1. Summarize a long article for a busy reader
Your head of operations sent you a 3,000-word industry article on warehouse automation and asked whether it's worth their time. They read on a phone between meetings.
Done when your prompt covers who it's for and length, and scores 4 or more out of 10. Edit the prompt below; the score changes as you type.
A hint
Say who will read the summary and what they want to find out, then give it a size that fits a phone screen.
Show one good answer
Summarize the attached article on warehouse automation for our head of operations, who will read it on a phone and wants to know if the full article is worth their time. Keep it to 5 bullets, ending with a one-line verdict on whether to read the whole thing.
It scores 5 out of 10. Yours does not need to look like it: any prompt that passes is right.
What changes. Instead of a page that retells the article, your reader gets five bullets and a straight answer on whether to read the rest.
2. Write a weekly status update from three facts
You're a project lead. Every Friday you send your director a status update on the office move. This week the furniture delivery was confirmed for March 3, network cabling slipped 2 days to February 24 because the contractor was sick, and $41,500 of the $60,000 budget is spent.
Done when your prompt covers background facts and format, and scores 4 or more out of 10. Edit the prompt below; the score changes as you type.
A hint
Give the AI this week's actual facts, then name the sections you want so the update looks the same every Friday.
Show one good answer
Write my weekly status update for my director on the office move, using this week's facts: - Furniture delivery confirmed for March 3. - Network cabling is 2 days behind because the contractor was sick. The new finish date is February 24. - Budget spent so far: $41,500 of $60,000. Use three sections headed Done, Behind and Budget, with one or two sentences in each.
It scores 5 out of 10. Yours does not need to look like it: any prompt that passes is right.
What changes. The AI stops padding the update with generic progress language and reports your three real facts under headings your director can scan.
3. Report a drop in the numbers without inventing a cause
You're a marketing coordinator. Website sign-ups fell from 1,240 in August to 980 in September. Nobody knows why yet, and you need a short write-up for the monthly marketing report, which goes to the marketing director and the sales team.
Done when your prompt covers who it's for, background facts, what to avoid and if unsure, and scores 5 or more out of 10. Edit the prompt below; the score changes as you type.
A hint
The prompt asks the AI to explain a drop nobody has looked into. Say who reads the report, keep the AI to your figures, and tell it what to do instead of guessing.
Show one good answer
Write a short paragraph for our monthly marketing report on website sign-ups, which fell from 1,240 in August to 980 in September. The report goes to the marketing director and the sales team. Use only these figures, and don't suggest causes, because we haven't looked into the drop yet. If a sentence would need a figure I haven't given, put [CHECK] in its place.
It scores 6 out of 10. Yours does not need to look like it: any prompt that passes is right.
What changes. The AI reports the drop as a fact without inventing reasons for it, so no made-up cause ends up in front of your director.
4. Turn a long report into a one-page executive summary
You're an analyst. Your 18-page report on customer churn is done, and the leadership team wants a one-page summary before Tuesday's planning session, where they'll choose which problems to fund. They care about the three biggest causes and what fixing each would cost.
Done when your prompt covers who it's for, length, format, what to avoid and what good looks like, and scores 6 or more out of 10. Edit the prompt below; the score changes as you type.
A hint
Say who reads the summary and what they will decide, then set the size and layout, cut what they won't need, and describe a summary that works.
Show one good answer
Write a one-page executive summary of the attached 18-page churn report for our leadership team, who will use it in Tuesday's planning session to choose which problems to fund. Lead with the three biggest causes of churn, each with the share of lost customers it explains and the estimated cost of fixing it, as three short sections with a heading each. Leave out the methodology and the appendix tables. A good summary lets someone who reads only this page say which cause to fix first and why.
It scores 7 out of 10. Yours does not need to look like it: any prompt that passes is right.
What changes. Instead of shrinking all 18 pages evenly, the AI puts the three causes and their costs on one page, in the order leadership needs them.
5. Write a quarterly update that matches the last one
You write the quarterly update for a food bank's donors, and last quarter's worked well. This quarter you served 312 families (up from 270), opened an evening pantry in June, and need $14,000 to repair the delivery van.
Done when your prompt covers background facts, format, what good looks like and an example, and scores 6 or more out of 10. Edit the prompt below; the score changes as you type.
A hint
Show the AI part of last quarter's update, say what to copy from it, and spell out the order the new one should follow.
Show one good answer
Write our quarterly update for donors, using this quarter's facts: we served 312 families, up from 270 last quarter; a new evening food pantry opened in June; and our delivery van needs a $14,000 repair. Match the structure and tone of last quarter's update, which donors liked. Here is its opening paragraph: """ This spring, 270 families got groceries from us, and 40 of them came for the first time. That happened because of you. Here's what your gifts did, and the one thing we need help with next. """ Keep the same three parts, in this order: what happened, what it meant for families, and one clear ask. It should read warm and specific, never like a fundraising letter.
