Run it now
The prompt library
Over 50 free, ready-to-run prompts for work, study, and life, tuned to the world you picked (hit All for the full set). Fill the [brackets], then copy or launch into your LLM. Each one quietly models a course principle: a clear task, real context, a verification step, your voice preserved. Part of The Art of the Prompt masterclass.
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Copy works everywhere. ChatGPT and Claude open a new chat with the prompt pre-filled. Gemini copies the prompt and opens Gemini for you to paste (it has no pre-fill link). Very long prompts may exceed a browser's link limit, Copy never does.
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Business
Brain-dump → prioritised plan
Here is an unsorted brain-dump of everything on my plate: [paste]. Group these into themes, flag the 3 highest-leverage items and why, name what I can drop or delegate, and give me a one-page plan for this week. Ask me one clarifying question first if anything is ambiguous.
Business
Pressure-test a decision
I'm deciding whether to [decision]. Here's my thinking: [context]. Steelman the strongest case FOR and the strongest case AGAINST, list the assumptions I haven't checked, and tell me the single piece of evidence that would most change my mind. Don't tell me what to do, sharpen my thinking.
Business
The email I'm avoiding
Help me write a direct, respectful email about [situation] to [recipient]. Goals: [what I need]. Tone: warm but firm, no corporate filler. Give me 2 versions of different lengths. Keep my voice human, not slick. Then flag anything that could be misread.
Education
Tutor me (Feynman method)
Be a patient tutor. I want to truly understand [topic]. Explain it simply, then make ME explain it back to you in my own words. Catch the gaps in my explanation and ask follow-up questions until I can teach it. Don't just hand me the answer.
Education
Quiz me until I know it
Quiz me on [topic / paste my notes]. Ask one question at a time, escalating in difficulty, and wait for my answer before the next. After each, tell me if I'm right, why, and what I missed. At the end, give me a 3-line summary of my weak spots and what to review.
Education
Two levels deep
Explain [concept] twice: first as if I'm a curious beginner, then as if I'm a practitioner who needs the nuance and edge cases. End with the one misconception people most often get wrong about it.
Personal
Untangle a stuck decision
I feel stuck on [decision]. Here's everything in my head: [dump it all]. Reflect it back to me organised: what I actually care about here, the real options, the trade-offs, and the fear that might be driving it. Ask me what matters most before suggesting anything.
Personal
Plan a week that fits real life
Help me plan my week. My priorities: [list]. Fixed commitments: [list]. Energy reality: [when I focus best / what drains me]. Build a realistic schedule that protects the priorities, includes breaks, and isn't fantasy. Flag where I'm overcommitting.
Personal
Turn a journal dump into insight
Here's a raw journal entry: [paste]. Without judging me, reflect back the themes and tensions you notice, ask 2 gentle questions that might help me see it more clearly, and name one small thing I could try. Keep it grounded, not therapy-speak.
Creative
Sharpen writing, keep my voice
Tighten this without changing my voice or adding flourish: [paste]. Cut hedging and filler, fix anything unclear, keep my rhythm and word choices. Show me the edited version, then a short bullet list of what you changed and why so I can learn.
Creative
20 angles, then the best 3
I'm working on [project / piece] for [audience]. Brainstorm 20 genuinely different angles, not variations of one idea. Then critique them and pick the 3 strongest, telling me why each could work and what would make it land.
Creative
Outline → draft → self-critique
Task: write [what] for [audience], goal [goal]. Work in three labelled passes: (1) a tight outline, (2) a full draft, (3) a critique of your own draft against clarity, usefulness, and whether it actually serves the goal. Then give me a final improved version.
Business
Prep my next 1:1
You are helping me prepare for a 1:1 with my [manager / direct report named ___]. Here is the context: my recent work and wins [paste], open problems or blockers [paste], and anything tense or unresolved between us [paste]. Draft an agenda with: 3 things to raise, 1 thing to ask them, and 1 piece of feedback I should give. Keep it to a half page. Before the agenda, ask me one clarifying question if the relationship or goal is unclear. At the end, flag any assumption you made about their priorities that I should confirm.
Business
Long doc to one-page brief
Turn this document into a one-page brief for a busy decision-maker who has not read it: [paste document]. Structure it as: the decision or ask, 3 to 5 key points, what is still open, and the recommended next step. Use my plain wording where the original is clear. Do not add facts that are not in the source. After the brief, list anything important you had to cut and any point in the document that was vague or contradictory so I can check it.
Business
Build a hiring scorecard
Help me build a hiring scorecard for this role: [paste job title and what the person will actually do in the first 6 months]. Output 5 to 7 criteria, each with what "strong" vs "weak" looks like, and 2 interview questions that test it. Weight the criteria by what matters most for this specific role, not generic traits. Ask me one clarifying question about the team or seniority before you start if it would change the scorecard. At the end, flag any criterion that is hard to assess in an interview and suggest how else to check it.
