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Module 02 — Practical AI for everyday work

Prompts that produce usable work

You'll build three saved prompts — a reply, a follow-up and a summary — that give you drafts you can send after a 30-second check instead of rewriting them.

  • 5 min read + 20 min exercise
  • Lesson 2 of 3
  • Free · No sign-up

The problem

Most AI output gets rewritten. Not because the tool is bad, but because the request was one line long: “write a reply to this customer.” The AI fills every gap with a guess — tone, length, facts, next step — and fixing the draft takes longer than writing it would have.

Why it matters

If a draft needs rewriting, AI isn't saving you time; it's adding a step. A good prompt is written once and reused hundreds of times, so every minute you put into it comes back on every message after.

1 The six parts of a useful prompt

You already have the most important part: the facts sheet from lesson 2.1. The other five tell the AI who it's writing for and what “done” looks like.

Who it's forWho's writing, who's reading. “You reply for a two-person cleaning company to a first-time customer.”
The jobOne task and its outcome. “Answer the question and offer two appointment times.”
The factsYour facts sheet, pasted in. Nothing outside it.
The formatChannel and length. “Text-message style, under 60 words, no bullet points.”
The checksWhat to flag instead of guess. “If a price or date isn't in the facts, write [CHECK].”
A good exampleOne reply you were happy to send. The AI copies its tone and length better than any adjective.

2 Step by step

  1. Pick the three messages you write most

    Scroll through last week's sent messages. For most small teams they're a reply to a new question, a nudge to someone who went quiet, and a summary of a long thread or call.

  2. Write one prompt per message

    Start from the skeleton below. Fill in the parts in brackets once — they don't change from customer to customer.

  3. Test each prompt on three past messages

    Use messages you've already answered and compare. Would you send the draft after a quick read? If not, the prompt is missing a part — usually the facts or the example.

  4. Fix the prompt, not the draft

    When a draft is wrong, don't just edit the text. Add the missing rule to the prompt — “never offer weekend slots” — so the same mistake doesn't come back tomorrow.

  5. Save them where you work

    A pinned note on your phone, a doc in your browser bar, or the saved instructions in your AI tool. If a prompt takes more than ten seconds to find, it won't get used.

3 The 30-second check

The rule from lesson 2.1 still holds: a person checks before anything reaches a customer. With a good prompt, that check is short.

  • Facts. Every price, date and policy matches your facts sheet.
  • Flags. Every [CHECK] is resolved — by you, not by deleting it.
  • Next step. It ends with one clear thing for the customer to do.
  • Voice. It sounds like you on a good day.

Example · illustrative

Same question, two prompts

The message: “Hi, how much for a deep clean of a 3-bedroom? We're moving out on the 28th.”

Before

One-line prompt (“Reply to this customer”): a 150-word answer that thanks them three times, praises the company's attention to detail, never gives a price and ends with “let us know if you have any questions!”

After

Six-part prompt, with the facts sheet and a good example: “Hi Dana — a move-out deep clean for a 3-bedroom is $320 and takes about five hours. We have the 27th or the morning of the 28th open. Which works better?”

The second one goes out after a ten-second check. The first one gets rewritten.

Your exercise · about 20 minutes

Build your three saved prompts

Prompt · Reusable skeleton
WHO: You write for [business], a [what you do] in [area]. You're writing to [a new customer / a past customer / a lead who went quiet].
JOB: [One task, e.g. "Answer their question and offer the next step."]
FACTS: Use ONLY these facts. If something you need isn't here, write [CHECK: what's missing] instead of guessing.
[paste your facts sheet]
FORMAT: [Channel] style. Under [60] words. [No bullet points / no emojis / sign off as Name.]
CHECKS: Never promise discounts, dates or guarantees that aren't in the facts. End with one clear next step.
GOOD EXAMPLE:
[paste one reply you were happy to send]

MESSAGE:
[paste the customer's message]
Prompt · Follow-up nudge
Write a short follow-up for [business] to someone who asked about [service] on [date] and hasn't replied since.
Use ONLY the facts below. Don't invent discounts or deadlines.
Under 50 words, friendly and direct. Add one useful thing — an answer to a likely question, an open time, a tip. Never "just checking in".
End with a question they can answer with yes or no.

FACTS: [paste]
CONVERSATION SO FAR: [paste]
Prompt · Summarize a thread
Summarize this conversation for a colleague who has never seen it.
Give: 1) what the customer wants, 2) what we've promised, with dates, 3) open questions, 4) the next step and who owns it.
Max 6 lines. Quote prices and dates exactly as written — don't round or guess.

CONVERSATION: [paste]

Fix the prompt, not the draft.

Your next action

Tomorrow, draft your first three customer replies from your saved prompt and note how long each one took to check.