The practice guide

How to use this page

One idea runs through the talk: AI is a lever. It can save you time and money and bring in new customers, but it lifts what you bring to it: your ideas, what you know, and your willingness to keep learning. The technical barrier is almost gone, so these exercises are where the lever starts to work.

• You only need a free AI tool: ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. A phone is fine.
• Each exercise takes about 20 minutes. Do one, stop, and come back when you like.
• Take private details out of anything you upload first. The one privacy rule is just below.

Each prompt sits in its own box with a copy button. Copy it, paste it into your AI tool, then change the [words in brackets] to your own details. The AI drafts, you approve: read everything before it goes to a customer.

One rule before you upload anything

If you wouldn't email it to a stranger, don't paste it into an AI chat.

• Names, health details, ID and bank numbers, signed contracts: take them out first. Unless you switch it off, what you type can train the model.
• Ask the general question instead. "A client in this situation" works just as well as "Mrs Chen at 123 Main Street", and it costs you nothing.
• If your work is regulated (health, legal, financial, or anything involving children), check your own professional rules first. The answer is different for each of you.

Switch off training

Where to switch training off (menus as of September 2026; they move now and then):

• ChatGPT: Settings → Data controls → turn off “Improve the model for everyone”.
• Claude: Settings → Privacy → turn off the switch about helping improve Claude.
• Gemini: Settings & help → Activity → turn it off. Gemini then can't read your Gmail or Drive.

The four moves

Four habits turn a chat box into something that does real work.

1. Eyes and files. Stop typing out what is already in a document or a photo. Upload it, photograph it, drop it in. This one move fixes most bad answers.
2. Context that sticks. Tell the AI about your business once, in a settings box, instead of explaining yourself at the start of every chat.
3. A recipe, not a request. Write the instruction once, save it, and reuse it every week. The value comes from the second, tenth and fiftieth use, not the first.
4. A human check. You read it before it goes out, every time. AI drafts, you approve, and nothing reaches a customer unread.

Four exercises

Each exercise uses a free AI tool and real work from your own week. If you haven't started your business yet, use the box at the end of each exercise.

Exercise 1: Give it eyes

Why: Most bad answers happen because the AI cannot see what you see. Show it the real thing and it stops guessing.

1. Open any free AI tool on your phone or on your computer.
2. Upload or photograph one real thing from your business: a screenshot of your website, a quote, a menu or a flyer. Take private details out first. Nothing to hand? Photograph anything on your desk, such as a business card. What it is matters less than that it is real.
3. Paste the prompt below.
4. Read what it found. Pick the one thing that would confuse a real customer, and fix it.

Read this as if you were my customer, and tell me the three things that would confuse you.

Read this as if you were a customer who has never heard of this business, and tell me the three things that would confuse you.
Then tell me one thing it does well that I could learn from.

Exercise 2: Write a prompt with four parts

Why: The gap between a useless answer and a useful one is almost always the question. Four short parts turn a vague request into something you can use.

1. Pick one thing you really have to write this week: a reply to a customer, a post, or a payment reminder you keep putting off.
2. Write the prompt with all four parts (below), in any language you like. If typing is slow, dictate it with your phone.
3. Run it. Then tell the AI what you didn't like, and make it try again. This is the most important step. Don't sigh and rewrite it by hand. Saying "too formal, this is for parents, not for other accountants" is the fastest improvement you can make.
4. Save the final prompt in a document. You will use it again in your first seven days.

The four parts of a prompt that works

1. Who and what. Who you are, what you sell, who your customer is. Two lines. This changes the answer more than anything else.
2. The actual job. One task, said plainly. Not three tasks in one long paragraph.
3. The shape. How long, what format, what tone, which language. If you want a table, ask for a table. If you want sixty words, say sixty words.
4. The check. Tell it what would make the answer wrong, and tell it to flag anything it wasn't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

Fill-in version:

Who and what: I run [your business] in [city]. My customers are [who they are].
The job: [one task, said plainly]
The shape: [how long] · [format: list / table / email] · [tone] · [language]
The check: Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

The same job, two ways. How most of us ask:

Write me an Instagram post about my nail salon.

