Beginner · Module 10

The Opening Seed

After this, you will be able to write a first message that gives the AI your role, the task, the relevant context, and a clear definition of done — and you will have a blank template card to use for every conversation going forward.

Intro

Every conversation with the AI starts with a first message. That message sets the direction for everything that follows. Getting it right takes about thirty seconds once you know what goes in it.

What is happening

The AI has no idea who you are, what you are working on, or what a good response looks like for you — unless you tell it. Your first message is where you tell it all of that.

A strong first message has four parts. You have practised each of them in earlier modules. This one brings them together:

Role — who you are. Gives the AI a frame for how to pitch the response. A response for a primary school teacher should sound different from one for a financial analyst. You are not explaining your whole career — just enough for the AI to calibrate.

Task — what you want done. One verb plus one object. "Draft an email." "Summarise this document." "List the options." The verb matters (B-05 and B-06 covered why). One task only (B-05).

Context — what the AI needs to know that it cannot see. Not everything you know about the topic. Just the load-bearing facts — the ones that would change the response if the AI did not have them. Who is the audience? What has already been tried? What is the deadline? What tone is needed?

Done — what a good response looks like. This is your stopping condition from B-06. A format, a length, a scope. "A 3-bullet summary." "A draft email under 150 words." "Five options with a one-sentence description of each."

Together, these four parts form what this course calls the Opening Seed. You do not need to memorise the terms. You just need the four slots.

The exercise

Think of a real task from your own work or life — something you actually need to do this week. You are going to write an Opening Seed for it.

Step 1: Identify your four parts

Before you write anything, answer these four questions in your head or on paper:

Role: Who are you, in one short phrase?
Task: What do you need done? (One verb + one object.)
Context: What does the AI need to know to do this well? (One to three facts only.)
Done: What does a good response look like? (Format, length, scope.)

Step 2: Copy and personalise the template

I'm a [your role] and I need to [task: verb + what you want done].

Here's what you need to know: [context: 1–3 facts the AI needs to do this well — who the audience is, what tone is needed, what has already been tried, what the deadline is].

Done when: [what the finished response looks like — e.g. "a 3-bullet summary," "a draft email under 150 words," "a list of 5 options with one sentence each"].

How to personalise it:

[your role] — "secondary school teacher," "operations manager," "freelance copywriter," "small business owner." A few words.

[task: verb + what] — start with a verb. "Draft a reply to this complaint email." "Summarise last quarter's project update." "List the pros and cons of these two options." One task.

[context: 1–3 facts] — only include facts that change the output. "The audience is non-technical." "My manager wants a calm, factual tone." "The client has already been told the delivery is delayed." If the AI would produce the same response without a fact, leave that fact out.

[what the finished response looks like] — the more specific, the better. "A draft" is vague. "A 100-word draft email in a professional but warm tone, ending with a clear next step" is specific.

Step 3: Send it

Send your Opening Seed. Use it inside the project you set up in B-09 if you have one. Read the response using the checklist from B-07.

Worked example

Here is what the template looks like after personalising:

I'm a project coordinator and I need to draft an update email for my team about a delayed delivery.

Here's what you need to know: the delivery was due last Friday, the new date is next Wednesday, the client has not been told yet, and my manager wants a calm, factual tone.

Done when: a 3-paragraph email under 150 words, professional but not stiff, ending with a clear next step.

Notice: no brackets left. Every part is specific and real. The AI has everything it needs.

What good looks like

A response to a well-formed Opening Seed should feel like it was written for your situation, not for a generic version of your task. The format and length should match what you asked for. The tone should match the context you provided. If any of those are off, the B-07 checklist will tell you which part of the Opening Seed to adjust.

If this did not work

If the response felt generic, the context slot is usually the culprit. Go back and add one more specific fact — the audience, the tone, the constraint that makes this task different from anyone else's version of it.

If the response was the wrong length or format, the done slot needs tightening. "A summary" is not a done condition. "A 5-bullet summary, each bullet under 20 words" is.

If you are not sure what went wrong, use the output review checklist from B-07 to diagnose it before rewriting the message.

Your take-home template card

Keep this. Use it for every new conversation.

Opening Seed — blank template

I'm a [role] and I need to [task: verb + what].

Here's what you need to know: [context: 1–3 load-bearing facts].

Done when: [format, length, scope].

You now have the complete beginner foundation: you know how the AI responds to your input style, how to send one task at a time, how to set a stopping condition, how to read and evaluate a response, how to recover when something goes wrong, how to set up standing instructions, and how to write a strong opening message. The Enabled User track (E-series) builds on all of this — starting with the first word in your message, and why it matters more than any other.