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Brief an assistant to schedule holiday posts without slip-ups

  • For Marketing and content
  • You practice Giving the right context
  • Time about 5 minutes

About this exercise

You want an AI assistant to load next week's social posts into the scheduler. Write its brief: the sale is 30% off (the calendar's 40% is a typo), nothing goes out on Nov 26 because the team is off and can't answer comments (move those posts to Nov 27, same time), any post whose image isn't approved goes to ASK_HUMAN, and nothing is published now. Output a plain-text numbered action log of at most 7 lines, ending with DONE.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Not showing the log format. Left alone, the AI writes a friendly report with headings instead of a checkable action log. Try: Show it literally: "Format every line like 1. ACTION: tool(args), then ASK_HUMAN: and DONE: lines. Plain text."
  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting and runs long, especially when it explains each step. Try: Cap each line instead: "each line under 20 words, no explanations."
  • Leaving out the real discount. The AI can't know 40% is a typo, so it schedules a sale price you can't honor. Try: Add: "The sale is 30% off. Fix any post that says otherwise."
  • No blackout date. The AI schedules everything as planned, including the day nobody is watching comments. Try: Add: "Nothing on Nov 26. Move those posts to Nov 27, same time."
  • No approval rule. The AI schedules the post with an unapproved customer photo. Try: Add: "If an image isn't approved, use ASK_HUMAN. Never publish_now."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Gives the real discount
  • Sets the blackout date
  • Checks image approval
  • Forbids publishing now
  • Shows the action-log format

Practice this now ↑

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