Writing good prompts for everyday business tasks

AI assistants can draft emails, summarise documents, brainstorm ideas and analyse text. The quality of what you get depends heavily on what you ask. A simple structure makes prompts more reliable.

The structure

1. Role and audience. Who should the assistant write as, and for whom? "You are helping a web agency write to a small business owner with no technical background."

2. Context. The background it needs: the situation, relevant facts, previous messages, your brand voice. Paste or attach the source material rather than assuming it knows.

3. Task. Exactly what you want: "Draft a reply explaining why the launch moved by one week, and propose two new dates."

4. Format. Length, structure and style: "Under 150 words, friendly but professional, with the two dates as a list."

5. Constraints. What to avoid or include: "Don't blame the client. Don't promise anything about the budget. Use British spelling."

Use examples

If you want a specific style, show one or two examples of what good looks like. Examples communicate tone and format more precisely than descriptions.

Ask for structure

For analysis and summaries, ask for headings, bullet points or tables. For decisions, ask it to list options with pros and cons. Structured outputs are easier to check.

Iterate

Treat the first answer as a draft. Follow up: "Make it shorter", "Add a sentence about the warranty", "Rewrite the opening to address the delay directly."

Ask it to check itself, then check it yourself

You can ask the assistant to list assumptions it made or points it's unsure about. But always verify facts, figures and names yourself.

Everyday prompt examples

• Summarising: "Summarise this meeting transcript in five bullet points for the client: decisions, owners, deadlines."
• Rewriting: "Rewrite this paragraph in plain English for a non-technical reader, keeping all the facts."
• Brainstorming: "List ten blog topics answering questions small retailers ask about online payments."
• Checking: "Review this proposal for unclear sentences and missing information. List issues; don't rewrite."

Protect confidential information

Use approved tools for work data, and avoid sharing sensitive client or personal information unless your tool and process allow it.

Our AI automation team builds tested prompt libraries into team workflows, and our content team uses them to speed up drafting without lowering standards.