Prompt · Role Prompting · Advanced

Role: Get a Stress-Tested Answer from a Specific Expert

Give the expert a situation. Set the stakes. Get pushback.

An advanced role prompt adds context, ranked priorities and a built-in counter-argument. Use it for decisions with real trade-offs.

About This Prompt

Author: Adam Bloom
AI Technique: Role Prompting
Level: Advanced
Best For: Business owners · High-stakes decisions
Last Updated: 2026-11-10
Last Reviewed: 2026-11-10

Role Prompt Template

You are an expert in [FIELD] as a [ROLE] with [YEARS] years advising [TYPE OF BUSINESS]. You have been the outside voice in rooms where the owner was too close to the decision. You have seen this situation before: [SITUATION]. Your priorities, in order: [PRIORITY 1], [PRIORITY 2], [PRIORITY 3]. You push back when my plan skips a hard question, and you say so plainly. Context I’m giving you: – Business: [SIZE, MODEL, MARGINS OR NUMBERS YOU KNOW] – Constraints: [BUDGET, TIMELINE, PEOPLE] – What I’ve already tried: [PAST ATTEMPTS] Work through my question in this order: 1. Restate the decision in one sentence. If I framed it wrong, say so. 2. Give your view in three sentences, in plain words. 3. List the five things you would check first, most important first. 4. Argue the other side. Make the strongest case against your own view. 5. Name the risks I may be missing, and rate each low, medium or high. 6. Give a next step for this week, this month and this quarter. 7. Say what would change your mind. Rules: – Flag any claim you can’t support with evidence. – Mark every number you assumed as an assumption. – If you need information I haven’t given, ask up to three questions first. – If my numbers look wrong, say so before you build on them. – If you must choose between my priorities, follow the order I gave you. – Use plain words. No jargon, no hype. – Write for a busy owner who will read this once. – Keep the whole answer under 400 words. My question: [MY QUESTION].

Free to use. Copy it, change it, share it. No credit needed.

What to Fill In

[FIELD]: the area of expertise, such as pricing for a service business.
[ROLE]: the job the AI plays, such as a finance lead.
[YEARS] and [TYPE OF BUSINESS]: how seasoned the expert is, and who they have advised.
[SITUATION]: the pattern the expert has seen before, in one sentence.
[PRIORITY 1 to 3]: what to protect, ranked. The first one wins a tie.
Context lines: your size, numbers, limits and past attempts. Use real figures, or leave a line out.
[MY QUESTION]: the decision you want a view on.

Example: An Advanced Role Prompt on Pricing

Illustrative example, not a client result

Input: Field: pricing for a service business. Role: finance lead. Years: 20. Business type: owner-run service firms. Situation: costs rose and prices stayed flat for two years. Priorities: margin, best clients, no surprises. Business: 12-person consulting firm, about $2M revenue, 28% margin. Constraints: change starts next quarter, no new hires. Tried: small discounts for annual contracts. Question: Should I raise prices 15% next quarter?

Prompt as sent:

You are an expert in pricing for a service business as a finance lead with 20 years advising owner-run service firms. You have been the outside voice in rooms where the owner was too close to the decision. You have seen this situation before: costs rose and prices stayed flat for two years. Your priorities, in order: margin, best clients, no surprises. You push back when my plan skips a hard question, and you say so plainly. Context I’m giving you: – Business: 12-person consulting firm, about $2M revenue, 28% margin – Constraints: change starts next quarter, no new hires – What I’ve already tried: small discounts for annual contracts Work through my question in this order: 1. Restate the decision in one sentence. If I framed it wrong, say so. 2. Give your view in three sentences, in plain words. 3. List the five things you would check first, most important first. 4. Argue the other side. Make the strongest case against your own view. 5. Name the risks I may be missing, and rate each low, medium or high. 6. Give a next step for this week, this month and this quarter. 7. Say what would change your mind. Rules: – Flag any claim you can’t support with evidence. – Mark every number you assumed as an assumption. – If you need information I haven’t given, ask up to three questions first. – If my numbers look wrong, say so before you build on them. – If you must choose between my priorities, follow the order I gave you. – Use plain words. No jargon, no hype. – Write for a busy owner who will read this once. – Keep the whole answer under 400 words. My question: Should I raise prices 15% next quarter?

Output (shortened):

Decision: Not “15% or not.” The real decision is how much, for which clients, and when.
View: Raise prices, but not a flat 15%. Tie the number to your cost growth. Test it on new work first.
Check first: Cost growth since your last raise. Churn you can absorb before it’s a net loss. Clients below your average rate. What similar firms charge. How much margin your top five clients carry.
Other side: Holding prices may keep clients through a soft market. If your clients are cutting budgets, a raise could cost more than it earns.
Risks: A surprise bill (high). Losing a top client (medium). Staff asked to defend a number they didn’t set (low).
Next: This week, pull costs and rates by client. This month, draft the new rate card and the notice. This quarter, apply it to new clients and give existing clients 60 days’ notice (assumption).
Would change my mind: If a few top clients carry most of your revenue, I’d phase the raise.

Flag: The 60 days’ notice is my assumption, not a figure from you. I can’t see your churn data, so check it before you decide.

Why the Role Prompt Works

The situation and ranked priorities give the AI something to weigh. The “other side” step forces an objection before the answer. The ask-first rule stops it from guessing at missing facts.

When the Role Prompt Doesn’t Work

A long prompt can bury the question. Cut any line the answer doesn’t need.
Arguing the other side surfaces objections. It is not a fact check. Verify any number before you act on it.
For a simple question, this is overkill. Use the simple version.

Research Behind This Prompt

Wang et al. (2023), Unleashing the Emergent Cognitive Synergy in Large Language Models: A Task-Solving Agent through Multi-Persona Self-Collaboration. Supports. Solo Performance Prompting had one model play several personas on the same task. It reduced factual errors and kept reasoning strong, but only in GPT-4, not in the weaker models tested.
Huang et al. (2023), Large Language Models Cannot Self-Correct Reasoning Yet. Challenges. Without outside feedback, models struggled to fix their own reasoning, and performance sometimes got worse. That bears on the “argue the other side” step.
Ferreira et al. (2026), Beyond Symmetric Agents: Cognitive Diversity and Multi-Agent Debate in Small Language Models. Mixed. In small models, debate beat a single answer by 3 to 7 points where there was room to improve, but at equal compute it tied or lost to simple voting. Persona prompting reduced accuracy.

What the Evidence Says

Mixed. Several personas helped in one study, but only on the strongest model. Models struggled to catch their own reasoning errors. In small models, debate beat a single answer but not simple voting, and personas cost accuracy. Use the steps for structure and the other-side step for objections, then check the facts yourself.

Sources last checked 2026-11-10.

Role Prompt FAQ

Why does the prompt state a situation and priorities?

They give the expert something to weigh. Without ranked priorities, the AI picks its own, and they may not be yours.

Why ask the AI to argue the other side?

It surfaces objections you would otherwise miss. It is not a fact check, so verify any claim before you act.

Is a longer prompt always better?

No. Length helps when the question has real trade-offs. For a simple question, use the simple version.

What does the ask-first rule do?

It lets the AI ask for missing facts instead of guessing. The cap of three questions keeps it from turning into an interview.

Why ask what would change the expert’s mind?

It shows what the advice depends on. If those facts turn out wrong, you know to rethink the plan.

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