The same request with the four parts filled in:

I run a two-chair nail salon in Kelowna. Most of my clients are working moms, thirty to forty-five.
Write one Instagram post about our Tuesday discount.
Sixty words, warm, not salesy. English, then a Chinese version underneath.
Give me three versions, say which you'd pick and why, and flag anything you had to invent.

The first prompt could be about any salon on earth, so you would rewrite most of the answer yourself. The second takes 30 more seconds to type and saves about 20 minutes of rewriting. Notice the last line: the AI really does flag what it invented. It may have quietly added a discount percentage you never mentioned.

I want to start [your business idea] in [city]. The first customers I hope to reach are [who they are].
Write the first message I will send to ten people who could become my first customers.
Under 60 words, friendly, no hard sell, and end with one easy question. Give me a text-message version and an email version.
Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

Exercise 3: Turn the memory on

Why: Without this, you explain your business at the start of every chat. Write four lines once, and the AI remembers them in every future chat, for free.

1. Open your AI tool's settings and find the custom instructions box. Where it is, tool by tool, is just below.
2. Paste four lines: what you sell, who your customer is, how you want it to sound, and one thing it must never say. Keep them short: the box has a size limit.
3. Start a brand new chat, and ask the same question you asked in Exercise 2.
4. Notice how much less you had to explain this time.

What I sell: [your products or services, in one line]
Who my customer is: [who buys from you, and where they live]
How it should sound: [for example: warm, plain, never pushy]
Never say: [one thing the AI must never say for you]

Where the box is (on the web and in the desktop apps, September 2026):

• ChatGPT: profile icon → Settings → Personalization → Custom instructions
• Claude: your initials, bottom left → Settings → General → Instructions for Claude
• Gemini: Settings & help → Personal Intelligence (or Personal context) → Instructions for Gemini

On a phone, start from your profile picture.

What I plan to sell: [your idea, in one line]
Who I think my customer will be: [who they are, and where they live]
How it should sound: [for example: warm, plain, never pushy]
Never say: [one thing the AI must never say for you]

Exercise 4: Write your half page

Why: Everyone uses the same AI models. What only you have is your judgement: how you decide. Write it down once, and the AI can apply it again and again, while you check the result.

1. Think of one decision you make the same way every time. For example: whether to take a new client, whether a quote is fair, or which class a student belongs in.
2. Write down the five questions you ask yourself when you make it. This is the hard step, because you have probably never written them out. But you do ask them every time.
3. Give the AI your five questions and one real example, with private details removed, using the prompt below.
4. Fix whatever it got wrong. That correction is your method getting sharper, not you fixing the AI.

Here is how I decide [the decision, for example whether a new enquiry is a good fit].
The five questions I ask myself:
1. [question 1]
2. [question 2]
3. [question 3]
4. [question 4]
5. [question 5]
Here is one real example, private details removed: [paste].
Work through my five questions for this example, one at a time. Tell me what you would decide and why, and where you weren't sure.

What you write here is the one thing nobody else can copy. The tools are the same for everyone. Your five questions are yours, and now they can be run a hundred times. Save your half page: you will use it again in the recipes below.

Here is my business idea: [your idea, in two or three lines].
The five questions I ask to decide whether it is worth doing:
1. [question 1]
2. [question 2]
3. [question 3]
4. [question 4]
5. [question 5]
Answer my five questions for this idea, one at a time. Tell me what you would decide and why, and where you weren't sure. Don't be polite: I want to know what could go wrong.

Recipes for your business

Copy a recipe, change the [words in brackets], and run it. Every recipe makes a draft: you read it, you change it, and you send it yourself. Most of them end with the same line, which asks the AI to flag what it wasn't sure about, so you know where to look first.

Recipes that use customer details, receipts, contracts or letters: take names, ID and bank numbers out first, and check that training is switched off (see the privacy section above).

