Turn Your Bookshelf Into an Expert Roundtable With This Prompt
How to Get Past Contradictory Advice and Find Clarity by Letting Your Favorite Authors Argue Your Case
Welcome to Words Into Works. You’ve read the books. You know the frameworks. But when you need them—during the crisis, the decision, the moment of friction—the knowledge disappears. Each week, I turn one proven framework into an AI prompt that catches you before insight becomes regret. Not summaries. Not inspiration. Executable tools that close the gap between knowing and doing. Paid subscribers get every prompt, tested and ready.
TL;DR
Most advice leaves you feeling stuck, unsure which way to turn. This week’s prompt—The Expert Roundtable—lets you gather your favorite authors, pressure-test their ideas, and leave with one clear, testable next step. You’ll use a custom AI walkthrough to extract the real levers behind your challenge, assemble a council of experts, and watch them debate your specific case—so you act on the best idea.
You can read a dozen books on the same problem—dog-ear the pages, scribble in the margins, highlight the same line three times—and end up more confused than when you started.
Not because the advice is bad. Because it contradicts itself, and you’re the only one who has to choose.
One expert says sprint. Another says wait. The contradiction sits there like a dare. One insists on a five-year plan; another says, “Just start and figure it out as you go.” The advice stacks up, but nothing aligns with your situation.
What if, instead of chasing the perfect answer, you could bring your bookshelf to life?
Imagine gathering your most trusted authors in a single room, letting them debate, challenge each other, and push their ideas to the breaking point, all while focusing on your real dilemma.
That electric exchange you just imagined?
That’s What The Expert Roundtable Does.
Imagine asking how to test a business idea without overthinking.
Cal Newport leans in first. Deep Work suggests that you need uninterrupted blocks, but that assumes a clear mission. Do you have that? Before you answer, Seth Godin cuts across: Forget the mission. Ship something small tomorrow and let the market tell you what matters.
The Skeptic—let’s say Oliver Burkeman—raises an eyebrow: Both sound tidy. But you mentioned you have a day job and two kids. When exactly are these uninterrupted blocks happening?
Behind exchanges like these lies a deliberately engineered structure that follows a step-by-step progression, where each phase builds upon the last.
Here’s an overview of the prompt’s structure:
Intake & Discovery
The session opens softly. You don’t need perfect clarity. But beneath that invitation lies the critical move: what I call lever extraction.
Why does this matter?
Because “I can’t finish projects” gets you a to-do list. “I lose energy at mile seven because I have no finish ritual” gets you a behavioral intervention.
The lever determines the tool.
Custom Panel Construction
Once the core levers are identified, the next phase begins: assembling a custom “panel.”
This is where the personas come in. Each expert receives a cast card with their assigned role, core belief, and a challenge they bring.
The prompt even includes special roles, such as a Wildcard (for unexpected insights) and a Skeptic (to provide grounded, honest realism), ensuring dynamic discussion.
So, when you’re stuck on a business problem, you might get Cal Newport, Seth Godin, and... a historian like Jill Lepore, who reframes your “pivot” as a pattern that’s collapsed civilizations before.
That cross-disciplinary collision is where breakthroughs hide. And you get final approval.
In fact, you can swap experts or request a complete re-panel before the discussion begins.
The Live Simulation
Here’s where the friction ignites. Imagine the Chair cutting in: That sounds tidy, but where’s the trap?
Two experts lock horns.
One says, Steelman: Your emphasis on speed acknowledges urgency. Challenge: But speed without direction burns credibility.
And when theory meets your reality? If you’ve mentioned constraints—a tight timeline, no budget, limited authority—the Chair triggers a Constraint Remix.
Each expert reframes their advice within your actual world. No more, Well, in an ideal scenario...
This is counsel that fits the room you’re actually standing in.
Synthesis & Action
The prompt refuses to end at talk. Instead, it synthesizes where experts align and clash, then demands you choose a path.
Only after you commit to a single next step does it deliver a testable action plan—starting with a 48-hour experiment and two follow-on moves.
The Return Session
Most prompts ghost you after one exchange.
This one builds a relationship.
If you come back, say, a week later, the AI will recap what you tested, what broke, and what held. In other words, it adapts the plan based on your feedback.
This transforms the interaction from a one-time consultation into ongoing coaching.
You’ve seen how it works. You’ve watched the experts debate. Ready to test it?
Copy the prompt below, bring a real problem, and watch your bookshelf come to life.
Here’s the prompt:
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