Research / playbook

Read the argument behind the words.

Use five essential questions to understand a text’s claim, evidence, perspective, and implications.

KKeith Rumjahn·4 min read·Free

EXAMPLE OUTPUT · ILLUSTRATIVE

A proposal becomes a set of better questions.

Sample source: a proposal to replace a team’s weekly meeting with a written update.

The claim: A written update could reduce time spent in meetings.
The missing evidence: How much time does the current meeting take, and what decisions happen there?
The tradeoff: Writing may save group time but create more follow-up messages.
The next question: Which decisions still need a live conversation?

Illustrative analysis of a hypothetical proposal. The full workflow asks five questions grounded in the text you provide.

A summary can tell you what a document says without helping you decide what to make of it. This exercise asks five questions about the argument itself. Use it on an article, an essay, a proposal, or a report you are already reading.

YOU’LL WALK AWAY WITH

A structured reading note that you can check against the original text.

An AI assistant · your source material · web access for current research

01 / Give it a complete enough excerpt

Paste the text or a focused section with the surrounding context it needs. Include the title and author if available. If you provide only an excerpt, say so.

For a long report, work section by section before asking for a synthesis. The assistant should not assume that a missing argument appears elsewhere in material you have not supplied.

02 / Look at the questions before the answers

The five questions should cover the central argument, supporting ideas, evidence, the author’s purpose or perspective, and the implications. If all five merely repeat the headline, ask for a better set.

You can try answering the questions yourself before reading the assistant’s answers. That makes it easier to notice when a confident interpretation differs from what the text actually supports.

03 / Put it to work on a proposal

Imagine a proposal recommending a four-day workweek pilot. Useful questions include: what outcome is the pilot intended to improve, what evidence supports the proposal, what assumptions are being made about coverage, and how will success be measured?

The proposal’s claim and the truth of that claim are separate questions. This prompt helps you read the document; verifying its external evidence requires an additional research step.

READY TO MAKE IT YOURS?

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