Winning customers

A FAQ for your website, in your customers' own words

Write down what customers really ask before they buy, and answer in plain words. Use the result on your website or on a printed sheet.

I run [your business] in [city]. My customers are [who they are].
Write a FAQ for my website: 8 questions customers really ask before they buy, in the words a customer would use, not my industry's words.
Answer each in two or three plain sentences, in [English / English and Chinese].
Use only these facts: [your prices, hours, area you serve, how to book].
Where you need a fact I didn't give you, write [blank] instead of inventing it. Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

Reply to a customer in their language

Paste their message and your rough answer, in whatever language it comes out in. Get back a polished reply in theirs.

I run [your business] in [city]. Most of my customers are [who they are].
Below is a message from a customer, then my rough answer. It may be in a different language.
Write my reply in the customer's language. Keep my meaning, make it polite and clear, under 100 words.
Don't promise anything I didn't say, and flag anything you had to guess.

Customer's message: [paste]
My rough answer: [paste]

Reply to a Google review

A good review deserves a warm thank-you. A bad one deserves a calm answer that other customers will read.

I run [your business] in [city]. A customer left this review on Google: [paste the review].
Write a short, warm reply from me, under 60 words, in the same language as the review.
If the review is good: thank them and mention one specific thing they said.
If it is critical: thank them, say sorry for the part that went wrong, say what I will do next, and offer to talk offline. Don't argue and don't make excuses.
Don't promise refunds or anything else I haven't said. Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

Content

One idea, five posts

Write it once, then adapt it for WeChat, Instagram, RED, LinkedIn and your own site, each in its own voice.

I run [your business]; my customers are [who they are].
Here is one idea I want to share: [the idea, in two or three lines].
Write it five ways: a WeChat Moments post, an Instagram caption, a RED (Xiaohongshu) note, a LinkedIn post and a short paragraph for my website, each in that platform's own style and length, in [English / Chinese / both].
Don't invent prices, dates or claims I didn't give you. Leave a [blank] instead.

Two languages, one meaning

This is not translation. It is the same message, rewritten so it actually lands with each audience.

Here is a message for my customers: [paste].
Rewrite it for [English-speaking customers] and for [Chinese-speaking customers].
Not a word-for-word translation: the same meaning, written so it sounds natural to each group.
Keep names, prices and dates exactly as written, and tell me if any phrase doesn't carry across.

A month of post topics

Never start the month with an empty page again. Ask for topics tied to the seasons and holidays your customers care about.

I run [your business] in [city]. My customers are [who they are].
Suggest 12 post topics for [next month]. Use seasons, holidays and local events my customers care about, for example [back to school, Lunar New Year, Thanksgiving].
For each topic give: a working title, one line on why customers would care, and the best kind of post (photo, short video or text).
Mark every date you are not sure about, so I can check it. Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

Sales and follow-up

Your first ten customers

Who they are, where they gather in your town, and what to say first. You send every message yourself.

I want to win my first ten customers for [your business] in [your town]. My ideal customer is [who they are].
1. Who are the 5 kinds of people most likely to become my first ten customers? One line each.
2. Where does each kind gather in [your town]? Name kinds of places, groups or events, online and offline.
3. Write a short first message for each kind, under 60 words, friendly, no hard sell, ending with one easy question.
Don't invent names, groups or events: if you're not sure a place exists, say so. I will send every message myself. Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

A quote from your price list

Turn a customer's request into a clear quote, using only the prices you gave.

I run [your business] in [city]. Here is my price list: [paste your prices].
A customer asked for a quote: [paste their message, or describe the request].
Write a clear quote using only my price list: what is included, the price of each item, and the total.
If they asked for something that is not on my price list, don't guess a price: put it in a separate list called "Needs my decision".
Then write a short, friendly message to send with the quote, in the customer's language. Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

Follow up when someone went quiet

Most sales are lost in the silence, not in the answer. A short, kind follow-up brings many of them back.

