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Summarize a long email thread for your executive in two lines
- For Executive assistants
- You practice Saying who it's for
- Time about 5 minutes
- Level Beginner
About this exercise
Summarize this email thread for your executive, Tobias, who has 20 seconds. Output exactly two lines in plain text: line 1 starts with "Needs you:" and states the one thing he must decide or do and by when; line 2 starts with "FYI:" and gives the single most important fact. Each line is under 22 words. Use the latest message in the thread.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Old price. The AI uses $120,000. Try: Say: "Use the latest message: $123,600."
- Missing the deadline. The AI forgets Thursday noon. Try: Say: "State what he must do and by when."
- Too long. The AI writes a summary of each email. Try: Say: "Exactly two lines, each under 22 words."
- Markdown or lists. The AI uses bullets or numbers. Try: Say: "Plain text, two lines, no numbering."
- Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it. Try: Cap each part instead, for example: "each line under 12 words."
What a strong prompt includes
- Two lines
- Labels
- Deadline
- Latest
- Short
Related exercises
- Announce a colleague's promotion with approved facts only (Leadership AI · Managers and team leads)
- Announce a manager swap in Slack with two sentences and one link (Leadership AI · Managers and team leads)
- Announce a new team member in an email with exact first and last lines (Leadership AI · Managers and team leads)
- Announce a product delay in a 6-sentence spoken script with no spin (Leadership AI · Executives)
- Announce a schedule change in a text message under 45 words (Leadership AI · Small business owners)