Your choice also saves this guide’s current worked-example checkmarks. Only this browser; no account or sync. View saved guides
Saving needs JavaScript. Reading and downloading this guide does not save it.
Make a start
One step at a time.
4 steps
Start with the synthetic worked example or other non-sensitive inputs. Run one prompt at a time in your chosen AI tool. Replace any bracketed placeholders with the requested material, check each reply, and supply the source or earlier outputs that step needs. Paste them again if the tool lacks that context.
Set up the worked example
Open
Open a chat AI that accepts pasted text and start a new conversation. Keep this guide beside it. This exercise produces reply wording only; no email connection is needed.
Add the sample
In step 1, replace the first [paste], under INCOMING EMAIL, with the sender line and complete quoted email from “The starting point” (Synthetic input), ending “we discussed.” Replace the second [paste], under MY FACTS AND POSITION, with the heading “My facts and approved position as a freelance writer:” and all nine bullets through “Tone: calm, direct and friendly.” Send the completed prompt, then each later step prompt in the same chat after checking the previous reply. Use “The intended result” (Illustrative output) as a comparison, not as text to paste into the chat.
Start with the synthetic example, then adapt each prompt to your task.
01
Separate the request from your position
Write down what you know and what you can genuinely commit to before asking for better wording.
Your starting prompt
Read the incoming email and my notes below. List the sender's requests, my confirmed facts, my approved commitments and any unanswered questions. Do not treat the sender's deadline as a promise I have made. Do not infer my feelings, motives or excuses.
INCOMING EMAIL:
[paste]
MY FACTS AND POSITION:
[paste]
Expect
Separate lists of Jordan’s requests, your supplied facts, approved commitments and unanswered questions. The request for final copy by noon is Jordan’s request, not a commitment you made.
Check
The homepage is still a draft awaiting approved product details. Offering to send that draft now does not accept the two extra product pages or promise final copy by noon.
If it differs
If the lists mix those positions, send: “Separate the sender’s requests from my approved commitments. Keep the homepage unfinished and the additional pages unagreed. Recheck both input sections.” Replace any remaining [paste] with the missing source text before continuing.
02
Draft the useful answer first
Lead with the available next step, then explain the constraint and ask the one question needed.
Your starting prompt
Write a brief reply in a calm, direct tone. Answer each request using only my facts and approved commitments. State any limitation plainly. Ask only the question needed to move this forward. Do not invent an apology, reason, attachment, completion claim or new deadline.
Expect
A brief, calm reply offering the current homepage draft for review, explaining the missing approved details, and asking whether Jordan wants that draft.
Check
It addresses the extra pages as work needing agreed scope and timing. It adds no apology, excuse, attachment claim or replacement deadline. Wording can differ from the illustration.
If it differs
If it adds a promise or ignores a request, send: “Rewrite using only my facts and approved commitments. Offer the current draft and ask whether it is wanted. Keep final timing and additional work unagreed; do not claim anything is attached or sent.”
03
Check for hidden promises
Small phrases such as “I’ll make sure” or “as agreed” can change what you are committing to.
Your starting prompt
Audit the draft sentence by sentence. List every promise, agreement, factual claim and statement about an attachment. Match each to my notes or mark it unsupported. Replace unsupported wording with a truthful statement or remove it. Keep the reply helpful and concise.
Expect
A sentence-by-sentence audit with support for each claim, followed by corrected wording wherever support is missing.
Check
Check phrases such as “I will finish,” “as agreed” and “attached” against the notes yourself. The reply must not turn an offer to send a draft into a claim that it has already been sent.
If it differs
Quote the unsupported sentence and send: “This is not supported by my notes. Remove or correct it without adding a new promise, and return the corrected reply.” Check the replacement sentence too.
04
Review the recipient and final text
Check the actual email thread and intended recipients yourself before sending.
Your starting prompt
Return only the final draft and a short review checklist covering recipient, attachments, names, deadlines and commitments. Treat this as drafting only. Do not send, schedule or save a draft in an external email service.
Expect
The final draft and a short review checklist for recipient, attachments, names, deadlines and commitments. Nothing is sent or saved in an email service.
Check
Use the worked-example checks: unfinished homepage, no noon promise, draft-offer question, no attachment claim, and extra pages still unagreed. Jordan’s example.com address belongs to this fictional exercise; do not send the sample.
