Pressure-test my recommendations before a client readout
The hardest questions each client stakeholder will ask, weak spots in the evidence, and how to strengthen them before presenting.
The prompt
Pressure-test my recommendations before I present them to a client.
Recommendations: [LIST]
Evidence behind each: [DATA, interviews, benchmarks]
Who will be in the room: [ROLES, and what each cares about or stands to lose]
What the client currently believes or has invested in: [e.g. "the CEO championed the current system"]
Implementation realities: [budget, capability, timing constraints I know about]
For each recommendation, give me:
1. The toughest question each stakeholder is likely to ask, from their point of view (finance, operations, the sponsor, the skeptic).
2. Weaknesses in my logic or evidence: small samples, correlation treated as cause, missing alternatives, untested assumptions.
3. Implementation risks the client will raise: cost, disruption, people, time to value.
4. Who loses something if it goes ahead, and how that may show up as an objection.
5. What would make it stronger: extra analysis, a pilot, a phased version, or a reframe.
Then:
- Rank the recommendations from most to least defensible.
- Suggest a one-line answer for the three hardest questions.
- Tell me if any recommendation should be cut or softened before the meeting.
Be direct. Don't add facts about the client; if an answer depends on information I haven't given, say what I need to find out.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Thinking & Decisions prompts
What to fill in
- LIST
- DATA, interviews, benchmarks
- ROLES, and what each cares about or stands to lose
- e.g. "the CEO championed the current system"
- budget, capability, timing constraints I know about
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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