AI Tools & Prompting Fundamentals
Modern tools, core prompt patterns and one workflow rebuilt on the day. The fundamentals that stick.
Before a team can work well with AI, each person on it needs to understand how these tools actually work and have a prompt approach that holds up. AI Tools and Prompting Fundamentals is a half-day workshop for professionals who want to get past the basics: past copy-pasting from ChatGPT, past getting inconsistent results, past wondering whether they're using the right tool for the job. You leave with a clear mental model, a portable set of prompt patterns, and one workflow you've already rebuilt.
Built around real work, not a curriculum.
A clear picture of the modern AI tool landscape and how to pick between tools
Five prompt patterns that work across every major AI tool
One workflow rebuilt using your own real work during the session
An understanding of where AI breaks and what to check
A personal prompt library with your first working prompts
Enough grounding to keep experimenting on your own after the session
By the end of this program.
Describe how modern AI tools work and choose the right tool for a given task
Apply five core prompt patterns to professional writing, research and analysis tasks
Rebuild one of your own workflows using structured prompting
Identify hallucination, privacy and accuracy risks and know what to check before using AI output
None. Suitable for anyone with a laptop and an email account. If you've used ChatGPT once and found it underwhelming, this workshop is right for you.
Half-day (3.5 hours). Pre-work: 15 minutes. Set up accounts for the tools on the checklist we send beforehand, and pick one workflow or task from your job to rebuild on the day.
How the day runs.
The first part of the workshop covers the tool landscape and the five prompt patterns, with worked examples tested live. The second part is applied: each participant rebuilds one task or workflow from their own work using the techniques from the first half. We close with a guardrails session: what AI gets wrong, how to spot it, and the three checks every professional should run before using AI output in their work.
The curriculum.
There are more AI tools than most people have time to evaluate. This module gives you a working map: the major tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity), what each one is actually good at, what they cost, and how to choose between them without reading another comparison article. We also cover the tool types you're less likely to have heard of: document tools, research tools, and the sector-specific assistants appearing in professional software. By the end of this module you'll know which tool to reach for and why.
The reason most people get inconsistent results from AI tools is that they're prompting freeform. This module covers the five patterns that consistently outperform: Role (who the AI is being), Structure (what shape the answer should take), Examples (what good looks like), Constraints (what to avoid), and Iteration (how to refine without starting over). Each pattern is demonstrated with a worked example, then practised live by participants.
Every participant brings one task or workflow they actually do at work: a type of email they write, a report they produce, research they conduct, a document they review. Using the five patterns from the previous module, we rebuild it together with a facilitator. We capture the before version, build the after version, and compare on time and quality. The rebuilt workflow goes into your personal prompt library. This is the part of the day most participants say they use every day afterwards.
AI tools are useful and unreliable in equal measure. This final module covers the failure modes every professional needs to know: hallucination (AI confidently stating things that aren't true), outdated information, bias in training data, and the privacy risks of pasting sensitive information into an external model. For each failure mode we cover how to spot it, how to reduce the risk with better prompting, and what always requires a human check. The module ends with a three-point checklist participants can use before relying on any AI output.
What you walk out with.
A personal prompt library with at least five working prompts from your own professional tasks, and one documented workflow rebuild with a before-and-after comparison.
However your team works.
On-site
We come to your office. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane.
Online
Live, facilitated. Same outcomes, anywhere in Australia.
Hybrid
On-site core + remote breakouts for distributed teams.
- Practitioner-led facilitation from an operator who uses these tools daily
- Tool landscape overview with tool-selection framework
- Five prompt pattern templates with worked examples
- One live workflow rebuild per participant with facilitator support
- Personal prompt library started in the session
- Three-point AI output checklist for ongoing use
- 30-day Slack-style follow-up channel for questions
- LevelEight Academy completion certificate
Common questions.
Is this the right program for complete beginners?+
Yes. This is the entry point. If you've never used an AI tool or only used one a handful of times, start here.
How is this different from the AI Foundations Workshop?+
Fundamentals is the individual-focused entry point. It runs for half a day and is built around one person's workflow. The Foundations Workshop is designed for teams of 6-30 and includes a team prompt library, a 30-day adoption plan, and a deeper applied section. Do Fundamentals first if you're upskilling individually; do Foundations if you're bringing your team.
Can this run as a public workshop?+
Yes. Public workshops run monthly in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane with mixed participant groups. Private sessions are available for teams of 6 or more.
Do I need to install any software?+
No software to install. You need a laptop and a modern browser. We send an account setup checklist beforehand — most accounts are free to create.
Can this run online?+
Yes. Online format runs the same content with the same outcomes. The applied section works well remotely with breakout rooms for the workflow rebuild.
I already use AI tools but want to get better. Is this still useful?+
Yes. Participants who already use AI regularly often find the structured prompt pattern approach the biggest shift — they were getting results, just not consistently.
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