You paste a paragraph into a chat and write: Make it better. The answer is longer, smoother and somehow less like you. Before asking for another version, make one decision: what should better mean for this particular reader?
This is an original writing exercise. It gives you a structure for asking and checking, not a guarantee that an AI answer will be correct. Keep the useful parts and leave out any field that does not matter for your task.
Name the reader and the next action
Write a good invitation could mean almost anything. Write a short invitation for a colleague who already knows the project, asking for a yes-or-no reply tells the assistant what the text needs to do. A first-time visitor needs different context from someone already in the conversation.
Instead of: Make this announcement more exciting.
Try: This announcement is for existing members. They already know the programme. Make the new date easy to find and explain what action, if any, they need to take. Keep the tone warm and straightforward.
Separate the facts from the possibilities
Give the assistant a short list of confirmed details. Then name what is still unknown and what it must not promise. A draft that invents an arrival date, customer quote or discount has changed the meaning, not merely the style.
Confirmed: the workshop lasts 90 minutes; places must be booked.
Unknown: the room number.
Do not promise: a recording, a certificate or a reply within an hour.
Keep unchanged: the booking link and the event date.
Use the actual facts of your task rather than copying these examples as if they applied to you. If the missing information changes the message, ask the assistant to flag it separately instead of filling the gap with something plausible.
Ask for a format you can use
The format is part of the brief. Two subject lines and one short email is different from a strategy document. Specify the length when it matters, but do not let an arbitrary word count remove essential information. A useful constraint is something you can explain.
Improve one thing at a time
Read the first version against your goal. If the request is buried, ask to move it earlier. If a sentence sounds unlike you, offer one sentence you would genuinely say. Choose a specific change rather than asking for everything to be more compelling, professional and friendly at once.
A focused revision: Keep all dates and commitments unchanged. Shorten the opening to one sentence and make the question easier to answer. Do not add urgency.
A final check: Which facts in this version came from my notes, and which did you infer?
Keep the brief, replace the facts
Save the structure for the next similar task. Clear out old names, links and dates before reusing it. A template should save you from writing the same instruction again, not quietly import last week’s promises into today’s message.
Before sending anything, check names, numbers, dates, the recipient and commitments against the original information. An assistant’s explanation of its own answer is not an independent source. You remain the person deciding which version is ready to use.
