30 AI Prompt Templates for Everyday Work (Copy and Use)

The fastest way to improve your AI output isn't a better tool. It's a better starting structure. These are templates you can copy, fill in and reuse — built on the same four-part pattern: context, constraints, example, format.

Replace anything in [brackets]. Keep the structure.

Email and Communication

1. Difficult message
"Write a [length] email to [recipient and their role] explaining [situation]. They will likely be [expected reaction]. I want to be direct without being defensive, and I don't want to over-apologise. End with [specific next step]."

2. Chasing silence
"Draft a follow-up to [person] who hasn't replied to [what] sent [timeframe] ago. Our relationship is [context]. Don't be passive-aggressive and don't apologise for following up. End with one question that's easy to answer."

3. Tone rewrite
"Rewrite the message below to be [warmer/firmer/more concise] while keeping every factual point intact. Do not add new commitments.\n\n[paste]"

4. Executive summary of a thread
"Summarise this email thread into: the decision needed, the options on the table, who is blocking, and the deadline. Under 120 words.\n\n[paste]"

5. Saying no
"Help me decline [request] from [person] without damaging the relationship. Reason I'm declining: [real reason]. Offer one alternative if reasonable."

Meetings

6. Agenda from a vague goal
"Build a [duration] agenda for a meeting about [topic] with [attendees and roles]. For each item give a time box and the decision or output expected. Flag anything that should be an email instead."

7. Notes to actions
"From these notes, extract only: decisions made, action items with owners, and open questions. Ignore discussion that led nowhere.\n\n[paste]"

8. Pre-read brief
"Turn this document into a one-page pre-read for [audience] who have [level of context]. Lead with what they need to decide.\n\n[paste]"

9. Devil's advocate
"I'm proposing [proposal] in a meeting tomorrow. Give me the five strongest objections, in the order they're most likely to come up, and a one-line response to each."

Writing and Reporting

10. Report narrative
"Here are this month's numbers. Write a [length] commentary for [audience] covering: what changed, why it likely changed, and the one thing they should act on. Don't restate every figure.\n\n[paste]"

11. Match an existing voice
"Below is a sample of our writing. Write [new piece] matching this voice — sentence length, formality, and how it opens.\n\nSAMPLE:\n[paste]\n\nNEW BRIEF:\n[brief]"

12. Ruthless edit
"Cut this to [word count] without losing any substantive point. Remove hedging and filler. Show me what you cut and why.\n\n[paste]"

13. Explain to a non-expert
"Explain [concept] to [audience] who know [X] but not [Y]. Use one analogy from [their world]. Under 150 words."

14. Structure a messy brain-dump
"I've written everything I know about [topic] below in no order. Organise it into a logical structure and tell me what's missing.\n\n[paste]"

Analysis and Decisions

15. Options with trade-offs
"I need to decide [decision]. Constraints: [budget, time, people]. Give three genuinely different options, with the strongest argument for and against each. Recommend one and say what would change your recommendation."

16. Pre-mortem
"It's [timeframe] from now and [project] has failed badly. Write the honest post-mortem explaining why. Focus on causes we could control."

17. Data questions
"Here's a dataset. Don't summarise it — tell me the three questions I should be asking that I probably haven't thought of, and what in the data suggests them.\n\n[paste]"

18. Assumption audit
"Below is my plan. List every assumption it depends on, and mark which ones would break the plan entirely if wrong.\n\n[paste]"

Hiring and People

19. Job description
"Write a job description for [role] at [company type]. Focus on what the person will actually do in the first six months rather than a generic responsibility list. Flag any language that might narrow the applicant pool."

20. Interview questions
"Give me eight competency-based interview questions for [role], testing [specific competencies]. For each, tell me what a strong answer contains and what a rehearsed answer sounds like."

21. Feedback framing
"Help me give feedback to [role] about [behaviour]. I want it specific and forward-looking, not a personality critique. Give me an opening line and the structure."

22. Onboarding plan
"Build a 30-60-90 day plan for a new [role] joining [team context]. Separate what they should learn, do, and own at each stage."

Sales and Clients

23. Pre-call brief
"Research [company]. Tell me what they do, recent public announcements, who likely owns [function], and three things I could reference that show I did my homework. Cite sources."

24. Objection handling
"A prospect said: '[objection]'. Give three ways to respond — one that addresses it directly, one that reframes it, one that asks a question. Tell me when to use each."

25. Proposal outline
"Outline a proposal for [client] who needs [problem solved]. Their main concern is [concern]. Structure it so the first page answers what they care about, not what we sell."

Planning

26. Break down a vague goal
"Turn '[vague goal]' into a concrete plan: milestones, the first three tasks, and what would tell me it's working by [checkpoint]."

27. Prioritisation
"Here are twelve things competing for my time. Given my goal is [goal] and I have [capacity], tell me what to do, what to defer, and what to drop entirely. Argue for your ranking.\n\n[paste]"

28. Process documentation
"I'll describe a process roughly. Turn it into a clean SOP with numbered steps, decision points, and what to do when things go wrong.\n\n[paste]"

29. Stakeholder map
"For [initiative], map who needs to approve, who needs to be informed, who might resist and why, and what each group cares about most."

30. The catch-all improver
"Before you answer, ask me up to five questions that would let you give a significantly better response. Then wait."

That last one is the most underused prompt in existence. It turns a one-shot guess into an actual briefing conversation, and it improves output more reliably than any clever phrasing.

How to Use These Properly

Don't bookmark this page. Copy the eight that match your actual job into your own document and edit them as you learn what works for your context. A prompt library you maintain beats a list you admire.

If you want to go from templates to genuine fluency — knowing why these work and building your own — that's the ground our AI for Professionals programme covers, part of our AI courses in Sri Lanka.