Prompt better · Practical guide

Ask AI to interview you before it starts

Beginner · Published 2026-10-15 · Reviewed 2026-10-05

Tools: Multi-tool
Audience: People getting started with AI
Topic: Prompt better

A team discussing papers around a workshop table

You’ll finish with: a clearer brief formed through short, answerable questions.

Sometimes you know the problem but cannot quite write the brief. Ask AI to interview you. One good question at a time is usually more useful than a form with 27 boxes.

Set up

Allow 15–20 minutes with a chat assistant. Answer using the fictional situation below, or a task you are allowed to discuss.

Download this guide’s practice sheet ↓

Try this example

FICTIONAL PRACTICE MATERIAL
Situation: a small team wants a better Friday handover. People miss the next action. The team uses email. You have not chosen a format, owner or review time.

Do the task

Ask for one question at a time and a maximum of five.
Answer what you know; say Unknown when you do not know.
Review the final brief before asking for any finished handover template.

Your reusable prompt

Interview me to define a better Friday handover. Ask one short question at a time, up to five, starting with who needs to act on it. Then summarise the goal, format, constraints and unresolved decisions.

PRACTICE INPUT
Situation: a small team wants a better Friday handover. People miss the next action. The team uses email. You have not chosen a format, owner or review time.

Refine your result

Separate my answers from your recommendations. Do not turn a suggestion about ownership into an agreed assignment.

Check the result

The interview should uncover a reader and next action. Unknown ownership must stay unknown until someone agrees to it; the final brief should be short enough to check.

Save and reuse

Keep the agreed brief and unanswered questions. Use the brief to draft one handover, then test it with a colleague.

Sources and notes

Writing clear prompts Checked 2026-10-05

The practice input and teaching prompt are original 5HO material. Examples are fictional; they are not screenshots or claims of a completed real-world task.
Official documentation supports the relevant product concepts. Setup availability depends on your account; where a guide offers a fallback, it does not prove the connected capability worked.