Business · Problem: I want honest feedback on my work
How do I get honest, useful feedback from AI instead of praise?
Tell AI to act as a demanding reviewer, give it the goal and audience of your work, and ask for problems before strengths. By default AI tends to be polite and encouraging. Asking for a score against clear criteria, and the three biggest weaknesses first, gets you feedback you can actually use.
When to use this
Before you send a proposal, publish a post, submit a design or present to a client.
Copy this prompt
Build my own versionAct as a tough but fair reviewer. Do not flatter me. What this is: [proposal / post / slide deck / design description] Who it is for: [audience] What it must achieve: [goal] """ [paste your work] """ 1. Score it out of 10 on: clarity, persuasiveness, relevance to the audience, and structure. 2. List the 3 biggest weaknesses first, with the exact line or part. 3. For each weakness, show a better version. 4. Then list what works and should stay. 5. One question the audience will ask that my work does not answer.
Replace each [bracket] with your own details. Works in ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot and Meta AI.
Example
What you type in
A one-page training proposal for a hospital HR team.
What you can expect back (shortened)
Clarity 6/10. Weakness 1: the first paragraph talks about AI trends, not the hospital's problem. Better: "Your nurses spend 40 minutes a shift on reports…" (use your own real figure)
Common mistake
Asking "is this good?". You will almost always hear yes.
Better follow-up prompt
Rewrite the whole piece with all your suggested fixes, and mark what changed.
Related problems
Want your team to work like this?
This prompt is one piece of a workflow Han Yong teaches in full. See 1-to-1 AI training.