GeekThangs

A guided walkthrough

Learn about a topic

No signup, no jargon, about five minutes to your first real answer. Works for any topic under the sun.

The skill: turning AI into a patient teacher who explains in everyday words, asks what you already know, and never makes you feel behind for asking. The secret is a prompt that makes it ask you questions back.

Pick the thing you have been nodding along to

  • A money topic HSAs, index funds, what refinancing actually does. The things everyone assumes you already understand.
  • Something changing in your industry A new rule, a new tool, a new way customers expect to pay. You need the working version, not a seminar.
  • The tech your customers mention AI itself, crypto, "the algorithm." You would like to hold your own the next time it comes up.
  • Something your kid is into The game, the app, the thing at dinner. Twenty minutes gets you to real questions instead of nods.

The steps below work for every one of them. The only thing that changes is the topic you drop into the prompt.

Get up to speed on anything, start to finish

What it doesYou name the topic. AI gives you the short version in plain English, then asks what you already know and why you are asking, and uses your answers to teach the next layer. Ten minutes in, you know the shape of the whole thing.

The toolChatGPT (free, no account needed) or Claude (free, quick sign-in). Both make fine teachers.

  1. Name your topic, and your why

    Decide what you want to understand and what for: to make a decision, to talk with a customer, or just to stop nodding along. The why changes what a good explanation looks like, so you will drop it into the prompt too.

  2. Open a free AI tool

    In your web browser, open one of these. You will see a message box you can type in, like a text message.

    ChatGPT ↗ free, no account needed Claude ↗ free, quick sign-in

  3. Copy the teaching prompt

    Tap the green button. Notice the middle of the prompt: it tells the AI to ask you questions. That line is the difference between a lecture and a lesson.

    Teach me about: [THE TOPIC, AND WHY IT IS ON YOUR MIND]

Assume I am smart but brand new to this. Plain English; if a technical word is unavoidable, define it in the same sentence.

Start with:
1. The 30-second version: what it is and why people keep talking about it.
2. The five things that actually matter, one line each.
3. What people most often get wrong about it.

Then ask me 2 or 3 short questions about what I already know and what I need this for, and use my answers to teach the next layer.

Rules:
- Everyday examples over textbook definitions.
- If experts genuinely disagree about something, say so instead of quietly picking a side.
- End each round by asking if I want to go deeper, see examples, or be quizzed.

    The [highlighted] parts are your blanks. Swap them after you paste.

  4. Swap in your topic and send

    Paste it into the message box, put your topic and your why where the highlighted part is, and send. The plain-English rundown comes back in seconds.

  5. Answer its questions

    This is the step people skip, and it is the whole trick. When it asks what you know and what you need, answer honestly. Every answer you give makes the next explanation sharper. Then keep pulling the thread: "give me an example," "quiz me," "go deeper on the second one."

AI can state a wrong fact with total confidence. Before you act on anything that matters, especially money or legal moves, verify the specifics like you would a friend's advice.

New to all this? The Start here page is the foundation

Where to go from here

That was one skill. The same trick, tuned for the jobs you repeat every week, fills a whole shelf.

See the Pre-Made Prompts New to AI? Start Here

Or try another walkthrough