I run [your business] in [city]. [Name] asked about [what they asked about] on [date], and I haven't heard back since.
Write a short, friendly follow-up, under 50 words, in [language]. Make it easy to answer yes, no or not now.
Don't be pushy, don't invent a deadline or a discount, and don't start with "just checking in".
Give me two versions: one for a text message and one for email. Flag anything you had to guess.

Chase a payment, politely

Payment follow-up is one of the jobs most of us do alone, and put off. This reminder gets you paid and keeps the customer.

I run [your business] in [city]. A customer hasn't paid invoice [number] for [amount], which was due on [date].
Write a short, friendly reminder in [English / the customer's language]: thank them, restate the amount and the due date, say how to pay, and offer to help if something is wrong. Under 80 words.
This is a customer I want to keep. Don't add late fees, deadlines or warnings I didn't give you, and flag anything you had to guess. Write the customer's name as [name]: I'll fill it in myself.

Turn scattered contacts into one client list

Contacts live in your phone, your email and an old spreadsheet. Put them in one list you can paste into Google Sheets. Your clients' details are private: paste only what you need.

Below are my contacts from different places: [emails, phone contacts, notes, an old spreadsheet]. Some people appear more than once.
Make one client list as a table I can paste into Google Sheets, with these columns: Name, Business, Email, Phone, Language, Last contact, Notes.
One row per person. Merge duplicates, and list every merge you made. If something is missing, leave the cell empty. Don't guess.

[paste the contacts]

Paperwork and money

Receipts into a spreadsheet

Photograph your receipts and get a table for your bookkeeper. It is a draft for them to check, not tax advice. Cover any card numbers before you take the photo.

Attached are photos of my receipts for [month]. Read each one and make a table I can paste into a spreadsheet, with these columns: Date (YYYY-MM-DD), Vendor, What it was for, Amount before tax, GST, PST, Total.
Copy the numbers exactly as printed. If a receipt doesn't show GST or PST, leave that cell empty. If something is hard to read, write [unclear]. Never guess a number.
This is a draft for my bookkeeper to check. Add a last column called "Check me" and use it for anything you weren't sure about.

Read the long thing

A contract, a lease, a quote or a government letter. Ask what it commits you to, what changed, and what you would regret not noticing.

I run [your business]. Attached is a [contract / lease / quote / government letter].
Tell me in plain English:
1. What does this commit me to: money, dates, obligations?
2. What is different from [the last version / what I expected]?
3. What would I regret not noticing?
Quote the exact line behind each point. Where it's unclear, say so instead of guessing, and mark anything I should ask a professional about.

Explain an official letter in my language

Get a letter from the government, a bank or a landlord explained in the language you think in.

Below is a letter I received from [who sent it]. Explain it to me in [your language], in simple words.
1. What is this letter about?
2. What do they want me to do, and by when?
3. What happens if I do nothing?
Quote the exact line behind each answer. If something is unclear, say so instead of guessing. Don't decide for me. Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

[paste the letter, with your name, address and ID numbers taken out]

Before you act on it, check with a professional, or with the people who sent it. The AI explains the words; it does not know your whole situation.

Clean up the spreadsheet

Mixed date formats, duplicate rows, names typed four ways. Paste it, describe the mess, and get it back tidy.

Below is a spreadsheet I exported. The problems: [dates in mixed formats / duplicate rows / names typed different ways].
Clean it up: one date format (YYYY-MM-DD), one row per [customer / order], each name spelled one way.
Give it back as a table I can paste into Excel or Google Sheets.
Don't drop anything silently. List every row you merged or removed, and why.

[paste the rows]

A business plan, first draft

Start from the four lines you wrote in Exercise 3 and, if you have it, your half page from Exercise 4. The AI lists every assumption it made, so you can check each one.

Here is my business, in my own words: [paste your four lines from Exercise 3].
Here is how I decide [the decision]: [paste your half page from Exercise 4].
Write a first draft of a simple business plan, about two pages: what I sell, who my customers are, how I will find them, what it costs to run, how I will price, and my goals for the first year.
Use only what I told you. Where you need a number I didn't give you, write [blank]. Then list every assumption you made under the heading "Assumptions", so I can check each one.
Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

Your know-how

A procedure from one voice memo

Talk through how you do a job, once, out loud. Your phone's dictation types what you say, or the Meeting Note app records it and prepares a transcript. Then let the AI write the steps.

