Stop Giving AI Instructions

Start Asking It Questions

The simplest prompting habit that changes everything.

Here’s a prompt. Copy it. Paste it before the next thing you ask AI to do:

“Before you start, tell me your plan.”

That’s it. Seven words. They’ll save you more time than any prompting course you’ve ever taken.

Let me show you why.

Now Watch What Happens With the Plan

Same teacher, same task. But this time, she adds one line at the end of her prompt:

“Before you write anything, tell me your plan — how would you structure this, what assumptions are you making, and what choices do you need me to weigh in on?”

The AI comes back with something like this: “I’m planning to structure this as a 5-lesson sequence using inquiry-based learning. I’m assuming students have prior knowledge of food chains. I’ll include formative assessment but not a summative task. I’m targeting Australian Curriculum v9 achievement standards. The tone will be formal and teacher-facing.”

She catches three wrong assumptions in thirty seconds. “Make it 3 lessons, not 5. They haven’t done food chains yet. And make the tone more conversational — I share these with students too.”

The AI adjusts. Builds the lesson plan. Right first time.

Phil