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Tell the team the offsite is canceled, without spin
Practice: Getting the tone right. About 5 minutes.
About this exercise
The team offsite is canceled because of budget, and you're telling the team in Slack. Write it in under 70 words, plain text, with the cancellation in the first sentence, the honest reason in plain words, and the confirmed alternative. Don't blame finance or leadership, don't use corporate spin, and don't promise a rescheduled offsite.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Spinning the bad news. AI defaults to upbeat corporate phrasing that people see through. Try: Add: "Start directly with the news, no greeting. Say it plainly: canceled because travel budgets were cut."
- 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: "4 sentences, each under 15 words."
- Blaming someone. The AI may name finance to explain the decision. Try: Add: "Don't name or blame finance or leadership."
- Over-promising. To soften it, the AI says 'we'll do Asheville in the fall'. Try: Add: "Only the confirmed team day. Don't promise a fall offsite."
- Formatting for Slack. The AI adds bold headings and emoji bullets. Try: Add: "Plain text, no bold or bullets."
What a strong prompt includes
- Puts the news first
- Bans spin
- Avoids blame
- Limits promises
- Sets a word limit
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