it.
STEELMAN "The strongest case against: your best clients
came through referral, and referrals are price-
sensitive in a way new leads aren't. Raise 15%
and you may not lose clients - you may lose the
thing that brings you clients. Before I agree,
what share of last year came from referral?"Nothing was added. The angle changed, and the angle was the whole value.
The power move: stack two, never three
The codes compound, but only in pairs. ASK FIRST + NAME A NUMBER is the workhorse — it gathers your context, then refuses to give you mush:
Two more pairs worth knowing:
- PREMORTEM + SECOND-ORDER before anything you can't easily undo — a lease, a hire, a rebrand.
- HALF AS LONG + SHOW YOUR SOURCES on anything you're about to publish.
Three or more and they start fighting: CUT THE FLUFF tells it to drop caveats while SHOW YOUR SOURCES tells it to add them, and you get a confused middle. If you need three, run two, then apply the third to the answer.
When it goes sideways
"It explained the code instead of using it." It read the word as a topic. Put your question first and the code after: "Should I raise prices 15%? Answer this as a STEELMAN."
"STEELMAN just argued with me about everything." It's meant to argue then conclude. Add: "After the strongest counter-argument, tell me what you actually think and why."
"CUT THE FLUFF cut things I needed." It removes caveats, including real ones. Don't use it on anything where being wrong is expensive — use HALF AS LONG instead, which trims words rather than substance.
"SHOW YOUR SOURCES gave me links that don't exist." This still happens, and it matters most when the stakes are highest. Treat every source as a claim to check, not a citation. If it can't browse, it's recalling, and recalled links are unreliable. Open them before you repeat them.
Make it yours
Write your own. The pattern is: a short name you'll remember, one sentence telling it what to do differently, not what to talk about.
- Client work:
IN MY VOICE→ "match the writing style of the example I pasted, don't use your default voice." - Studio or shop:
MY CONSTRAINTS→ "assume no extra budget, no new software, and a team of four." - Anything with money:
RANGE NOT NUMBER→ "give me a realistic range and say what would push it to each end."
Keep them in the same note as your saved prompts. Six of your own beats sixty of anyone else's.
Do this next
Copy this page into a note. Use ASK FIRST on the next real question you have today.
How to use this: Start with ASK FIRST and NAME A NUMBER — those two alone will fix most "meh" AI answers.
Next guide: Make AI Give You Less — the one-minute settings change so you stop getting five paragraphs when you needed one line.