Most people do not struggle with prompt engineering because they are not smart enough to use AI. They struggle because the AI asks a question, they answer with one sentence, and the AI gives a vague or useless reply. The problem is the missing structure, not the user.
This is why "prompt engineering" sounds like a specialist skill. It is not. It is just writing a short brief the way you would brief a new assistant. Below are five templates I use with friends and clients who have never touched a command line. Each one is copy-paste, fill-in-the-blank, and safe to reuse.
Template 1: The Brief-Filled Email
Use when: You need a draft reply, a cold welcome message, a follow-up, or asking a question to a vendor or client.
Why it works: Email fails when the AI has no context about who you are, who they are, what you want, and what tone to use. Give it those four pieces and the draft becomes usable on the first read.
You are helping me write a short business email. My name is [My Name]. I am [my role] at [my company].
The person I am writing to is [their name/company]. I have [one relevant detail about our relationship or why we are writing].
My goal is [one sentence: what I want them to do or know].
Tone: [polite and professional / friendly and warm / concise and direct].
Please write a short draft of the email below. Keep it to 3–5 sentences. Do not use buzzwords. End with one clear call to action.
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Draft:
Subject: [optional subject line]
[Write the rest of the email in 2–4 sentences.]
Example fill:
Subject: Quick question about the hosting invoice
Hi [Name],
I am Wesley Chong from iWHOST. I noticed the September invoice on our account and wanted to confirm the renewal date and whether any discount applies for annual payment.
Could you please confirm this by Thursday? Thank you.
The rule I give people: If you cannot fill in one of the four blanks, you are not ready to send yet. Write the sentence that describes the gap. That sentence usually becomes the next real step.
Template 2: The One-Prompt Summariser
Use when: You want a long article, meeting notes, or a weekly report turned into readable notes. Also useful for weekly reading notes, which suits this hour's theme.
Why it works: People lose hours re-reading long documents. A prompt that forces structure produces notes you can actually act on.
Please summarise the text I paste below in three parts:
1. Key points — 5–7 bullet points, each one line.
2. Action items — anything I should do, dated if possible.
3. Questions I still need to answer — 2–4 items.
If the text is unclear or incomplete, say what is missing. Do not invent facts.
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[Text to summarise]
Tip: Paste the same text with this prompt variant to get it in a table:
Convert the same text into a markdown table with columns: Topic, Detail, Action, Owner.
I use this for meeting notes, newsletter digests, and long customer support threads. It turns a wall of text into a task list.
Template 3: The Starter Plan
Use when: You have a goal but no idea where to begin. Examples: launching a small service, cleaning up subscriptions, planning a blog post, organising a trip.
Why it works: Most people stall because the goal is too vague. Asking for steps, risks, and a first action removes the blank page.
Help me make a simple plan for:
Goal: [what you want to achieve]
Context: [2–3 sentences about the situation, budget, or deadline]
Please give me:
1. A short list of the 3–5 steps I need to take, in order.
2. The smallest first step I can complete in under 30 minutes.
3. Three things that could go wrong, and one way to avoid each.
Keep it simple. Do not add steps I did not ask for.
Example fill:
Goal: Send a welcome email to new newsletter subscribers.
Context: I have 20 subscribers so far. I want it simple. I have 30 minutes.
The output is a three-step plan plus a first action: "Open your email client, paste your welcome draft, and send to one test subscriber." Small, do-able, and real.
Template 4: The Second-Opinion Reviewer
Use when: You have written something and want to know if it makes sense, is too long, or sounds like a press release.
Why it works: A good reviewer does not rewrite your voice. It points out problems and gives a one-line suggestion, then lets you decide.
Please review the text I paste below. Do not rewrite it.
Answer these four questions briefly:
1. What is the main point?
2. Is it clear to a reader who knows nothing about this topic?
3. Where is it too long or repetitive?
4. What is one sentence I could cut or shorten?
Keep your answer short. Do not add praise unless it is genuinely helpful.
Why I keep the praise out: Praise makes you keep writing when you should stop. A neutral reader forces you to find the real problem. After you fix the one sentence, read the whole piece aloud. If it still sounds like you, you are done.
Template 5: The Before-and-After Voice Card
Use when: Your writing must sound like you, not like a corporation. This is the most important template in this set, because "sounding robotic" is the #1 complaint people have about AI writing.
Here is a sample of my writing:
---
[Paste 3–5 short examples of things you have written: emails, posts, notes]
Here is a draft that sounds too formal or AI-like:
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[Paste the draft]
Please help me rewrite the draft so it keeps my voice. Use the sample to judge my usual tone. Keep my words and ideas. Only change sentence structure and word choice. Do not make the draft more "professional" unless it is genuinely unclear.
Give me one rewritten version, then list the three changes you made and why.
What I look for after the rewrite:
- Does it still sound like me? If you read it aloud and blanked out my name, would you know it was me?
- Are any of my own phrases missing?
- Is the point still there?
If the rewrite sounds like a different person, ask for another pass. If your friend or colleague does not notice a change, you are done.
The Five Templates at a Glance
| Template | Best for | Key rule | |---|---|---| | Email brief | Replies, drafts, asks | Fill all four context blanks | | Summariser | Articles, notes, reports | Force a structure | | Starter plan | Goals with no clear next step | Smallest first step in 30 minutes | | Reviewer | Polishing your own writing | Only one change at a time | | Voice card | Keeping your own tone | Rewrite, do not replace |
One Habit That Beats All Five
Every template fails if the input is thin. The single most useful habit is this: before you paste anything into an AI, write three sentences that answer who, what, and why. Who you are. What you want. Why it matters. Everything else is polish.
When your input has those three sentences, even a simple prompt will return something useful. When they are missing, no template will save you.
Final Thought
AI is not a magic writer. It is a fast, eager assistant who has read a lot but has never met you. It needs a brief. Five templates are enough. Use the email one, the summariser, the starter plan, the reviewer, and the voice card. Fill in the blanks honestly. You will get more done on your first try, with less trial and error, and your writing will still sound like you.
That is the whole skill.
Tags: AI prompts, non-technical, personal productivity, AI templates, everyday AI.
