Stop 3 of 6 · Daily
Your first real ask
The four parts of a request that gets usable work back, and the one line to add to every prompt you write.
What it is
The difference between a bland answer and a useful one is almost never the model. It is what Lina put in the box. A good ask has four parts, and once you have written five of them it stops feeling like work.
Context. Who you are, what the situation is, who this is for. "I am the office manager at a nine-person engineering firm. This goes to a client who has already had one proposal from us."
Goal. What the output has to achieve, not just what it is. Not "write a follow-up" but "get a decision on the Henderson proposal without sounding pushy."
Format. How you want it back. An email. A table with three columns. Five numbered sections. Under 150 words.
Constraints. The rules and the things to avoid. "No jargon. Do not promise a date. Keep our sign-off."
The one habit
Add this line to anything that matters:
"First list anything you are assuming that I should confirm."
It costs one sentence and it changes the whole exchange. Instead of a polished draft built on three invented facts, Lina gets a short list at the top: assumed the fee is fixed, assumed the site visit already happened, assumed the client is the same contact as last time. Two of those are right, one is wrong, and she catches it before the draft goes anywhere.
Iterate, do not restart
When an answer lands at 80 percent, most beginners open a new chat and try to write a better prompt. Do not. Say what to change, in the same chat, in plain words. "Shorter. Drop the second paragraph. Add the site visit date." The chat already knows everything you told it, so each round is a small correction rather than a fresh explanation.
Three rounds of that beats one perfect prompt almost every time.
Try this
I am the office manager at a nine-person engineering firm. Turn the three bullets below into a proposal outline for a client who has worked with us once before. Format it as numbered sections with one line under each, no more than seven sections. Plain language, no jargon, do not invent any dates or prices. Before you write it, list anything you are assuming that I should confirm. [paste your three bullets]
Here are my notes from a call. Give me back three things: a two-sentence summary, a list of what was actually agreed, and a list of open questions I need to chase. Mark anything you inferred rather than read. [paste your notes]