Appendix: starter skills index

This appendix is your map to the starter skill kit. It explains what a skill actually is, how to drop one into whatever AI tool you happen to use, and then lists the nine starter skills with a plain note on what each does and when to reach for it.

If you have read the rest of this playbook, none of this will be a surprise. If you have skipped straight here, that is fine too. Treat it as the reference you come back to.

What a tool-neutral skill is

A skill is a short set of written instructions that tells the AI how you want a specific job done. That is the whole idea. It is not code. It is not a plugin you have to install. It is a page of plain text.

We write skills as plain text with a few light formatting marks. A # at the start of a line makes a heading, a - makes a bullet, and **word** makes a word bold. You don't need to learn it properly. If you can write an email, you can read and edit one of these files. Open any of the starter skills in a normal text editor and you will see exactly what I mean.

"Tool-neutral" means the skill does not belong to any one AI product. The same file works anywhere that can read plain English instructions. You write the skill once. You reuse it everywhere. When you switch tools, or your workplace switches tools for you, your skills come with you.

Think of a skill as a recipe card you hand to a very fast, very literal assistant. The card says: here is the job, here is how I like it done, here is what good looks like, here are the traps to avoid. The assistant follows the card. A good skill turns "write me a customer reply" into "write me a customer reply the way I always want them written", every time, without you re-explaining yourself.

A typical starter skill has four parts:

A title and a one-line description of when to use it.
The steps or rules to follow.
An example of good output, so the AI has something to match.
A short list of things to avoid.

That is it. Keep them short. A skill that runs to ten pages is usually a sign the job needs to be split into two.

How to use a skill in your tool

The mechanics differ slightly from tool to tool, but the core move is always the same: get the skill's text in front of the AI, then ask for the job.

Start with the simplest version:

Open a new chat in your approved AI tool.
Paste the full skill text.
Add your real task underneath it.
Ask the AI to follow the skill exactly and flag anything it's unsure about.
Read the result, tighten the skill if needed, then save the better version.

For a skill you use weekly, save it wherever your tool keeps standing instructions, project instructions, pinned knowledge, saved assistants or reusable prompts. The menu name changes by product. The idea does not: the skill should load before the AI starts the job.

If your workplace tool is locked down, don't fight it. Keep the skill in a note, paste it into each chat, and stay within the rules your organisation has set.

If you use a specialist coding or automation tool later, the same pattern still applies. Put the skill in the instruction file or standing prompt that the tool reads before it works. For anything that can act without you watching, make the safety rules stricter: draft only, stop when unsure, and ask a human before sending, deleting, paying, booking or changing records.

The whole pattern is two moves:

Paste it in for a single job. Always works, nothing to set up.
Save it so it loads every time. Faster long-term, slightly different menu in each tool.

Start by pasting. Once a skill earns its keep and you reach for it weekly, spend the two minutes to save it properly in whatever tool you live in. That is the entire workflow.

The nine starter skills

Here is the kit. Each one is a small, self-contained file you can open, read and edit. Names are deliberately plain. Start with one or two that match a job you do often, get them working, then add more. You don't need all nine on day one.

Skill file	What it does	When to reach for it
`inbox-triage.md`	Sorts a messy inbox or message pile into urgent, routine, waiting and ignore-for-now buckets, with draft replies where safe.	When messages are stealing the morning.
`meeting-prep.md`	Turns context, agenda notes and background material into a tight meeting brief.	Before a meeting where you need to walk in prepared.
`follow-up-email.md`	Drafts a clear follow-up after a call, meeting, quote, inspection, booking or supplier exchange.	When the next step needs to be in writing.
`presentation-builder.md`	Turns rough points into a structured deck outline with speaker notes and proof gaps.	When you need a presentation but don't want to start from a blank slide.
`weekly-report.md`	Turns updates, notes and numbers into a plain weekly report with decisions, risks and next steps.	When someone needs the week in one page.
`document-polish.md`	Cleans up rough writing without changing the meaning, facts or voice.	For reports, policies, emails, posts and proposals.
`research-brief.md`	Turns a question into a short research brief with assumptions, sources to check and open questions.	Before you make a decision from messy information.
`dashboard-builder.md`	Builds the first version of a manual cockpit or read-only dashboard brief.	When you need one calm page for work, not another app to manage.
`safety-governance-checker.md`	Checks an AI workflow for data risk, access, human approval and unsafe assumptions.	Before connecting tools or using sensitive material.

How to actually start

Pick one skill that matches a job you did this week. Open it, read the few lines inside, and change one example so it sounds like your real work. Paste it into your tool and run it on a real task, not a test one. Compare the output to what you would have written yourself.

It will not be perfect on the first go. That is the point. When the output is off, the fix is almost always in the skill, not in the tool. Add the rule that was missing, sharpen the example, and run it again. After two or three rounds a skill stops needing your attention and just works. Then move to the next one.

That loop, write a little, run it on real work, tighten what was off, is the whole method. The nine starter skills are just a head start, so you are editing instead of staring at a blank page.

Download the nine skills