I write a lot of prompts. And despite spending most of my working day testing AI, I've realized that I spend way too much time rewriting the same prompt in dozens of different ways.
From researching topics and finding sources to simplifying tech jargon and summarizing model notes, I knew I needed a better system. That's why Gemini's Skills caught my attention. Skills let you give Gemini a set of reusable instructions for a particular task.
Once you've created one, you can call it from a regular Gemini conversation using a slash command instead of explaining what you want every single time.
Now instead of repeatedly explaining how I want Gemini to research something, I can call /research. Instead of reminding it that I want criticism rather than compliments, I can use /critic.
Here's what I made.
First, what are Gemini Skills?
If you've used Gemini Gems before, the idea will sound familiar. A Skill is very similar because it's a reusable set of instructions that tells Gemini how you want a particular kind of task handled. The big difference for what I'm doing here is that I can invoke a Skill from a Gemini conversation by typing / followed by its name.
Creating a Skill doesn't start with the slash command itself. I first tell Gemini what I want it to create, with a prompt. From there, Gemini then creates and saves the Skill. You can also build one manually from Gemini's Skills settings, where you give it a name, description and instructions. Once it's saved and enabled, that's when the shortcut comes in.
Once you do the /command in a regular Gemini conversation, you won't have to repeat those instructions again. Gemini can also recognize when one of my enabled Skills is relevant and use it automatically, so I don't necessarily have to call it by name every time.
1. /research
Research is one of those tasks where I almost never want an AI to simply answer the first version of my question. I don't want the answer watered down because I want to investigate first. I need reliable sources and facts checked.
So /research is a great first Skill to make.
Skill prompt: You are my research assistant. Investigate the topic I give you before answering. Prioritize primary sources, official documentation and authoritative reporting over summaries or aggregators. Cross-check important claims against multiple reliable sources when possible. Separate confirmed facts from claims, speculation or opinion, and clearly flag anything you can't independently verify. Focus on the most important and useful findings rather than giving me a generic overview. Include links to the sources you used so I can check the information myself.
2. /explain
AI is fantastic at explaining complicated things. At the same time, It's also pretty fantastic at replacing one piece of jargon with six new pieces of jargon.
My /explain Skill is designed to stop that.
Skill prompt: Explain the topic I give you in clear, everyday language. Assume I'm intelligent but unfamiliar with the subject and don't assume I already know the terminology. Avoid jargon when a simpler explanation will work, and define any technical terms you need to use. Start with the simplest explanation of what it is and why it matters, then add more detail if it's helpful. Use a real-world analogy or example when it genuinely makes the concept easier to understand. Don't make the explanation more complicated than the thing I'm trying to learn.
3. /compare
Ask an AI to compare two products and there's a decent chance you'll get a giant table containing every difference it can think of. I rarely need that.
What I want to know is which differences are actually going to affect my decision.
Skill prompt: Compare the two products, services or options I give you based on the differences that will actually matter in everyday use. Don't overwhelm me with every specification or minor distinction you can find. Focus on meaningful differences in things like price, features, performance, ease of use and limitations, depending on what I'm comparing. Explain where each option has an advantage and any important trade-offs. Finish by telling me which option makes the most sense for different types of users or situations rather than declaring one universal winner.
4. /critic
I don't want AI to be so nice to me, so this Skill might be my favorite. AI chatbots have an annoying tendency to be agreeable. Give one an idea and ask what it thinks, and you can end up with an enthusiastic explanation of why your mediocre idea is actually brilliant. That's not always useful.
Skill prompt: Critique the idea, argument or writing I give you instead of defaulting to praise or agreement. Look specifically for weak assumptions, missing information, contradictions, logical gaps and anything that doesn't hold up under scrutiny. Tell me what isn't working and why, and give me the strongest argument against my position when relevant. Don't invent problems just to be critical, and acknowledge what works when there's a specific reason to do so. Prioritize useful, specific criticism I can actually act on rather than reassurance or generic feedback.
5. /rewrite
This is another prompt I find myself writing constantly. I'll give an AI a text or email I've written and ask it to make me sound less irritated or to rework anything that isn't as clear as it should be. Then I have to add the important part: don't change more than you need to. This one is a game changer when you're trying to get your point across without sounding too emotional.
Skill prompt: Rewrite the text I give you to make it clearer, tighter and more natural while preserving my original meaning, voice and tone. Remove repetition, awkward phrasing and unnecessary words without making the writing sound generic or overly polished. Don't introduce new facts, ideas or claims that aren't in the original. Keep my personality and phrasing wherever they already work, and don't make the writing more formal unless the original is formal. Return the improved version without explaining every change you made.
6. /brief
Sometimes I don't want research so much as I want to get up to speed. Maybe I'm about to watch a spinoff and barely remember the original show. Maybe I'm going into a meeting about something unfamiliar. Maybe everyone is suddenly talking about a company I've never heard of.
Skill prompt: Brief me on the topic I give you as if I need to get up to speed quickly. Assume I have limited prior knowledge and focus on the essential context rather than giving me an exhaustive explainer. Tell me what it is, what's happening now, why it matters and the key people, companies, events or terms I'm likely to hear referenced. Include important recent developments when relevant. Prioritize what I actually need to know and keep the answer concise enough that I can understand the topic in a few minutes.
7. /strategy
One of my recurring frustrations with AI is that sometimes I want it to think through something before racing ahead with a solution. That's when I just want a strategy. These instructions tell Gemini to examine my goal, identify information I'm missing, break the task into logical stages, flag potential problems and then give me the plan.
Skill prompt: Act as a strategist rather than jumping straight to a solution. Examine the goal I give you and think through the best way to accomplish it before recommending what I should do. Identify any important information I'm missing, break the task into logical stages and flag potential problems, dependencies or trade-offs I should consider. Where there are multiple approaches, explain which makes the most sense and why. Finish with a clear, practical step-by-step plan I can follow.
Try making your own
These seven aren't meant to be the seven Skills everyone should create. They are pertinent to me and my work and solve something I find irritating about using AI every day: repeatedly explaining my preferences.
Your list of Skills might look completely different. For example, if you're learning another language, you might make /practice. Or, if you're constantly trying to understand emails full of corporate jargon, /translatework could turn them into normal English.
The point is that you'll save time when you don't have to rewrite the same prompt ever time. And you can always adjust the Skill as your workflow or needs change.
Give my Skills or try writing some of your own. Let me know what you think in the comments.
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