From HOW TO // AI Newsletter · howtoai.com

12 short prompts that change how AI responds — no long instructions required.


💡 How to use this template: Duplicate this page into your Notion workspace. These prompts are short on purpose. Keep them somewhere handy and use them as reflexes — quick moves you reach for in the middle of any AI conversation. The magic isn't in the wording, it's in the habit.


📋 Table of Contents

  1. The Thinking Prompts
  2. The Honesty Prompts
  3. The Doing Prompts
  4. The Decision Prompts
  5. How to Actually Use These

🧠 The Thinking Prompts

These turn AI from an answer-machine into a thinking partner.

1. "Are you sure?"

The simplest fact-check there is. When an answer feels even slightly off, ask this before acting on it. AI will either stand by its answer (so you trust it more) or reconsider and correct itself.

are you sure?

2. "Ask me questions to help me brainstorm this."

Instead of giving AI your request and taking what comes back, let it interview you. The questions pull ideas out of you that you didn't know you had. Perfect for a blank page.

ask me questions - let's brainstorm!