Business
Run a project retro
Facilitate a retro on this project: [paste what shipped, what the goal was, and what actually happened including dates and surprises]. Give me: what went well, what went badly, the root cause of the single biggest miss, and 3 concrete changes for next time with an owner suggested for each. Separate facts I gave you from your interpretation. Keep blame out of it and focus on the system. End by listing what you still do not know that would change the conclusion.
Business
Gut-check my pricing
Pressure-test my pricing and positioning. Here is my offer [paste], my current price [___], who it is for [paste], and the closest alternatives they consider [paste]. Tell me: where the price looks too low or too high for this buyer, what the positioning is leaving unsaid, and 2 ways I could repackage or reframe it. Argue both for raising and for holding the price. Be clear about which of your points are evidence-based versus a guess about my market, and ask me one question whose answer would most change your view.
Business
Plan a launch backwards
Help me plan a launch by working backwards from the date. We are launching [what] on [date], and success means [define it in numbers if you can]. Build a week-by-week plan from now to launch with the few tasks that actually gate the date, who or what each depends on, and the top 3 risks with an early warning sign for each. Mark which tasks can slip and which cannot. Before you build it, ask me one question if the scope or success metric is unclear, and at the end flag anything I seem to be underestimating.
Business
Prep for a negotiation
Help me prepare to negotiate [what, e.g. a contract / salary / vendor renewal]. Here is the situation [paste], what I want [___], and what I think they want [___]. Give me: my likely walk-away point, 3 things I can trade that cost me little but they value, the 2 strongest objections they will raise and a calm response to each, and my opening ask. Tell me where I am guessing about their position versus where I have real information. Ask me one question that would most improve my leverage before you finalize.
Business
Turn my process into an SOP
I am going to describe how I do a recurring task and I want you to turn it into a clean SOP someone else could follow. Here is how I do it, in my own words [paste]. Write it as numbered steps with: what triggers it, what is needed before starting, the steps in order, and how to know it was done right. Where my description is ambiguous or skips a step, do not guess. List those gaps as questions for me at the end. Keep my terminology and tool names exactly as I used them.
Business
Write a self-review with evidence
Help me draft my performance self-review. Here are my goals for the period [paste], what I actually did [paste, messy is fine], and the format or questions HR wants [paste]. Write it in my voice: direct and specific, no inflated language. Tie each claim to concrete evidence from what I gave you, and where I have a result but no number, mark it so I can go find one. Do not invent achievements. At the end, list the 2 weakest spots where a reviewer might push back and how I could address them.
Business
Message a difficult stakeholder
Help me write a message to a stakeholder who is [frustrated / skeptical / blocking us], about [the situation]. Here is what happened [paste] and the outcome I want from the message [___]. Draft it in my voice: calm, plain, no defensiveness and no over-apologizing. Acknowledge their real concern, state what I am doing about it, and make one clear ask. Keep it short enough to read on a phone. Before the draft, tell me the one thing that could make this message backfire, and give me a slightly firmer and a slightly warmer version.
Education
Explain it, then check I understood
Explain [concept] to me using a plain analogy I would already know from everyday life. I am a [grade level / background, e.g. 10th grader, adult beginner] studying [subject]. After the explanation, ask me two short questions that test whether I actually got the idea, not just the words. Wait for my answers. Then tell me which parts I understood and which parts I am still fuzzy on, and re-explain only the fuzzy parts a different way.
Education
Turn my syllabus into a study schedule
Here is my syllabus: [paste syllabus with topics, due dates, exam dates]. I can study about [hours] per week and I am stronger at [topics] and weaker at [topics]. Build me a week-by-week study schedule that front-loads the harder topics, spaces out review instead of cramming, and leaves the last week for practice. Show it as a table. Before you finalize, flag any week that looks overloaded and tell me what you would cut or move.
Education
Build a reading-comprehension set
Using this passage: [paste text], create a comprehension set for a [grade level] reader. Include 3 literal questions, 3 inference questions that require evidence from the text, and 2 questions about the author's purpose or tone. Put the answer key in a separate section at the very bottom under a line that says ANSWERS, so I can try the questions first. For each answer, quote the exact line from the passage that supports it.
Education
Simplify a dense paper
Here is a section of an academic paper: [paste text]. Rewrite it in plain language a [grade level / non-specialist] could follow, keeping every technical term but defining each one the first time it appears. Do not drop any claim or qualifier the authors made. After the plain version, list any sentence where you were unsure of the original meaning so I can check the source myself.
