How to use these
Paste a prompt into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot and swap the [brackets] for your own words. If your work email has an AI assistant built in, the same wording works there.
Before you paste an email or meeting notes into an AI tool, take out names and anything private, or use the tool your employer has approved. See what never to paste into AI.
Reply when you know the answer but not the words
The most common email problem of all.
Write a reply to this email: [paste it, with private details removed]. What I want to say: [your answer, in rough words]. Keep it [friendly/formal], under [100] words, and end with a clear next step.
Shorten a long thread
You've been copied in on message 14 of a conversation.
Summarise this email thread: [paste it]. Tell me: what it's about in two sentences, what's been decided, what's still open, and what, if anything, I'm being asked to do and by when.
Say no without burning the bridge
You can't take it on, and you want to keep the relationship.
Write a polite email declining [the request]. The honest reason is [reason]. I'd like to offer [an alternative, if any]. Be warm, clear and brief, with no long apology. Under 90 words.
Chase without nagging
You asked a week ago and heard nothing.
Write a short follow-up to an email I sent on [date] asking for [what]. I need it by [date] because [reason]. Make it friendly, assume they're busy rather than rude, and make it easy to answer in one line.
Tip: Making it easy to reply is the trick: offer a yes/no question or two options.
Fix the tone
You've written it angry. Don't send it yet.
Here's an email I've drafted: [paste it]. I'm frustrated, and I think it shows. Rewrite it so it's firm and clear about what I need, but calm and professional. Then tell me what you changed and why.
Write a clear request
You need something from someone busy.
Write an email asking [who, by role] for [what you need]. Put the request and the deadline in the first two lines, then the background in three bullet points, then exactly what I need from them. Subject line included. Under 120 words.
Before a meeting
Write an agenda that keeps it short
You're setting up a meeting and want it to end on time.
Write an agenda for a [length]-minute meeting about [topic] with [who's attending, by role]. The decisions we need are: [list]. Give each item a time, an owner and the outcome we want from it. Put the most important decision first, and tell me what could be handled by email instead.
Prepare for a meeting in five minutes
You've just noticed it starts in ten.
I have a meeting about [topic] with [who, by role]. What I know so far: [background]. What I want from it: [your goal]. Give me the three points I should make, the questions I'm likely to be asked, and one good question I should ask.
After a meeting
Turn notes into minutes and actions
Straight after, while you can still read your own handwriting.
Here are my rough notes from a meeting: [paste them]. Write clear minutes: a two-line summary, decisions made, and a table of actions with an owner and a deadline for each. List anything that was left unresolved. Only use what's in my notes.
Tip: Replace names with roles or initials before you paste.
Write the follow-up email
The email that makes the meeting worth having.
Write a follow-up email to the people in a meeting about [topic]. The decisions were: [list]. The actions are: [who does what by when]. Next meeting: [date, if any]. Keep it short enough to read on a phone, with the actions as a list.
Catch up on a meeting you missed
Someone has sent you the notes or the transcript.
I missed a meeting. Here are the notes: [paste them, with private details removed]. Tell me what was decided, anything that affects me as [your role], what I've been asked to do, and what I should ask a colleague about.
Your week
Plan the week on Monday morning
A full calendar and a long to-do list.
Here are my meetings this week: [list with days and times]. Here's my to-do list: [list, with any deadlines]. Help me plan the week: which tasks go in which gaps, what I should move or decline, and the three things that must be done by Friday. I work best on focused tasks in the [morning/afternoon].