Appendix B — Quick Reference Cards

Tear-out summaries of the key frameworks, tools, and techniques in this book. Pin them next to your screen or keep them open in a tab.

B.1 RTCF Prompt Framework

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              RTCF PROMPT FRAMEWORK              │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  R - ROLE     │ Who should the AI be?           │
│               │ "You are a [expert type]..."    │
├───────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┤
│  T - TASK     │ What should it do?              │
│               │ Use action verbs: Analyse,      │
│               │ Compare, Create, Evaluate...    │
├───────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┤
│  C - CONTEXT  │ What does it need to know?      │
│               │ Industry, constraints, audience │
├───────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┤
│  F - FORMAT   │ How should output look?         │
│               │ Structure, length, style        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Four components. Four questions. Answer them before you type your prompt, and the conversation starts in a much better place. See Chapter 8 for the full chapter.

B.2 VET Your AI

Three steps to run before you trust any AI output that matters.

The VET framework: Verify, Explain, Test.

Step	Question	What you do
V – Verify	Can I find this independently?	Cross-reference claims against credible sources. If the AI cites something, look it up.
E – Explain	Can I explain this in my own words?	If you cannot walk someone through the reasoning, you do not understand it well enough to use it.
T – Test	Does this hold up under scrutiny?	Challenge the output. Change the assumptions. Ask “what if the opposite were true?”

VET in practice:

VET applied to real AI output. The domain does not matter. The habit does.

AI says…	V: Verify	E: Explain	T: Test
“Studies show pH drops faster in co-culture”	Find the actual studies	Can I explain the mechanism?	What about different substrates?
“Optimal temperature is 37C”	Check the literature	Why 37C specifically?	What happens at 35C or 40C?
“This method has 95% recovery rate”	Where is that number from?	What does 95% mean here?	Under what conditions?

If you pass all three steps, the output is yours. If you fail any of them, go back into the conversation and iterate. See Chapter 12 for the full chapter.

B.3 The Conversation Loop

Four stages. One feedback arc. Most good work passes through more than once.

The Conversation Loop: Brainstorm, Ideate, Iterate, Amplify.

Stage	What happens	Your mindset
Brainstorm: Define your question	Arrive with a question, not a task.	“What am I actually trying to figure out?”
Ideate: Explore possibilities	Go wide with the AI.	“What angles haven’t I considered?”
Iterate: Push back and refine	Challenge, redirect, sharpen.	“That’s close, but here’s what’s wrong…”
Amplify: Make it yours	Fold in what you know. Own the result.	“How do I bring in what the AI doesn’t know?”

The loop is not linear. You can jump from Iterate back to Brainstorm when you realise the question was wrong. You can loop from Amplify back to Ideate when a new angle emerges. The sign that you are done is not that the AI stopped producing output. It is that your thinking has landed somewhere solid. See Chapter 5 for the full chapter.

B.4 Eight Techniques at a Glance

Eight techniques for deeper thinking with AI.

#	Technique	What it does in one line
1	Reverse Prompting	The AI asks you questions to scope a problem before you solve it.
2	Pros and Cons	Systematic evaluation of competing options against specific criteria.
3	Stepwise Chain of Thought	Forces the AI to show its reasoning one step at a time so you can check each link.
4	Role Play	The AI adopts a stakeholder perspective so you can rehearse conversations and anticipate objections.
5	Debating	The AI argues the opposite position, strengthening your reasoning through challenge.
6	Formative Self-Testing	The AI generates practice questions and gives immediate feedback on your answers.
7	Expert Panel	Multiple simulated experts weigh in from different disciplines, forcing you to synthesise.
8	Risk Deep-Dive	Structured identification and analysis of risks, blind spots, and failure modes.

Each technique is a different way to stay in conversation rather than delegating. Pick the one that matches your task. See Chapter 10 for detailed walkthroughs and examples.