When I did a bit of contract ferry flying, often the first time I flew a type was on a short test then on the actual ferry. Much of this flying was single-pilot.
Figuring that most aeroplanes work in similar fashion (convert air & fuel to pressure & noise), I made up a generic checklist that covered the 'killer' items and it worked OK in MU2, Metro, King Air, Conquest etc. Of course I would peruse the manual for an hour or two before launching to decide how best to start the engines without cooking them, and what speeds were needed to get it up and down, and how to turn on the anti-ice, but often that was the only preparation that time allowed. On this generic checklist for 'After Takeoff' I simply had GEAR & FLAP UP, BLEEDS ON, CABIN PRESSURE? then a personal airmanship 'thing' to check pressurization each 5000 feet in the climb. Sometimes I would miss one at 5000 but get it at 10,000 and so on, so that it was unlikely things would get too far out of hand.
I figured that setting power within the green range would keep me out of trouble until I found time to look up tables or charts so did not get too involved in finesse at the expense of track-keeping etc.
Despite this simple approach to a complex task, I did get caught once with a subtle pressurization failure above 30,000 ft that nearly cost me my life, but there was a whole lot of fatigue involved in that one. A more formal checklist and all the babblespeak in the world would not have prevented it - it was a pure lapse of vigilance.