Build Your AI Starter Pack
Time to apply everything from Level 0. In ~60 minutes, you'll create 5 real AI prompts you can use at work tomorrow.
What You'll Build
Your Personal AI Starter Pack is a collection of 5 high-quality prompts customized for YOUR specific job. By the end, you'll have prompts you can paste into Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini immediately. These aren't generic templates — they're built from your actual work.
Think of it like having a pocket guide of the best questions to ask an AI expert in your field, written specifically for what you do every day.
The RACE Framework
Before you start building prompts, you need a structure. The RACE framework gives you that. Every great prompt has these 4 elements:
Role
Who should the AI be? ("You are an expert marketing strategist" or "You are a kindergarten teacher")
Action
What should the AI do? ("Write a tweet," "Analyze this data," "Create a lesson plan," "Debug this code")
Context
What does the AI need to know? ("My audience is Gen Z," "My students are 6 years old," "I'm building an MVP")
Expectations
Format, length, tone, constraints. ("Use bullet points," "Keep it under 200 words," "Make it funny but professional")
Notice how that prompt tells the AI: the Role (experienced teacher), the Action (create discussion questions), the Context (3rd graders, photosynthesis), and the Expectations (age-appropriate, critical thinking, numbered, follow-up questions, grade 2-3 reading level). That's RACE.
The 5-Step Challenge
Work through these 5 steps in one sitting. If you get stuck, ask the AI for help — that's the whole point.
Map Your Top 5 Tasks
- Open a notes app, Google Doc, or grab a piece of paper.
- List 5 tasks you do regularly that feel repetitive, time-consuming, or draining.
- For each task, write 1 sentence: What makes this hard or slow?
- Circle the 2-3 that would save you the most time if AI helped.
Examples by profession:
- Teacher: Planning lessons, grading essays, creating handouts, answering parent emails, differentiating materials
- Manager: Writing status reports, giving feedback, scheduling meetings, writing job descriptions, planning agendas
- Developer: Writing tests, debugging, documenting code, code reviews, writing tickets
- Analyst: Cleaning data, creating reports, writing summaries, responding to requests, finding trends
- Doctor/Nurse: Documentation, patient communication, research, treatment planning, explaining procedures
Build Your 5 Prompts Using RACE
- Take your #1 task from Step 1.
- Write a prompt using the RACE framework. Start with: 'You are a [role]. Your job is to [action]. [Context about your situation]. [Specific format/constraints].'
- Go to Claude.ai, ChatGPT, or Gemini. Paste your prompt and test it.
- Look at the response. Is it useful? Does it match what you asked? Refine your prompt once based on what you see.
- Repeat for all 5 tasks.
Quick RACE template to copy:
Replace everything in [BRACKETS] with your specifics. That's your RACE prompt.
Test & Grade Your Prompts
- For each of your 5 prompts, ask yourself 3 questions:
- 1) Is the output actually useful? Would you use this in real work?
- 2) Is it in the right format? (bullet points, essay, code, table, etc.)
- 3) What's missing? Anything you need to add to the prompt next time?
Simple grading rubric:
| Question | Poor | Good | Excellent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usefulness | I wouldn't use this | I'd use this with edits | Ready to use as-is |
| Format | Wrong format | Mostly right format | Perfect format |
| Completeness | Missing key info | Good, minor gaps | Complete & thorough |
Aim for "Good" or "Excellent" across all 3 areas. If you're at "Poor," refine the prompt and test again.
Save Your Prompts
- Choose ONE of these three options (or do all three for redundancy):
- Option A: In Claude — create a new Project and paste your 5 prompts into the Project Instructions.
- Option B: In ChatGPT — go to Settings > Personalization > Custom Instructions and add your context there.
- Option C: Create a simple text file called 'My AI Prompts.txt' and save it to your Documents or cloud storage.
Here's what your Project Instructions should look like:
Reflection
- Spend 5 minutes answering these reflection questions. Write them down.
- Questions are below.
- What surprised you about working with AI? Something unexpected, weird, cool, or wrong?
- Which prompt worked better than expected? Where did the AI output actually impress you?
- What will you try first at work tomorrow? Which of your 5 prompts are you most excited to use?
- What would you do differently? If you were doing this again, what would change?
- What do you want to learn next? Advanced prompting? Agents? Custom tools?
These reflections are just for you. But if you want to share what surprised you, reach out in the community forum.
Bonus Challenges (If You Want More)
Bonus 1: The Prompt Tournament
Write 3 different versions of one prompt using RACE. Test all 3 in Claude. Which one works best? Why? This teaches you prompt sensitivity.
Bonus 2: Share & Compare
Post one of your prompts in the community forum. See how others wrote theirs for the same task. What's different? What can you steal (the good parts)?
Bonus 3: Prompt Iteration Log
For one task, document v1, v2, and v3 of your prompt. What did you change each time? Why? This is how you become a prompt engineer.
Level 0 Complete!
You've learned the foundations of AI. You understand how AI works, what to expect, how to write prompts, and how to use them in real work.
What You Now Know
- How AI models actually work (transformer architecture, tokens, training)
- What AI can and can't do (strengths and limitations)
- The RACE framework for effective prompts
- How to test and refine prompts
- 5 real prompts you use every week
Ready for Level 1?
Level 1 takes you beyond single prompts. You'll learn to chain prompts together, create custom AI tools, work with agents, and connect AI to your actual files and apps. This is where AI becomes powerful.