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Order a phone menu by call volume with an emergency line first

  • For Customer support teams
  • You practice Asking for a format you can use
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Beginner

About this exercise

Write the phone menu script for a water utility. Line 1 is the emergency notice. Then one line per option, starting "Press 1" and so on, ordered by call volume from highest to lowest. The billing option includes its hours. Last line: "To hear these options again, press 9." Plain text, under 90 words.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Keeping the old order. The old menu and the executive comment put billing first. Try: Say: "Order by call volume, highest first."
  • Leaving out billing hours. The AI writes the options without hours. Try: Say: "The billing option includes its hours."
  • Missing the emergency line or the repeat line. The AI starts with 'Welcome'. Try: Give the first and last lines.
  • Getting markdown back. AI adds bold and headings by default, which show up as stray symbols where this is pasted. Try: Say "plain text, no bold, no headings, no asterisks".
  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting and usually runs long, so a vague "keep it short" lands well over the limit. Try: Cap each part instead of the total, for example "each line under 15 words".

What a strong prompt includes

  • Asks for plain text
  • Sets a length limit
  • Orders by volume
  • Gives the exact last line

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