If it differs
If the final text changes an approved fact, send: “Restore the checked facts and commitments from my notes. Return only a draft and review checklist; do not send or save anything.” Recheck the whole reply before using any wording elsewhere.
Optional: improve the result
Keep a reusable reply brief
Reuse a small set of fields so tone changes never override your factual position.
Advanced prompt
Draft a reply using these fields: recipient, their request, confirmed facts, my decision, approved next step, forbidden promises and tone. If any essential field is missing, ask for it before drafting. Offer one shorter version without changing the commitments.
REPLY BRIEF:
[fill in fields]
Optional: use your own input+
Draft a reply to your own email
Open a fresh conversation in a text chat AI. Use a non-sensitive message you have permission to share; remove private addresses, signatures and confidential details. Replace both bracketed sections below with the complete relevant email and your own factual position, including names or role labels, quantities, deadlines and limits together. After checking the extraction, send these messages in order: “Draft a brief reply using only my facts, decision and approved commitments. Answer the requests and ask only what is needed next. Add no apology, motive, attachment claim or new deadline.” “Audit every sentence against my notes. Remove unsupported facts, promises, agreements and attachment claims. Return the corrected reply.” “Return the final draft and a short checklist for me to check the actual recipient, names, attachments, deadlines and commitments. Do not send, schedule or save it in an email service.” Compare the reply with your actual thread before any separate sending decision. Use the personal checks below; the worked-example checks and original advanced extension belong to the sample unless adapted to your own approved facts.
Your own-input prompt
Help me draft a reply using only the email and my position below. First separate the sender’s requests, my confirmed facts, my decision, my approved commitments and unanswered questions. A request from the sender is not my agreement. Do not infer feelings or excuses. If an essential fact is missing, label it not supplied and ask me rather than filling it in. Wait for my next message before drafting. This is text drafting only: do not contact anyone, send or schedule email, or save a draft in another service.
INCOMING EMAIL
[Paste the complete relevant non-sensitive message, using role labels instead of private identities where needed.]
MY FACTS AND APPROVED POSITION
[State what is true, what you have decided, what you can offer, what you cannot promise, any approved dates or quantities, wording limits and preferred tone. Mark undecided points as undecided.]
Check your own result
Every statement about your position comes from your supplied facts or decision, not the sender’s demands.
Your actual names or role labels, quantities, scope and dates replace the sample together; no sample client or task remains.
No attachment, completed action, promise or agreement appears unless your notes explicitly support it.
Unanswered questions stay open, and you review the actual recipient and final wording yourself before sending separately.
Show, then try
See the shape of the result.
This input is synthetic. The output is a written illustration of the intended result, not a verified AI-tool run.
01 / The starting point
Synthetic input
Synthetic incoming email from Jordan <[email protected]>:
"Can you send the final homepage copy by noon today? Please also add the two product pages we discussed."
My facts and approved position as a freelance writer:
- I have a homepage-copy draft, but it is not final.
- I still need the approved product details to finalize it; those details have not arrived.
- The agreed scope covers the homepage only. The two product pages are additional work that has not been agreed.
- I can send the current homepage draft now, clearly marked for review.
- I cannot promise final homepage copy by noon.
- I want to ask whether Jordan would like the draft now.
- I need to agree scope and timing before accepting the extra product pages.
- Do not say the draft is attached, that I have already sent it, or that I have accepted the extra work.
- Tone: calm, direct and friendly.
Copies text only. For image or file tasks, use the source files named in the steps too.
DRAFT REPLY
Hi Jordan,
I can send the current homepage draft now for review. I still need the approved product details to finalize it, so I can’t confirm final copy by noon.
The two product pages sit outside our agreed homepage scope. We’d need to agree their scope and timing before I take them on.
Would you like me to send the homepage draft in the meantime?
REVIEW NOTE
This reply offers the draft but does not claim it is attached, promise a later deadline or accept the extra pages.
These checks use the worked example and its particular facts. With your own material, check your actual names, numbers, sources and rules; do not reuse the sample’s values as the answer.
Unsaved checks stay in this tab and reset when you reload. If you choose Save guide, its current example checkmarks are kept in this browser when storage is available.
!
A few things to watch for.
Letting a polished rewrite add an excuse or apology that is not yours.
Offering a new deadline simply to make the email sound more reassuring.