1In one sentence
Here are ten things to type today, each showing one thing Gemini is good at, so that you feel what it can do instead of reading about it.
2New words
- Summarize — make something long into something short that keeps the important points.
- Brainstorm — produce many ideas quickly without judging them yet.
- Draft — a first version of a piece of writing that you will improve.
- Rewrite — keep the meaning, change the words.
3Why you would want it
Most people type one vague question, get a vague answer, and decide the tool is "fine". These ten are written properly: each says what you want, who it is for, and how long. Copy them exactly, then change the parts in [brackets] to your own life. The running example is Sam, who runs a small bakery.
| # | What it shows | Type this |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Explain | Explain how [sourdough starter] works to a 12-year-old, in 6 short lines. |
| 2 | Summarize | Paste any long text, then: Summarize this in 5 bullet points, then tell me the one thing I must not miss. |
| 3 | Rewrite | Paste your own paragraph: Rewrite this to be shorter and friendlier. Keep my meaning. Add no new facts. |
| 4 | Translate | Translate this into [French], polite and formal: [text] |
| 5 | Plan | Make a simple 3-day plan to [prepare Sam's Bakery for a weekend market], one hour a day. |
| 6 | Compare | Compare [leasing] and [buying] a delivery van for a bakery that drives 15,000 km a year. Table first, then your recommendation. |
| 7 | Brainstorm | Give me 15 names for a [new cinnamon roll]. Mix short, funny and classy. |
| 8 | Check | Here is an email I wrote. Point out anything unclear, rude or wrong, then show a fixed version. |
| 9 | Teach | Teach me the 5 most useful [Spanish] words for serving customers, with how to say them. Then quiz me. |
| 10 | Draft | Draft a 6-line message to my [flour supplier] asking for the [late delivery] to arrive by Friday. Polite but firm. |
4Try it now
- Click "New chat" at the top left.
- Do prompts 1, 5 and 10 first; each takes under a minute.
- For prompts 2 and 8, paste real text of yours.
- After any answer, reply Make it shorter or Make it more formal and watch it adjust.
5What you will see
Ten very different answers: a child-level explanation, a tidy summary, a table with a verdict, a list of names, a quiz that waits for your reply. The point is not any single answer; it is that the same box did all ten.
6Watch out
- One-word prompts ("van?") get one-word quality. The brackets are where your details go; fill them.
- Gemini likes long answers and bold headings. If that annoys you, say Plain text, no headings, under 100 words and it obeys for the rest of the chat.
7Go further
Pick the prompt you liked most and ask What else could you do with this? Then read Chapter 1.5 to understand the model menu, which decides how smart the answer is.