Getting Better Results from AI:
A Hands-On Workshop

Most of us have already discovered that AI can answer questions, write emails, plan trips, explain complicated subjects, help with research, and generate ideas. The more interesting question is why it sometimes gives you exactly what you need and at other times produces something generic, inaccurate, or simply not very useful.

In this two-hour hands-on class, we will explore how to get much better results from AI by learning to ask better questions. Rather than focusing on the technology itself, we will work through practical situations you might encounter: planning a trip, researching a purchase, changing the look of a house or a piece of furniture, improving a piece of writing, understanding a complicated topic, organizing information, and using AI to help solve everyday problems.

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We will look at what makes a good prompt, how much information AI really needs, when to give it a role or a point of view, how to refine an answer that misses the mark, and how to make AI challenge your assumptions rather than simply agree with you. We will also discuss one of the most important skills of all: knowing when not to trust an answer and when to verify the information yourself.

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This will not be a lecture-only class. Please bring a laptop or tablet and be prepared to work. Throughout the session, we will give you short assignments so you can experiment with different prompts, compare the results, and see immediately how small changes in what you ask can make a surprisingly large difference in what you get back.

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By the end of the class, you should be able to use AI more deliberately. You will also leave with a practical collection of prompts and prompt formulas that you can adapt for your own use.

AI is remarkably capable, but it still needs direction. Think of this class as a lesson in becoming a much better director.

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Betsy Fox is a brand strategist and founder of Forklift Foods, a consulting firm specializing in food, beverage, and hospitality brands. Over the course of her career, she has helped companies clarify their positioning, understand changing consumer behavior, and turn complex ideas into clear, useful strategies. She uses AI extensively in both her professional and everyday life, from research, writing, and analysis to more advanced work helping clients improve how their brands appear in AI-generated search and recommendations. She also develops custom AI agents for clients to support specific business needs and workflows.

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Mike Hrenko is a longtime engineer and technologist whose career has spanned high-tech, communications, healthcare, and finance, often in senior technical and technology leadership roles. A lifelong tinkerer and early adopter, he has spent years exploring emerging technologies and, more recently, pushing AI to see what it can and can’t do. Betsy claims he knows much more than she does about the subject and has roped him into participation against his will.