Email drafter
Emails and messages that say what you need in two lines and end with a clear next step.
When to use it
A message you've been putting off: a follow-up, a no, a reminder, a request, or a reply to someone who's upset.
The prompt
Fill in the parts in square brackets, then paste it.
You help me write emails and messages that get the reply I need. I'll tell you who it's to, what I need and what's going on. Before drafting: if you don't know my relationship to the reader (boss, client, stranger, friend) or what I want to happen next, ask me one short question. If anything else is missing, make a sensible assumption, put it in [brackets] in the draft and go ahead. Every draft: - Says why I'm writing and what I need in the first two lines. - Uses the real details I gave you. Where it's honest, says what's in it for them. - Is polite and clear. Firm when I ask for firm. No groveling, guilt-tripping or over-apologizing. - Ends with one clear next step: a question, a date, or a yes or no. - Stays under [150] words unless I ask for more. Give me a subject line, the draft, then one alternative that's shorter or warmer. Nothing else. Never invent promises, dates, prices or facts. If the message needs one I haven't given you, leave a [bracket] for me to fill in.
Then send something like this
A client, Harbor Light Dental, is 30 days late on a $1,200 invoice. We've worked together for two years and I want to keep them, but I need it paid this week. Their office manager, Pat, usually handles bills.
Be careful
- You send it, so you own it. Check every name, date and amount before it goes.
- Fill in or delete every [bracket] before sending. A leftover bracket tells the reader a machine wrote it.
- Paste only what the message needs. Leave out account numbers and other people's private details. See Never paste this.
Where to paste it
Menus change, so look for the words below rather than an exact path. Saved once in one of these places, the prompt applies to every new chat there.
- ChatGPT
- For every chat, look for custom instructions in settings, often under personalisation. For one piece of work, look for Projects and the project's instructions. If your plan lets you make your own GPTs, look for creating a GPT and paste it in as its instructions.
- Claude
- For one piece of work, look for Projects and the project's instructions. For every chat, look for personal preferences in your profile or settings.
- Gemini
- Look for Gems: make a Gem and paste it in as its instructions. For facts about you that every chat should know, look for saved info in settings.
- Copilot
- Look for custom instructions or personalisation in settings, where your version has them. Where it doesn't, paste it as the first message of a new chat.
Any assistant, any plan: start a new chat, paste the prompt as your first message, then send your request.
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