Education
Run a Socratic dialogue with me
I want to understand [topic / question] more deeply. Act as a Socratic partner: ask me one question at a time, build each new question on my last answer, and do not give me your own conclusions. If I say something vague or contradictory, point it out and ask me to clarify rather than correcting it for me. After about 8 exchanges, summarize the position I arrived at and name one assumption I never questioned.
Education
Draft a rubric for an assignment
Write a grading rubric for this assignment: [describe assignment, grade level, and learning goals]. Use 4 to 5 criteria that map to the goals, with 4 performance levels each (from beginning to excellent) described in concrete, observable terms, not vague words like "good." Keep the total weighting at 100 percent. After the rubric, point out any learning goal that the criteria do not actually measure so I can fix the gap.
Education
Worked examples that build in difficulty
Create 4 worked examples for [skill or problem type, e.g. solving systems of equations] for a [grade level] student. Order them from simplest to hardest, changing only one thing between each so I can see what makes it harder. Show every step with a short note on why that step is taken. After the four, give me one unsolved problem at the same level as the hardest, and do not show the solution until I have submitted my own attempt.
Education
Lecture transcript into notes and questions
Here is a lecture transcript: [paste transcript]. Turn it into structured notes with headings, key terms defined, and the main argument in one sentence at the top. Then write 5 questions that would test whether someone understood the lecture, ranging from recall to application. Keep the questions and answers separate. Flag any point in the transcript that was unclear or seemed to contradict itself so I can ask about it.
Education
Design a quick formative check
Design a 5-minute formative assessment for [topic] at [grade level]. Goal: find out what students do and do not understand before I move on. Include 4 questions, at least one that surfaces a common misconception, and tell me for each what a wrong answer would reveal about the student's thinking. Keep it answerable on an exit slip. Do not include questions that can be answered by guessing alone.
Education
Feedback on my essay, no rewriting
Here is my essay draft: [paste essay]. The assignment was [describe prompt and grade level]. Give me feedback only. Do not rewrite any sentence for me. Point to specific lines where the argument is weak, the evidence is thin, or the structure breaks down, and ask a question that helps me fix each one myself. End with the two changes that would most improve the grade, in priority order.
Personal
Compare two options against my values
I'm choosing between [option A] and [option B]. Before you weigh in, ask me 3 questions to find out what actually matters most to me here (cost, time, stress, long-term, who else it affects). Then score each option against those things, show the tradeoffs plainly, and tell me which one fits my priorities and why. Flag anything you had to assume.
Personal
Draft a tricky text to someone
Help me write a short message to [who] about [what happened or what I need to say]. Our relationship is [close / tense / professional]. I want to come across as [honest but kind / firm / warm]. Ask me what outcome I want from this before drafting. Give me 2 versions, keep it in my own plain voice, and avoid anything that sounds passive-aggressive or overly formal.
Personal
Build a simple budget from my numbers
Here's my money: income [amount/month], fixed costs [rent, bills, etc.], and rough spending on [food, transport, fun, other]. Build me a simple monthly budget that covers essentials, sets aside [savings goal] if possible, and shows where my money actually goes. Point out the 2 categories where I could realistically cut, and tell me if my numbers don't add up instead of guessing.
Personal
Plan meals and a grocery list
Plan [number] dinners for the week for [number of people]. Constraints: budget around [amount], [any diets/allergies], I have about [time] to cook on weeknights, and I want to use up [ingredients I already have]. Give me the meals, then a grocery list grouped by store section. Reuse ingredients across meals to cut waste, and ask me before assuming I have any staples.
Personal
Prep questions for a doctor visit
I have a [type of appointment] coming up about [issue/symptoms]. Help me prepare. First ask me a few questions about what I've been experiencing and what I'm worried about. Then give me a short, prioritized list of questions to ask, things to mention I might forget, and what to clarify before I leave. Keep it factual and don't give me a diagnosis.
Personal
Turn a vague goal into a 2-week plan
My goal is [vague goal, e.g. "get fitter" or "read more"]. Help me turn it into a realistic 2-week starter plan. First ask me how much time and energy I actually have and what's gotten in the way before. Then give me small daily or every-other-day steps, a way to track it, and one if-this-slips backup. Keep it doable, not ambitious for its own sake.
Personal
Write a heartfelt message in my words
Help me write a [birthday / thank-you / congratulations / sympathy] message for [who] for [occasion]. Here's what they mean to me and a specific memory or detail: [your notes]. Ask me one question if you need more to make it real. Keep it in my own voice, warm but not cheesy, and build it around the specific detail rather than generic lines.
