The Stepthrough blog: page 9

Updated October 21, 2026

Practical, plain-English guides to using AI at work: better prompts, email replies you can trust, and automations that do the busywork. Every post points to a free lesson where you build it yourself, one click at a time.

Google Docs transcript of an interview panel's debrief on a front desk lead candidate, with the Edit menu open

How to Debrief a Candidate After an Interview

How to debrief a candidate after an interview: what to say, a short call script, what not to promise, and how to draft the follow-up with ChatGPT.

Oct 21, 2026 4 min read

ElevenLabs Knowledge Base document details showing the text read from Millpond's coverage basics PDF

How to Test and Improve a Voice AI Agent's Script

How to test and improve a voice AI agent: test calls, tricky callers, reading transcripts, ElevenLabs tests and evaluation criteria, one fix at a time.

Oct 21, 2026 4 min read

Claude Create a project dialog asking what you are working on and what you are trying to achieve

How to Build an Internal AI Assistant for Your Team

How to choose a platform for an internal AI assistant: ChatGPT or Claude Projects, Gemini Gems or an n8n agent, plus five steps to build and test one.

Oct 21, 2026 4 min read

Windows Open dialog choosing a garden center sales CSV file to upload into ChatGPT

Can an AI Assistant Answer Questions About Your Own Data?

Yes: upload a spreadsheet export to ChatGPT, keep files in a Project, or connect a live Google Sheet with n8n. How each works and how to check answers.

Oct 21, 2026 4 min read

n8n Extract from PDF node with Operation set to Extract From PDF and Input Binary Field changed from data to Resume, showing the uploaded resume file in the input panel

How to Read a Background Check Report as an Employer

How to read a background check report: confirm identity, read each section, tell arrests from convictions, and follow the FCRA adverse action steps.

Oct 21, 2026 4 min read

n8n AI Agent node with a system message written for Maple Street Bookkeeping

What Is a Chart of Accounts? Give Your AI the Categories

A chart of accounts is the list of accounts your books use. What it is, why AI expense tools need yours, and how to put it into an n8n agent's prompt.

Oct 21, 2026 5 min read

Claude's plain-English summary of a managed IT agreement: what the office gets, what it pays, the 36-month term with auto-renewal, how to get out, and a not-legal-advice note

AI Contract Review for Small Business: A Safe First Read

How to use AI for contract review in a small business: a plain-English summary, risky clauses with exact quotes, questions for the vendor, then a lawyer.

Oct 21, 2026 6 min read

Turn a Board Meeting Transcription into Minutes and Next Steps: intro video still

Board Meeting Transcription: From Recording to Minutes

Board meeting transcription with AI: get a transcript, turn it into draft minutes and an action list, and handle consent and confidentiality first.

Oct 21, 2026 5 min read

ChatGPT's answer to a one-line prompt: a front desk lead posting with blanks, a degree and certification requirement, weekend hours and no pay

Candidate Experience Examples: 7 Moments to Get Right

Candidate experience examples from job post to decision: what good and bad look like at each step, and how AI helps a small team reply faster and fairer.

Oct 21, 2026 5 min read

ChatGPT sorting an estimate prompt into permanent instructions and a short list of what to send each time

ChatGPT Custom Instructions for Coding: 8 Rules to Copy

Stop retyping "only show what changed" in every chat. Eight short ChatGPT custom instructions for people who write code at work, and where they go.

Oct 21, 2026 5 min read

Google Docs transcript of a marketing agency's kickoff call with a physical therapy clinic, with the Edit menu open

Client Onboarding Process: 7 Steps and Where AI Helps

A simple client onboarding process in 7 steps, from welcome email to first check-in, and where AI saves time without losing the personal touch.

Oct 21, 2026 5 min read

Plain ChatGPT gives Northwind Scheduling Software a generic, emoji-heavy answer full of placeholders

Custom GPT Examples for Small Business and Sales Teams

Four custom GPT examples for small business teams (sales, collections, SOPs, ads), what their instructions say, and how to rebuild each as a Project.

Oct 21, 2026 5 min read

All free tutorials · The full course, in order

How every module works

Each step is shown on the left, with a cursor pointing to exactly where to click. You do the same thing on the right, in a practice copy of the real tool. Get it right and it moves on. Nothing touches your real accounts until you're ready to build it for real.

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