Class 11, hybrid format

Methods and prompts

Five methods to take with you

METHOD 01 · 6:22 PM part of: build tools not chats

Build a System Nucleus

Fill six one-sentence rows for one category of your repeated work, then save it somewhere reusable. This is the block you stop re-explaining.

Where it came fromTaught by Ekta Mody Vakil in class 11 as the first exercise of the night, filling six one-sentence rows, Goal, Your Role, AI's Role, Voice or Style, Decision Logic, and Sources, for one category of repeated work.Use it whenUse this when you keep re-explaining the same project context in every new AI chat and want to save it once instead.

Same idea elsewhereStand up a reusable Project or Gem (class 4) · Weight your references on purpose (class 5) · Let one model write the prompt for another (class 6)

Working prompt

Help me build a System Nucleus for [category of work, e.g. client presentations]. Ask me one question at a time for each: Goal, Your Role, AI's Role, Voice/Style, Decision Logic, Sources. Keep every answer to one sentence, then compile it into a block I can paste at the start of any related project.

You will know it worked whenit asks about each of the six fields one at a time, then hands back a single compiled block you can paste at the start of any related project.

METHOD 02 · 7:04 PM part of: reject the first draft

Find where the workflow breaks

Name the weak handoff in your own process before asking AI to check your read. The point is naming the break, not getting a flattering audit.

Where it came fromTaught by Ekta Mody Vakil in class 11's second exercise, where students named their own guess at the weak point in a workflow before asking AI to map the actual handoffs and check that guess.Use it whenUse this when a workflow that uses AI keeps producing weak results and you want to find exactly where context or feedback gets lost.

Same idea elsewhereSet up a debate partner (class 4) · Build cheap and then swap the model up (class 8) · Critique mode (class 10)

Working prompt

Here is a workflow I run: [list the steps]. My own guess at where it breaks: [your answer, and why]. Now you check me: map the actual handoffs between these steps and tell me where context, feedback, or a decision most likely gets lost, and whether my guess was right.

You will know it worked whenit maps the actual handoffs between your steps and tells you plainly whether your own guess about where it breaks was right.

METHOD 03 · 7:29 PM part of: context beats prompts

Store context once

Stop rebuilding the same brief in every new chat. Save it once as project knowledge and reference it, instead of re-pasting it.

Where it came fromTaught by Ekta Mody Vakil in class 11 as the fix for rebuilding the same brief every session, saving a full project brief using the GOLD structure once and referencing it going forward.Use it whenUse this when starting a project you know you will return to repeatedly, so you never have to re-paste the same brief again.

Same idea elsewhereControl the input and build gradually (class 2) · Show it your voice and not just the output (class 3) · Evolve the reference instead of restarting (class 5)

Working prompt

Here is my full project brief, using GOLD: Goal [ ], Output [ ], Limitations [ ], Data [ ]. Save this as the reference for everything else in this project, and every time I ask for something, check it against this brief before you answer.

You will know it worked whenlater requests in the same project get checked against the brief you saved, without you having to paste it in again.

METHOD 04 · 7:41 PM part of: build tools not chats

Let AI name your files

Feed the four-question naming formula in once, then let the tool name its own outputs going forward. Don't fix the backlog, just set the convention from here on.

Where it came fromTaught by Ekta Mody Vakil in class 11 as part of her naming formula, feeding a tool a four-part naming rule once and letting it apply that formula automatically to every file it generates from then on.Use it whenUse this once you have settled on a naming formula and want your files named consistently without doing it by hand each time.

Same idea elsewhereStand up a reusable Project or Gem (class 4) · Weight your references on purpose (class 5) · Let one model write the prompt for another (class 6)

Working prompt

From now on, name every file you generate for me using this formula: [Date]_[Project]_[Type]_[Status]. Ask me for the project and type once at the start of a session, then apply the formula automatically to every output without asking again.

You will know it worked whenevery file it generates from here on carries the date, project, type, and status formula, applied without you asking each time.

METHOD 05 · 7:49 PM part of: keep the judgment human

Place the review checkpoint

Decide where your own review checkpoint belongs before asking AI to check the placement. The right answer is usually right after the machine has generated the widest range of options, not after every step.

Where it came fromTaught by Ekta Mody Vakil in class 11, where the class was polled on where a single review checkpoint should sit in a multi-step workflow and the room correctly placed it right after AI exploration.Use it whenUse this when designing a workflow and deciding where the one point of human review should go to catch the highest-risk decision.

Same idea elsewhereJudge AI output with your own trained eye (class 1) · The sea-of-sameness check (class 2) · Pick the relationship on purpose (class 2)

Working prompt

Here is my workflow: [list the steps]. My call on where the one review checkpoint should go, and why: [your answer]. Now you check me: does that step carry the highest risk of a wrong direction, and would moving it earlier or later change what gets caught?

You will know it worked whenit tells you plainly whether your chosen checkpoint sits at the highest-risk step, and whether moving it earlier would catch more.