Your walk-away point, their likely interests, opening moves and answers to hard objections.
Pre-mortem
Imagines the project already failed and works backwards to find the risks early.
When to use: Before launching a project, product, event or migration.
Project / decision: [DESCRIBE IT, INCLUDING GOAL, TIMELINE AND BUDGET].
It is 12 months from now and this project has clearly failed.
1. Write the 7 most likely reasons it failed — be concrete, not generic.
2. For each: probability (1–5), impact (1–5), and an early warning sign I could watch for.
3. Sort by probability × impact.
4. For the top 3, propose a specific prevention step I can take in the next two weeks.
5. Finish with one question I should answer before going ahead.
Weighted decision matrix
Structures a decision with criteria, weights and a sensitivity check.
When to use: Choices with several options and criteria: suppliers, candidates, tools, locations.
I need to decide: [THE DECISION]. Options: [OPTION A, OPTION B, …]. What matters to me: [PRIORITIES, CONSTRAINTS].
1. Propose 5–7 decision criteria and a weight for each (total 100). Explain the weights in one line each.
2. Score every option 1–10 per criterion and compute weighted totals in a table.
3. Sensitivity check: which single weight change would flip the winner?
4. Name the option you recommend, the biggest risk of choosing it, and how to reduce that risk.
5. Suggest a small, cheap test I could run before committing.
Structured extraction
Converts a messy transcript into decisions, owners, deadlines and open questions.
When to use: After meetings and calls — turn notes or a transcript into decisions and tasks.
Here is a meeting transcript or notes: [PASTE — tip: use Hypervision’s Speech-to-text tool to transcribe audio locally].
Extract:
1. Decisions made (one line each).
2. Action items as a table: task | owner | deadline | depends on. If owner or deadline is missing, write "?" — do not guess.
3. Open questions and disagreements.
4. Risks or blockers mentioned.
5. A 5-line summary for someone who wasn’t there.
Use the language of the transcript.
Red teaming
Attacks your plan from the viewpoint of competitors, customers and sceptics.
When to use: Before you pitch an idea, sign a deal or publish a plan.
My idea / plan / pitch: [DESCRIBE IT].
Attack it from four angles, 3 sharp points each:
1. A competitor who wants to beat me.
2. A customer who is not convinced.
3. An investor who has seen 1,000 pitches.
4. A regulator or lawyer.
Then: which 2 objections are the most dangerous, and what evidence or change would neutralise each?
Finish with an improved one-paragraph version of my idea.