Below is a transcript of me explaining how I do [the job, for example onboarding a new client]. I was talking, so it may be messy.
Turn it into a written procedure: a numbered list of steps, each one short and starting with a verb. Add a short "Before you start" list of what someone needs, and a "Check" line at each step where a mistake is likely.
Keep my words where you can. If a step seems to be missing, or two steps don't fit together, don't fill the gap yourself: list your questions at the end.

[paste the transcript]

A knowledge base with Gemini Notebook

Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) answers only from your own documents and shows you where each answer comes from. Use it when a made-up answer would be costly.

1. Open Gemini Notebook with your Google account, and start a new notebook.
2. Add your own documents: your price list, your policies, your FAQ, a procedure. Take private details out first.
3. Ask a question that a customer, or a new team member, would ask.

Using only my documents, answer this the way I would answer a customer: [the question].
Show me which document, and which part of it, each answer comes from.
If my documents don't say, tell me they don't say. Don't fill the gap from anywhere else.

Decisions

Argue against my idea

Friends are polite. Ask the AI to be the fair, honest adviser who wants you to succeed.

I'm thinking of [your idea or decision, in two or three lines].
Act as a sharp, fair adviser who wants me to succeed but has to be honest. Give me the 5 strongest reasons this could go wrong, and for each one what would tell me early that it is happening.
Then tell me what would have to be true for this to be a good idea. Don't flatter me. Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

Know your market

Competitors' prices and reviews, with a source for each. Check the sources: open every link yourself before you rely on it.

I run [your business] in [city]. Search the web for [3 to 5] businesses like mine in [city or region].
For each one, tell me: what they sell, their prices if shown, and what customers praise or complain about in reviews.
Give the link to the page where you found each price or review. If you can't find a source, write "no source" and don't guess.
Then tell me where I could stand out. Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

Read your numbers

Export your sales from your till, your booking tool or your bank, and ask plain questions about it.

Below is a sales export from my business for [period]. The columns are: [column names].
Tell me in plain words: what sold best, what sold least, which days or months were strongest, and one thing that surprised you.
Give a small table for each answer, and show which rows you used.
Say which conclusions are solid and which rest on too little data. Don't invent numbers that are not in the export. Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

[paste the export, customer names removed]

Price it

Costs, your time and the market, turned into three price options you can compare.

I run [your business] in [city]. I want to price [the product or service].
My costs: [materials, tools, fees, per item or per month]. My time: [hours it takes]. What similar businesses charge: [prices you know, or "unknown"].
Give me three price options (lower, middle, higher). For each one: the price, how much I keep after costs and my time, and who it suits best.
Show your working step by step so I can check the math. Say which numbers were mine and which you assumed. Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

What customers really say

Paste your reviews and see what people actually praise and complain about.

Below are reviews of my business: [paste 10 to 30 reviews]. They come from different places.
Group what customers say into themes. For each theme give: how many reviews mention it, whether it is praise or a complaint, and one short quote.
Then list the 3 things I should keep doing and the 3 things I should fix first.
Use only what is in the reviews. Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

Voice

Rehearse a hard conversation in English

Practise before the real conversation: a price negotiation, a complaint, or a pitch to a store buyer. Use the voice mode in ChatGPT or Gemini. It plays the other person out loud, and you answer out loud. Open the app on your phone, start voice mode, and say the prompt below in your own words.

Let's rehearse a hard conversation, out loud. You play [the other person: a store buyer / an unhappy customer / a supplier], who is [their mood: polite but hard to convince / upset about a late order].
I run [your business] in [city]. I want to practise [what you need to do: asking for a higher price / answering a complaint / pitching my product] in English.
Speak slowly, keep each turn short, then wait for me. Stay in your role and be realistic, not easy on me.
When I say "stop", step out of the role and tell me where I sounded unsure, which phrases could be clearer or more polite in English, and one thing to say differently next time. Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

Translation apps. A live translation app is fine for everyday talk. But anything that binds you, such as a price, a contract or a deadline, goes in writing, so both sides can check the exact words.

