Prompting
- Three-part prompt
- A prompt that gives the AI a role (who it should be), a task (the exact job, with a clear output and a number) and a format (the shape of the answer). A vague answer usually means a vague prompt.Taught in The 3-part prompt: role, task, format, Practical AI for Work.
- Context
- The background the AI cannot see, such as who the reader is and what has just happened. It answers “for whom, and why”.Taught in Context, examples and constraints, Practical AI for Work.
- Example
- One sample of what you want, pasted into the prompt, so the AI can match its style.Taught in Context, examples and constraints, Practical AI for Work.
- Constraint
- A limit you set in a prompt, such as a word count, a tone or a word to avoid.Taught in Context, examples and constraints, Practical AI for Work.
- Follow-up
- A short message that tells the AI exactly what to change in its last answer. Treat the first answer as a draft and fix it with a specific follow-up.Taught in Refine answers and catch AI mistakes, Practical AI for Work.
- Reusable prompt
- A prompt whose structure you write once; each time, you paste in only the new material, such as this week’s notes.Taught in Automate your weekly report, Practical AI for Work.
- Prompt template
- A prompt with blanks. You fill the blanks each time you use it, so a good prompt can be used again for a new job.Taught in Build your own prompt templates, Practical AI for Work.
- Placeholder
- A word in square brackets in a template, such as [PRODUCT] or [AUDIENCE], that you swap each time you use the prompt.Taught in Build your own prompt templates, Practical AI for Work.
- Workflow
- A set of steps, each done by its own prompt, where the output of one step becomes the input to the next.Taught in Project 1: a 3-step workflow for your field, Practical AI for Work.
- Batch prompt
- One prompt that plans many pieces at once, such as a month of posts on one theme, usually as a table of ideas before any drafts.Taught in A month of social content in one sitting, Practical AI for Work.
Checking AI output
- Source check
- Opening each link the AI gives you and reading the page, to see that it exists and says what the answer claims.Taught in Research with sources, Practical AI for Work.
- Sanity check
- One quick test you run yourself before you share a number, such as adding up a few rows on a calculator.Taught in Spreadsheets and data analysis with AI, Practical AI for Work.
- Recompute
- To calculate a figure again by a method you control, instead of trusting the AI’s total.Taught in Never trust a figure you have not checked, AI Finance & Data Analyst.
- Grounding
- Making an assistant answer from the facts in your file, not from its own guesses.Taught in Knowledge files: give it your facts, AI Builder: Agents & Chatbots.
- Test set
- A list of questions you run through an assistant and mark pass or fail, so you can see where it goes wrong before anyone else does.Taught in Test it and add guardrails, AI Builder: Agents & Chatbots.
- Guardrail
- A plain rule that stops an assistant doing something risky, such as “never give medical advice”.Taught in Test it and add guardrails, AI Builder: Agents & Chatbots.
- Human-in-the-loop
- A step in a workflow where a person checks the work before it goes any further.Taught in Make automations reliable and safe, AI Operations & Automation.
- Approval point
- The place in a process where a person checks what the AI drafted, the last check before anything reaches a customer.Taught in Redesign it: where AI drafts and where you decide, AI-Powered Business Owner.
- Fact check
- Checking AI-made material against a source you trust and fixing the errors you find.Taught in Check AI-made materials for accuracy, AI for Educators & Creators.
Content and images
- Voice
- How your writing sounds: the length of your sentences, your tone, the words you use and the words you never use.Taught in Write in your own voice, Practical AI for Work.
- Brand voice
- The pattern that shows up across a brand’s writing. The strongest way to teach it to an AI is with real samples.Taught in Teach the AI your brand voice, AI Marketing & Content.
- Content pillar
- A theme you post about again and again.Taught in A month of social content in one sitting, Practical AI for Work.
- Creative brief
- A short note that gives the writer the facts before any writing starts: who it is for, the one goal, the offer and the proof you really have.Taught in Brief first, write second, AI Marketing & Content.
- Repurposing
- Turning one piece of work into several pieces that suit different places.Taught in One idea, many channels, AI Marketing & Content.
- Hypothesis
- A short reason you think one version of a headline or message might work better, written down before you test it.Taught in Headlines and subject lines worth testing, AI Marketing & Content.
- Image prompt
- A short description of a picture: its subject, its style, its light and its shape.Taught in Anatomy of an image prompt, Practical AI for Work.
- Aspect ratio
- The width of a picture compared with its height, such as square or wide.Taught in Anatomy of an image prompt, Practical AI for Work.
- Negative prompt
- The part of an image prompt that says what to leave out, for example “no text, no logos”.Taught in Anatomy of an image prompt, Practical AI for Work.
