The AI Playbook
AI Prompts
Beginner's Guide: Five Ways to Start with AI
You do not need to be technical to start. Pick one of these five exercises, try it with a free or approved AI tool, and notice what works. Small experiments build real confidence.
- Best for
- Complete beginners
- Time
- 10 minutes per exercise
How to use it
- 1Open an AI chat tool such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot (whichever you have access to or your organization approves).
- 2Choose one of the five prompts below. Start with the one that solves a real annoyance in your week.
- 3Replace the brackets with your own details—leaving out anything private.
- 4Read the result critically. If it is not quite right, reply with what to change. Conversation is the skill.
- 5Save the prompts that work for you in a note so you can reuse them.
Prompts
1. Draft an email
Write a friendly, professional email to [recipient role] about [topic]. Keep it under 120 words and end with a clear next step.
2. Summarize something long
Summarize the following in 5 bullet points, then list any actions I need to take: [paste text]
3. Brainstorm ideas
Give me 10 ideas for [goal, e.g. a team appreciation event on a small budget]. Then pick the 3 most practical and explain why.
4. Plan your day
Here is my to-do list: [paste list]. I have [hours] available today. Suggest an order to tackle these and what to postpone.
5. Learn something new
Explain [topic] to me as if I am smart but new to it. Use a simple example, then give me 3 questions to check my understanding.
Tips
- AI can sound confident and still be wrong—always double-check facts, numbers and names.
- Be specific: the more context you give, the more useful the answer.