12 Prompt Shortcuts

What this is for

You already write decent prompts. The problem is what comes back: fake-cheerful copy, shallow answers, or the AI agreeing with a bad idea because you proposed it. These are modifiers, not full prompts — one line each, attached to whatever you're already asking. Works in ChatGPT or Claude, either one.

The 12 shortcuts

1. Kill the AI voice — strips "delve," "unlock," and upbeat-consultant tone.

Rewrite this in a plain, direct human voice. Cut throat-clearing openers and adjective stacking. Short sentences. No exclamation points.

Before: "In today's dynamic landscape, it's crucial to unlock your team's potential!" → After: "Your team is underused. Here's where."

2. Explain it simply — plain-English pass, checks itself for jargon.

Explain this like you're talking to a smart colleague outside this field. Define any technical term in the same sentence. Reread and cut anything too dense.

Before: "Leverage the API's idempotency guarantees." → After: "This makes sure a duplicate request only counts once."

3. Think before answering — forces reasoning before the answer, not pattern-matched speed.

Before answering, list the three most likely ways this could go wrong or be misread. Then give your answer, adjusted to avoid those three problems.

Before: a generic five-step plan → After: the same plan minus two steps that assumed a budget you don't have.

4. Stop agreeing with me — turns off sycophancy, forces the counter-case.

Don't tell me I'm right. Assume my plan has a flaw and find it. Argue the strongest case against what I just proposed.

Before: "Great idea, that should work well!" → After: "Your pricing punishes your best customers for buying more. Here's why."

5. Give me options — forces real range, not three versions of one idea.

Give three genuinely different versions of this. Label the approach each one takes in five words or less.

Before: one generic email → After: a direct ask, a story-led ask, a data-led ask, clearly labeled.

6. Ask first — stops the model guessing at missing context.

Before doing anything, ask me the 3 questions you'd most need answered to do this well. Wait for my answers.

Before: a proposal built on wrong assumptions → After: three sharp questions on budget, audience, deadline — then a proposal that fits.

7. Show sources or say so — forces an admission instead of invention.

Only state facts you're confident are accurate. Say "I'm not certain" instead of guessing. Name a source if you'd normally cite one; if you can't, say so.

Before: a specific stat stated as fact → After: "I don't have a reliable figure — treat this as a rough estimate."

8. Sound like me — matches your actual writing sample.

Here is a writing sample of mine: [PASTE 200–300 WORDS OF YOUR OWN WRITING]. Match this voice — sentence length, tone, formality — for everything you write me from here on.

Before: generic polished tone → After: your actual cadence, including your habit of opening with the conclusion.

9. Cut it in half — real compression, not filler-trimming.

Cut this to half the word count without losing substance. Cut whole sentences, not words within them. Cut the weakest point, not the shortest sentence.

Before: a 400-word update with three examples → After: a 200-word update with the one example that matters.

10. Name your assumptions — surfaces the guesses baked into the answer.

List every assumption you made to produce this answer, in plain language, before showing the answer itself.

Before: a budget plan with no explanation → After: "I assumed a $50K budget and a team of 4," then the plan.

11. Grade yourself — forces a self-critique pass before shipping.

Rate this answer 1–10 against the goal I gave you. Say specifically what's weak. Rewrite it to fix those weaknesses.

Before: a flat first draft → After: "6/10, too generic in the middle," followed by a sharper draft.

12. Put it in a table — forces scannable structure for comparisons.

Format your answer as a table. Decide which columns matter most for comparing these, then build it.

Before: three paragraphs comparing vendors → After: a table with rows per vendor, columns for price, setup time, lock-in risk.

Where this goes wrong

• People paste all 12 at once. Stacking them muddies the instruction — use one or two per prompt, matched to the actual problem.
• People expect the sycophancy-killer (#4) to stay off after one use. It doesn't. The model drifts back to agreeable by your next message — reapply when you need pushback.
• People treat "cite or say you don't know" (#7) as a fact-check. It isn't — the model still can't verify anything live, it's just less likely to bluff. Verify what matters yourself.

The 2-minute version

Pick the shortcut matching today's problem, paste it above or below your real prompt, send. Save your top 3–4 (voice match, sycophancy-killer, self-critique, table format) into custom instructions so you stop retyping them.

ChatGPT: click your name (bottom left) → Settings → Personalization → Custom Instructions → paste chosen shortcuts into "Anything else ChatGPT should know" → Save.

Claude: click your workspace name (top left) → Projects → Create project → open Project Knowledge → paste shortcuts into the project instructions field.

One honest note: there's no hidden switch or secret API these "codes" unlock. They're plain-English instructions the model reads like any other text — they work because most people never specify what they actually want, not because of any trick.

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