- Style block
- A reusable piece of an image prompt that describes the look, so a set of images stays consistent.Taught in Keep a look consistent across images, AI Visual Design.
- Usage rights
- The rules about who may use an image, and for what. Check the tool’s current terms before you publish.Taught in Consistent visuals and usage rights, Practical AI for Work.
- Alt text
- A short description that tells a screen reader user what an image shows and why it is there. It is not a list of keywords.Taught in Alt text for AI images, AI Visual Design.
Assistants and automation
- Custom assistant
- A chat that already holds your instructions, so it does one repeated job for you without a long prompt each time.Taught in Your own assistant, set up once, Practical AI for Work.
- Knowledge file
- A short document of facts that an assistant reads before it answers. A good one is current and written in plain sentences.Taught in Knowledge files: give it your facts, AI Builder: Agents & Chatbots.
- Agent
- An assistant that can use tools, like buttons it is allowed to press, to take actions. It acts safely only inside limits a person sets, including which actions need a person to approve.Taught in Tools and agents, explained simply, AI Builder: Agents & Chatbots.
- FAQ chatbot
- A chatbot that answers a business’s frequently asked questions only from a list you wrote, and says it is not sure when the answer is not there.Taught in A no-code FAQ chatbot for a business, Practical AI for Work.
- Handoff
- The moment a chatbot passes the customer to a person, so someone with a hard question is never stuck.Taught in A no-code FAQ chatbot for a business, Practical AI for Work.
- Trigger
- The event that starts an automation, such as a new entry in a form or a new file in a shared folder.Taught in Connect your tools without code, Practical AI for Work.
- Action
- One small job an automation does after the trigger, such as adding a row or drafting a reply.Taught in Connect your tools without code, Practical AI for Work.
- Fallback
- A catch-all category, such as “needs a human”, for anything unclear, so the AI never forces an odd item into the wrong box.Taught in Sort the shared inbox, AI Operations & Automation.
- Triage
- Sorting incoming work, such as emails, by urgency.Taught in Email and inbox workflows, Practical AI for Work.
- Standard operating procedure
- A page that says how a task is done, step by step, with who owns each step. Often shortened to SOP.Taught in Turn messy notes into a clear procedure, AI Operations & Automation.
- Process map
- A list of the steps in a process, from the trigger that starts it to the result.Taught in Map the process you want to redesign, AI-Powered Business Owner.
Numbers and data
- Variance
- The difference between what happened and what you planned, such as actual spending against budget. Calculate it yourself, then let the AI write around your numbers.Taught in Budget versus actual, explained, AI Finance & Data Analyst.
- Correlation
- Two measures that rise or fall together. On its own, it does not show that one causes the other.Taught in Charts and claims you can defend, AI Finance & Data Analyst.
- Causation
- When one thing actually produces another. A chart that shows correlation is not proof of it.Taught in Charts and claims you can defend, AI Finance & Data Analyst.
- Baseline
- How long a task takes today, as the average of a few timed runs, measured before AI so you can compare after.Taught in Pick a workflow and measure the baseline, AI Workplace Champion.
Work, teams and careers
- Anonymise
- To swap names and emails for labels, such as Customer A and Customer B, before you share data with an AI tool.Taught in Privacy, client data and AI ethics, Practical AI for Work.
- Confidential data
- Information that is private to a person or a business, which should not be pasted into an AI tool as it is.Taught in Privacy, client data and AI ethics, Practical AI for Work.
- Data classification
- Putting each kind of information in a group, where each group has its own rule for AI use.Taught in Write the safe-use rules for your team, AI Workplace Champion.
- Pilot
- A small, time-boxed trial of a new way of working, with a log of each run compared with the baseline.Taught in Run a two-week pilot and coach your team, AI Workplace Champion.
- Opt-out
- A clear and simple way for someone you contact to say stop.Taught in Outreach etiquette, consent and opt-outs, AI Sales & Outreach.
- Discovery call
- A first conversation held to learn about the other person’s work, led by open questions.Taught in Prepare a discovery call, AI Sales & Outreach.
- Scope
- The list of what a piece of work includes, and what it does not.Taught in Choose your offer (or target role) and price it, Practical AI for Work.
- Case study
- A short story about one piece of work: the problem, your process and an honest outcome.Taught in Turn Projects 1-3 into a portfolio, Practical AI for Work.
- Transferable skill
- A skill you already use in one kind of job that also counts in another.Taught in Map your skills to the tasks of an AI-heavy role, AI Career Switcher.
- Decision flag
- A short note at the end of an AI draft listing anything you must decide before you send it, such as a refund, a date or a price.Taught in Customer replies and review responses, AI for Small Business.