Capstone: Putting It All Together

Your Final Challenge

Congratulations—you’ve reached the capstone! This lesson puts everything together with a realistic scenario that tests your new skills.

In this lesson, you’ll:

• Work through a multi-step realistic project
• Apply techniques from all previous lessons
• Create a reference guide you can use after the course

The Scenario

You’ve just been asked to lead the launch of a new product feature at your company. You have one week to:

1. Analyze competitive offerings
2. Draft the launch announcement
3. Create a FAQ for the support team
4. Write talking points for the sales team

Let’s use AI to help with each phase—applying everything you’ve learned.

Phase 1: Competitive Analysis

Your Approach

Step 1: Load context (Lesson 4)

“Before I ask for help with a competitive analysis, here’s context about my situation:

• I work at [company type]
• We’re launching [feature description]
• Our main competitors are [list 3-4]
• Our target customers are [description]
• What differentiates us is [key differentiator]

Do you have any clarifying questions before we begin the competitive analysis?”

Step 2: Structured request with format (Lesson 5)

“Create a competitive analysis comparing our new feature to what [Competitor A], [Competitor B], and [Competitor C] offer.

Format as a table with these columns: | Feature Aspect | Our Offering | Competitor A | Competitor B | Competitor C |

Cover these aspects:

• Core functionality
• Pricing model
• Key differentiators
• Weaknesses

After the table, add a section called ‘Our Competitive Advantages’ with 3-5 bullet points.”

Step 3: Calibrate confidence (Lesson 7)

“Rate your confidence in this analysis. Which competitor details should I verify with their actual websites?”

Try It Yourself

Using the templates above, adapt them to a real or hypothetical product launch you could work on. Practice the full sequence.

Phase 2: Launch Announcement

Your Approach

Step 1: Persona + Task (Lesson 3 - RTCF)

“You are a senior product marketing manager who writes compelling, clear product announcements.

Write a launch announcement for our new [feature name]. This will be:

• Posted on our company blog
• Sent to our email list (50,000 subscribers)
• Shared on LinkedIn

The announcement should:

• Lead with the customer benefit, not the feature
• Include one customer quote (you can draft a placeholder)
• Be 400-500 words
• End with clear next steps for readers

Tone: Professional but warm, not corporate-speak”

Step 2: Iterate (Lesson 6) After the first draft:

“This is good. Make these changes:

• Make the headline more benefit-focused
• Shorten paragraph 2 by 30%
• Add a sense of urgency to the CTA
• Make sure it sounds like a human wrote it, not AI”

Step 3: Format for different channels (Lesson 5)

“Now create two variations:

1. A LinkedIn post version (under 300 words, conversational)
2. An email subject line + preview text (under 100 characters for subject)”

Phase 3: Support Team FAQ

Your Approach

Step 1: Use few-shot prompting (Lesson 4)

“Create a FAQ document for our support team about the new [feature].

Format each Q&A like this example:

Q: Can I use this feature on mobile? A: Yes, the feature is fully available on iOS and Android apps. However, initial setup must be done on desktop. After setup, all functionality works on mobile. Internal note: If customer reports mobile issues, check their app version—must be 4.2+

Cover these question categories:

1. Access and setup (3-4 questions)
2. Usage and limitations (4-5 questions)
3. Troubleshooting (3-4 questions)
4. Billing/pricing (2-3 questions)”

Step 2: Stress-test with premortem (Lesson 7)

“Now imagine the feature launches and support tickets explode. What questions did we miss? Add 5 more FAQ entries for questions we might not have anticipated.”

Quick check: Before moving on, can you recall the key concept we just covered? Try to explain it in your own words before continuing.

Phase 4: Sales Talking Points

Your Approach

Step 1: Persona stack (Lesson 7)

“You are a sales enablement manager AND a top-performing sales rep.

Create talking points for our sales team about the new [feature]. Include:

1. Elevator Pitch (30 seconds)
2. Key Value Props (3-5 bullets with proof points)
3. Objection Handlers
   • “We already have a solution for this”
   • “What makes this different from [competitor]?”
   • “Is this worth the price increase?”
4. Discovery Questions (5 questions to identify good-fit prospects)

Write in direct, conversational language—not marketing-speak.”

Step 2: Steelman objections (Lesson 7)

“For the ‘We already have a solution’ objection, steelman the prospect’s position. What are legitimate reasons they might stick with their current solution? Then refine our response to address those legitimate concerns.”

Course Review: Your Prompting Toolkit

Here’s a summary of everything you’ve learned:

The Fundamentals

Quick Reference Prompts

Starting a complex task:

“Before I give you the task, let me load context: [context]. Do you have clarifying questions?”

Requesting specific format:

“Present your response as [format] with [structure]. Each [item] should include [requirements].”

Showing examples:

“Follow this format: [example input] → [example output]. Now apply this to: [actual input]”

Getting better reasoning:

“Think through this step-by-step before giving your final answer.”

Multiple perspectives:

“You are a [role 1] AND a [role 2]. Approach this from both perspectives.”

Testing your ideas:

“Steelman the opposing argument to my position.”

Iterating:

“This is good. Now make it [specific change] and [specific change].”

Reflection: Your Progress

Remember the self-assessment from Lesson 1? How often did you get good AI responses on the first try?

After this course, you should see significant improvement because you now:

• ✅ Understand how AI actually works (and its limitations)
• ✅ Structure prompts with Role, Task, Context, and Format
• ✅ Provide context effectively and use examples
• ✅ Specify output formats to get usable responses
• ✅ Recognize and fix common prompting mistakes
• ✅ Apply advanced techniques for complex tasks

Your Next Steps

1. Practice immediately. Use these techniques in your next AI interaction—today.

2. Create templates. Build a personal library of prompt templates for tasks you do repeatedly.

3. Browse the Skills Library. Check out pre-built AI skills that codify best practices: Browse Skills

4. Get your certificate. Complete the quiz below, then claim your certificate of completion.

Key Takeaways

• Break complex tasks into phases with clear context loading
• Iterate on responses rather than expecting perfection on the first try
• Combine techniques as needed—RTCF, few-shot, CoT, persona stacking
• Prompting is a skill—you’ll improve with practice
• You now have a toolkit that will make every AI interaction more effective

Congratulations! 🎉

You’ve completed AI Fundamentals!

You’re now equipped with the knowledge and techniques to get dramatically better results from AI assistants. The difference between you and someone who hasn’t taken this course isn’t access to better tools—it’s knowing how to communicate effectively with the tools everyone has.

Your final step: Pass the quiz above, then click “Get Your Certificate” to claim your certificate of completion.