Small tools

Build a quote calculator

Describe how you price a job, and ask the AI to build a small working page right in the chat. Type in the numbers, and it shows the price.

I run [your business] in [city]. Here is how I price a job: [describe it, for example: $X per hour, $Y per guest, a travel fee of $Z beyond N km, a minimum charge of $W].
Build me a small quote calculator as one working web page, right here in this chat. It should ask for [the inputs, for example: hours, number of guests, distance], then show the price with a short line-by-line breakdown.
Use only the prices I gave you. Big buttons and clear text, so it works on a phone.
After you build it, list three test jobs for me to try, including one very small and one very large, with the price you expect for each, so I can check the math myself. Flag anything you weren't sure about instead of smoothing it over.

Test it with jobs whose price you already know. If something is wrong, tell the AI what: "the travel fee should only start after 20 km". What it builds lives in the chat. Putting it on your own website is a bigger step, for another day.

Meetings

Turn talk into a record

A recorded meeting or a voice memo becomes a summary, a list of decisions, and who owes what by when.

Below is a transcript of [a meeting with … / my voice memo about …].
Write a five-line summary, the decisions we made, and a to-do list: who owes what, by when.
Keep dates in the words people used. Don't turn "next Friday" into a date unless it's clear.
List anything discussed but not decided separately, as open.

[paste the transcript]

No transcript yet? The free Meeting Note app records a conversation and prepares the transcript, summary and to-dos for you. You install your own private copy, with no card and no subscription.

Assistants that act for you

Some AI assistants do more than answer. Once you connect them, they can read your email and your files, and write messages for you. That can save a lot of time, and it means every connection is your decision. Go through this checklist before you switch anything on.

• Read-only first. Start with the setting that lets it read, not send.
• "Ask me every time." Choose the option that asks you before it sends or changes anything.
• Give it the least it needs. Share one folder, not your whole Drive.
• Say what it must never do. For example: never give out your home address, and never agree to a price below your lowest price.
• Take access back. When you stop using an assistant, remove its access. For a Google account, go to myaccount.google.com/connections.
• It drafts, you approve. Read every message before it goes out.

Your first seven days

One small task a day, about 20 minutes each. Every one of them works on a phone. Keep this list where you will see it, and tick each day off.

The free toolbox, and what a paid plan buys

• ChatGPT (free). The all-rounder: files, photos, web search and voice. Uploads and voice have daily caps, and in Canada the free plan shows ads.
• Claude (free). The careful writer. Best of these for long documents and for text you're going to put your name on.
• Gemini (free). Comes with a Google account. It can work with your Gmail and Drive once you connect them.
• Gemini Notebook (free). Formerly NotebookLM. It answers only from your own documents and shows you where. Use it when a made-up answer would be costly.
• Canva (free). Design with some AI built in, capped each month. The free plan covers most of what a small business actually prints or posts.
• Your phone's dictation. Free, already installed, and the fastest way to get a long, detailed instruction out of your head.

Free limits last checked on September 27, 2026. They change every few months.

What a paid plan actually buys

Three things the free version already does

• Give it eyes. Photograph a receipt, a menu, a whiteboard, a handwritten note, a form someone faxed you years ago. It reads all of them.
• Give it the file. Upload the PDF, the spreadsheet, the contract. Don't retype it and don't summarize it yourself first: you'll summarize away the part that mattered.
• Give it the web. Say: check the current page before you answer. Otherwise it's answering from memory, and its memory has a date on it.

What's next in the series

This talk is Session 1 of OCCA's We Thrive BC, Cohort 2. Two more sessions are about AI:

• Tuesday, October 6: AI for Your Marketing Content
• Tuesday, November 24: Set Up Your Own AI Tools

See OCCA's full schedule on occabc.ca. OCCA may change dates and topics.