It scores 9 out of 10. Yours does not need to look like it: any prompt that passes is right.
What changes. The update comes back in the shape and voice donors already responded to, instead of a generic newsletter.
6. Summarize customer interviews without overstating them
You're a UX researcher. You ran 8 interviews with small-business owners about how they send invoices. Your product manager wants the main themes for Monday's roadmap meeting, and you don't want one person's comment to read like a trend.
Done when your prompt covers what to make, who it's for, background facts, length, what to avoid and if unsure, and scores 7 or more out of 10. Edit the prompt below; the score changes as you type.
A hint
Say who the themes are for and what they'll decide, set how many themes and in what layout, add a rule for what counts as a theme, and say what to do with notes that don't fit.
Show one good answer
Summarize the main themes from my attached notes on 8 interviews with small-business owners about how they send invoices. This is for my product manager, who will use it in Monday's roadmap meeting to decide what to build next quarter. Give up to 4 themes in a table with columns for the theme, how many of the 8 people raised it and one short quote. Only count a theme if at least 3 people raised it, and don't present anything one or two people said as a trend. If a note is too vague to place under a theme, leave it out and say how many notes you left out.
It scores 7 out of 10. Yours does not need to look like it: any prompt that passes is right.
What changes. The AI reports how many of the 8 people said each thing, so one memorable comment no longer reads like a pattern.
7. Draft the finance section of a board report
You're the finance manager at a 60-person software company. The board meets on the 20th to decide whether to keep this year's hiring plan. Revenue for the quarter was $2.1m against a $2.3m plan, mostly because two enterprise deals slipped to next quarter, and cash covers 14 months of costs.
Done when your prompt covers what to make, who it's for, background facts, length, format, what to avoid, what good looks like and if unsure, and scores 8 or more out of 10. Edit the prompt below; the score changes as you type.
A hint
Say who reads the section and what they'll decide, set the size and the order of the paragraphs, keep the AI to your figures, describe the voice, and say what to do about a number you haven't given.
Show one good answer
Write the finance section of our quarterly board report. The board will read it before the meeting on the 20th and decide whether to keep this year's hiring plan. Figures for the quarter: revenue of $2.1m against a plan of $2.3m. Most of the gap is two enterprise deals that slipped to next quarter; both are still in contract review. Cash covers 14 months of costs at the current rate. Format: three short paragraphs, under 250 words in all: results against plan, why we missed, and what it means for hiring. Use only the figures above, and don't forecast next quarter's revenue, because sales hasn't confirmed the deal dates. It should be plain and factual, the way our CFO writes, without softening the miss. If you need a number I haven't given, write [CHECK] in its place.
It scores 10 out of 10. Yours does not need to look like it: any prompt that passes is right.
What changes. The board gets a plain account of the miss, its cause and what it means for hiring, with no forecast or figure you didn't supply.
8. Lay out a monthly report prompt for ChatGPT
You use ChatGPT to draft the monthly support report from a ticket export. Your prompt has everything it needs, but it's one long block with the data tacked on the end. OpenAI's guidance favors a Markdown heading for each part, with pasted data set apart in tags at the end.
Done when your prompt covers what to make, who it's for, background facts, length, format, what to avoid, what good looks like, an example, if unsure and layout, and scores 9 or more out of 10. Edit the prompt below; the score changes as you type.
A hint
Keep every instruction, but give each part a Markdown heading of its own, such as Task, Output and Rules, and put the export last inside tags.
Show one good answer
## Task Write the monthly support report from the ticket export at the end of this prompt. It's for our head of support, who will present it to the leadership team on the first Monday of the month. ## Output - Under 300 words. - A two-line summary, then a table of ticket volume and median first reply time by channel, then the 3 biggest changes from last month. - Follow the layout of our last report, which started: "Tickets: 1,840 (up 6%). Median first reply: 3h 10m." ## Rules - Don't name customers or agents, since the report is shared widely. - A good report lets leadership see in a minute whether support is keeping up. - If a figure isn't in the export, write "not in export" rather than guessing. ## Ticket export <export> channel,tickets_sep,tickets_aug,median_first_reply_sep,median_first_reply_aug email,1120,1010,4h05m,3h40m chat,610,590,0h06m,0h07m phone,240,260,n/a,n/a </export>
It scores 10 out of 10. Yours does not need to look like it: any prompt that passes is right.
What changes. ChatGPT finds each instruction under its heading and reads the export as data, so the report follows your layout and rules more consistently.
More practice: emails, meetings and notes, customer support, sales and marketing, hr and people, spreadsheets and data, plans and projects. Or learn the checks in order in the prompt course.