2: Cocreate a Table of Content for your study guide with your AI Assistant

First finalize which exam, certification you want to give and pass in a given domain. For the blog examples below I have taken the CCSP (Certified Cloud Security Professional) exam as reference. However, you can chose any course, certificate of your choice.

Now let’s create a relevant, comprehensive Table of Content for the study guide that you need AI assistant to help you as tutor. You can always ask AI assistant to suggest a Table of Content however it might come out as too generic and might not serve our focused purpose. So we take a alternate approach, whereby without reinventing the wheel we refer established study guides already published for the exam, certification. This can be done in multiple ways.

Option 1: Create manually from a physical source

Most of the exams and certifications have study guides or reference books available (from various authors) as a hard copy. If you have the study guide available with you (or accessible) as a physical book, just jot down the Table of Contents from the book and store it in a word document. We will use it as input to the AI assistant.

Option 2: Extract from a digital source

Copy the study guide Table of Content from the certification, exam main page in a word document. Most certifications provide list of contents to be studied for you to prepare for the exam. The below example is CCSP exam study guide taken from ISC2 (CCSP parent body) website.

Alternatively, refer the popular courses, study books on the given certification or domain in online platform like Udemy, Coursera, Kindle etc. Copy paste the table of content from these study guide (the one relevant for your exam) into a word document. While the actual study guide and reference material may be PAID in these platforms, normally the table of content is FREE to browse. The below screenshot is a sample Table of Content from a Udemy course for CCSP exam.

Tip: You can also take a snapshot of the table of content pages as a image. Upload all the images into AI Assistant and ask it to merge and create a master table of content.

In the example below I have taken snapshot of three pages of a study guide table of content, attached it to ChatGPT and provided the following prompt
“I will attach snapshots of Table of Content from a study guide. Read the snapshots and create a combined table of content. Index the table of content as 1 1.1 2 2.1“

As you can see ChatGPT has created a Table of Content for reference which we will subsequently use for our study guide.

One key aspect you should keep in mind is when creating the Table of Content, make a index. For e.g. in the above example, I have asked ChatGPT to index the Table of Content as 1 1.1 2 2.1 … This will be quite helpful when we do the next step.

Option 3: Ask AI Assistant to browse the internet and provide

If you have the study guide or reference book NAME with you, you can also ask your AI Assistant to browse the internet and extract the Table of Content. In the below example I have asked ChatGPT to browse the internet for a given book name and extract the Table of Content.

Tip: If you more than one reference study guides you like (say there is one good course in Udemy and another in Coursera), you can extract the Table of Contents for both. Then upload them in your AI Assistant and ask it to combine them and create a single comprehensive Table of Content. Don’t forget to index the final Table of Content.

3: Make your AI Assistant as a personalized tutor specializing in the domain

Now provide the below prompt to your AI assistant. You need to customize few aspects of the prompt for your use case before inputting it in your AI assistant. Direction are provided after the prompt example.

You are an expert CCSP trainer with a deep understanding of cloud security concepts and the CCSP exam objectives.

I am a beginner in cloud security and am preparing for my CCSP certification. I will provide you with the Table of Contents (TOC) of the CCSP course material. Please review the TOC and guide me through the learning process.

Based on my input, please perform the following actions:

Display TOC: Present the Table of Contents and ask me which section I would like to focus on next.
Expand: Provide a more detailed breakdown of the selected section, including relevant subtopics and key concepts.
Section [number]: Elaborate on the specific section I request
Next/Previous: Move to the next or previous section in a logical flow, maintaining continuity in the learning process.

When elaborating on a section, please include:

Concise Introduction: A brief overview of the section’s main topic.
Detailed Explanation: A comprehensive description of the key concepts, principles, and technologies covered in the section.
Relevant Examples: Real-world examples or scenarios to illustrate the practical application of the concepts.
Additional Resources: Links to relevant study materials, articles, or documentation for further exploration.
Exam Tips: Insights into how the section’s content might be tested in the exam.

Please store my input and your responses for future reference and to track my progress.

Here is the Table of Contents:
< Copy paste or Attach the Table of Content as prepared from Section 2 here >

Let’s begin our study course.

——- Lets understand the Prompt in details so that you can customize it for your needs ——

You are an expert CCSP trainer with a deep understanding of cloud security concepts and the CCSP exam objectives.
We start with a ‘Persona’ prompt whereby we ask AI assistant to become a CCSP trainer, expert in security concepts. You need to change this for the relevant exam you are prespring and domain. For e.g. if you are preparing for a PMP certification you can state ” You are an expert PMP trainer with a deep understanding of program management concepts”

I am a beginner in cloud security and am preparing for my CCSP certification. I will provide you with the Table of Contents (TOC) of the CCSP course material. Please review the TOC and guide me through the learning process.
Now we add a ‘Audience’ prompt which provides an view of you as a student and your maturity level in the given domain. For e.g. instead of ‘beginner’ you can say you are a expert and with hands on experience in the domain etc. This will prompt AI assistant to customize the contents ( responses) to meet your understanding.

Based on my input, please perform the following actions….
Now we add a ‘Menu Action’ prompt which will guide AI assistant to respond based on a set of predefined instructions from you (user) throughout the course of study i.e. Display TOC, Expand, Section <> etc. You can add any new menu actions you need here. This will help you navigate your engagement and study with your AI tutor (Just like in books we use bookmarks to navigate different sections and pages).

When elaborating on a section, please include….
Now we add a ‘Outline Expansion’ prompt which will guide AI assistant how to elaborate each section of the Table of Content as we continue our study course. Here I have asked to break the input into five sections: Introduction, Explanation, Example, Additional Resources and Exam Tips. You can add more options based on your needs.

4. Store the reference material for future to continue study

Your study will cover a period of days ( and sometimes month) depending on the demand from the course and your preparation level. However AI assistant have a limited memory span. Hence to ensure every time you open your AI Assistant to continue with your study from previously left interaction, follow these steps
1. Ensure you have copied the Table of Content created and stored in a word document for future reference ( In case you lose your earlier chats with your AI assistant)
2. Ensure you have copied the prompt created in a word document
3. When you finish your study for the day, rename and keep the chat history stored for future reference. If you are using ChatGPT, use the three dots at the chat panel to rename. Also if you have a study circle and you want to share your interaction, learning with your colleagues so that they can also learn and benefit , you can use the ChatGPT share chat option.