AI Doesn't Care If You Can Code

Adventure 01

The headline test

You did this one in the room. Same AI, same ask. All you added was one sentence about you, and the answer changed.

Round 1

"Write my LinkedIn headline."

Got "results-driven," "passionate," or a pile of questions back? Either way, it had nothing to go on.

Round 2 · same chat

"I'm a ______ and people always come to me for ______."

Now it has something to work with.

Take it home: the full headline prompt

Three headline options built from what you tell it, with the buzzwords banned up front.

Show the prompt

Act as a LinkedIn profile editor who can't stand buzzwords.

Write 3 LinkedIn headline options for me. Someone skimming my profile should get what I do, and who I do it for, in one glance.

About me:
- I'm a [WHAT YOU DO]
- People always come to me for [THE THING]
- I want to be found by [WHO]
- Words I never want to see: results-driven, passionate, dynamic, guru, ninja

Keep each one under 220 characters. Make one plain, one a little playful, and one that sounds like how I'd say it out loud. Then tell me which one you'd pick and why.

Look at that prompt again. It has a Role, an Objective, some Context and an Output. Adventure 02 →

Adventure 02

ROCO, the recipe I teach

Four questions that help you think before you type. You don't need all four perfect before you hit Enter.

RRoleWho should AI be? A coach, an editor, a strategist.

OObjectiveWhat are you actually trying to get done?

CContextWhat does AI need to know about your situation to help?

OOutputWhat do you want back? A table, a script, a 4-sentence email.

Context is the letter everybody skips. It's also the one that made your headline sound like you.

ROCO fill-in-the-blanks

Role: Act as [WHO YOU WANT HELPING YOU].

Objective: I need [WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO GET DONE]. It worked if [WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE].

Context: [WHAT'S GOING ON. WHO IT'S FOR. WHAT YOU'VE ALREADY TRIED. WHAT YOU DON'T WANT.]

Output: Give me [THE FORMAT: a 4-sentence email, 5 bullet points, a table, a script].

See one filled in

Role: Act as someone who writes clear, friendly work emails.

Objective: Get a clear answer about whether Friday's deadline means 9 AM or end of day, so I can plan my week.

Context: My manager is busy and skims email. I have two other projects due this week. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining.

Output: A short email, 4 sentences or fewer, with a subject line that says what I'm asking.

No idea what context to give it? Make it ask you.

"Before you answer, ask me 3 questions about my situation, one at a time. Then do the task."

Adventure 03 · Rule #1

Never take the first answer

Treat AI like an over-confident, over-eager intern. It answers fast, it sounds sure, and it fills in whatever you didn't tell it.

Push back. It's an intern. It can take it.

Copy any of these into the same chat, right after the answer you don't love:

"That sounds like everyone. Make it sound like me."
"What did you assume that I didn't tell you?"
"Keep everything else exactly the same. Change only [THE PART]."
"Radical candor: What's missing? What should I cut? What would you push back on?"

After every change, two checks

Did that fix the problem?
Did it change anything I wanted to keep?

My own version, typed with feeling: "Regenerate. CHANGE ONLY THAT."

Adventure 04 · The day it clicked

Describe what you see

I uploaded my avatar and two old newsletter covers and asked ChatGPT to combine them. It handed them back side by side. One word from my husband, "merge," and it finally made what I'd pictured.

Attached: a past 404: HR Not Found cover, a glowing executive meditating on a lotus

Attached: a past 404: HR Not Found cover, AI Ate My Org Chart

Can you make one image that combines these?

Here you go!

What if rather than 'combine' you 'merge'?

One picture.

Describing what you see is the skill. It works for pictures, and it works for everything else.

Describe it before you make it

You describe it badly. It asks you four questions. You get an image prompt you can paste anywhere.

Show the prompt

I want to make an image with AI, and I'm about to describe it badly. Help me describe it well.

Here's my rough idea: [WHAT YOU'RE PICTURING]

Ask me 4 questions, one at a time. Wait for my answer before the next one:
1. Who or what is in it?
2. Where are they, and what's happening?
3. What's the mood and the style? (photo, cartoon, watercolor, 1970s paperback cover...)
4. What has to be together in ONE picture, not side by side?

Then write one image prompt I can paste into ChatGPT, Gemini or any image tool. Plain words. No jargon.

Found a picture you love? Upload it, then ask

AI describes it in words you can reuse for your own version.

Show the prompt

Describe this image in detail: the subject, the setting, the lighting, the colors, the mood and the style. Write it as a prompt I could reuse to make something like it with my own subject: [YOUR SUBJECT].

Which AI is which?

The AI Shopping Mall

Ten chatbots, one mall map, so you know which store you're walking into before you start shopping.

Walk the mall

ChatGPT Target
Claude Trader Joe's
Gemini IKEA
Copilot Office Depot

You're not behind

You already have the skill.

It's describing what you see. You've been doing it your whole career. Your one next step: pick one adventure, run it once this week, and push back at least once.

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Prompt Along: AI Improv

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Tuesday, November 17 · 6:30 PM CT · Zoom

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AI Doesn't Care If You Can Code

You're going to lose this tab.

The headline test

ROCO, the recipe I teach

Never take the first answer

Describe what you see

The AI Shopping Mall

You already have the skill.

Want these in your inbox?

Prompt Along: AI Improv

Bring this to your team

Hi, I'm Deb.