Personal
Troubleshoot a habit that keeps slipping
I keep trying to [habit] but it keeps slipping. Here's when it usually falls apart: [what happens, when, what's going on]. Ask me a couple questions to find the real trigger, then help me figure out what's actually breaking it (not just "more willpower"). Suggest 2 or 3 small changes to my setup or routine, and tell me which one to try first.
Personal
Plan a gathering without the stress
Help me plan [occasion] for [number] people at [place], budget around [amount]. Ask me what would make this feel like a success and what I'm dreading before you plan. Then give me a simple timeline (what to do when), a food/drink plan, and what I can prep ahead. Keep it low-stress and flag anything I'm likely to forget.
Personal
Make sense of a document in plain language
I'll paste a [contract / lease / policy / letter] I need to understand: [paste text]. Explain it to me in plain language: what I'm agreeing to, what it costs or commits me to, any deadlines, and anything that looks unusual or worth questioning. List the 3 things I should double-check before signing, and tell me clearly if something is unclear rather than guessing.
Creative
Punch up a dull opening line
Here is the first line of my [piece type, e.g. essay, short story, newsletter]: "[paste line]". The rest opens like this: [paste next 2-3 sentences]. Give me 5 rewrites of that opening line, each using a different tactic (in-scene action, a concrete detail, a question, a claim, a sound or image). Keep my subject and tone. After the 5, tell me which one is weakest and why, and which one earns the reader's next sentence. Do not make it slick or clever for its own sake.
Creative
Find the real story in my draft
Read my draft below. Do not rewrite it. Tell me what it is actually about underneath the stated topic, in one sentence. Then point to the 2-3 lines where the real story breaks through, and the parts that are throat-clearing or filler I could cut. End with one question I am avoiding that the piece needs to answer. Be blunt. My draft: [paste draft]
Creative
Title set, then critique
My piece is about [topic] for [audience], and the feeling I want is [feeling]. Generate 12 titles across a range: plain and literal, curiosity, specific detail, a phrase from the piece itself. Then critique your own list: cross out any that are vague, clickbait, or could sit on someone else's piece, and explain why. Recommend the top 3 and what each one promises the reader. Avoid colons and hype words.
Creative
Build a character from notes
Here are my rough notes on a character: [paste notes]. Develop them without inventing a whole backstory I have to obey. Give me: one contradiction that makes them feel real, how they speak (3 example lines in their voice), what they want vs what they need, and a small physical habit. Then flag anything you added that clashes with my notes so I can keep or kill it. Keep them specific, not a type.
Creative
Rough idea to one-page treatment
Turn this rough idea into a one-page treatment: [paste idea]. Format: a one-line hook, the core premise in 3 sentences, what makes it different from the obvious version, the main tension, and how it could open and close. Stay inside my idea, do not bolt on a genre twist I did not ask for. At the end, list the 2 weakest assumptions the idea rests on so I can pressure-test them.
Creative
Get unstuck on a scene
I am stuck on this scene/section. Here is what comes before: [paste]. Here is what I need to happen next or land by the end: [goal]. Do not write it for me. Instead give me 4 different ways forward (a choice the character makes, a complication, a shift in what is said vs meant, cutting straight to the aftermath). For each, say in one line what it would cost the scene. Then ask me the one thing you need to know to go deeper.
Creative
Tighten to a word count
Cut this from [current count] to [target count] words without losing meaning or my voice: [paste text]. Work by removing redundancy, hedging, and wind-up, not by flattening the rhythm. Return the tightened version, then a short list of the specific cuts you made and one cut you were unsure about so I can put it back. If any cut changes the meaning, say so instead of doing it.
Creative
Honest critique of a piece
Give me an honest critique of this piece, not encouragement: [paste piece]. It is a [piece type] for [audience] and meant to [goal]. Tell me: the single strongest line and why it works, the weakest line and why it does not, where my attention or the reader's drops, and one thing I am doing on autopilot. No praise sandwich. End with the one change that would improve it most, and leave the fixing to me.
Creative
Name a project with rationale
I need a name for [project/product] that does [what it does] for [who it is for] and should feel [3 adjectives]. Give me 10 names across directions: plain descriptive, a real word used sideways, a coined word, a short phrase. For each, give a one-line rationale and one risk (hard to spell, already common, says the wrong thing). Skip anything generic or trend-chasing. Then ask me what I want the name to NOT sound like.
Creative
Adapt one piece for a new format
Adapt this piece for a different format without gutting it: [paste piece]. Original format: [e.g. blog post]. New format: [e.g. a 5-part email, a talk, a thread]. Keep the core idea and my voice, drop what only worked in the old format, and tell me what genuinely does not survive the move instead of forcing it. Show the adapted version, then flag the one place the original was stronger so I can decide.