The Brief card: write AI prompts that get useful answers

Print the card on one page. Keep it on your desk. Use it every time the task matters. For a quick question, you do not need all seven parts. For any work you send to another person, use all seven.

The card

THE BRIEF

1. TASK       What do you want? Start with a verb.
              "Draft a reply...", "Summarise...", "Turn this into a table..."

2. AUDIENCE   Who reads the result? What do they know? What do they need?
              "A small-shop owner who is not technical and is annoyed."

3. CONTEXT    What does the AI not know? Our facts, policy, situation, goal.
              "Our policy: we refund setup fees within 14 days. Not after."

4. EXAMPLES   One good example of what you want, if you have one.
              "Here is a reply I wrote last month that worked well: ..."

5. FORMAT     Length, structure, tone, language.
              "Under 120 words. Three short paragraphs. Friendly, plain."

6. CHECKS     What must be true? What must it never do?
              "Do not promise a date. Do not mention discounts.
               List any fact you were not sure about at the end."

7. ASK ME     "Before you start, ask me up to 5 questions about
   FIRST       anything that is unclear. Then wait for my answers."

LANE CHECK    Green? Go. Amber? Make it safe first, approved tool only.
              Red? Stop. Do not paste.

A fill-in version (copy and paste)

Task: 
Audience: 
Context: 
Example of what I want (optional): 
Format: 
Checks (must be true / must never do): 

Before you start, ask me up to 5 questions about anything that is unclear.
Then wait for my answers.

Why each part matters

Three habits that make every brief better

1. Give it the facts, then ask it to use only those facts. Add: "Use only the facts above. If something is missing, say so. Do not invent it."
2. Ask for the doubts. Add: "At the end, list anything you were not sure about." You then know where to check first.
3. Improve the brief, not only the answer. If the result is wrong, ask yourself which part of the brief was missing. Fix that part. Next time, the first answer is better.

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Worked example 1: a support reply (Northwind Services)

The situation. A Northwind customer's card reader was due to arrive on Monday. It is now Thursday. The customer is annoyed. The courier says the parcel arrives tomorrow. Northwind's policy: no refunds for courier delays, but a goodwill credit of one free month of the software is possible for delays over 3 working days.

The customer's email (already made safe):

Subject: Where is my card reader??

I was promised the card reader on Monday. It's Thursday. I have a market
stall on Saturday and I can't take cards without it. This is the second
time something from you has been late. What is going on?

[CUSTOMER-1], [BUSINESS-NAME]

The weak brief

Write a reply to this customer.

What you usually get: a long, formal apology. It may promise a delivery date it cannot know, offer a refund Northwind does not give, or invent a tracking number. It does not sound like Northwind.

The full brief

Task: Draft a reply to the customer email below.

Audience: A small-business owner who sells at a weekend market. Not
technical. Annoyed, and worried about Saturday.

Context:
- The card reader was due Monday. The courier now says it arrives Friday
  (tomorrow), before 18:00. We cannot guarantee the courier's time.
- Our policy: no refunds for courier delays. For delays over 3 working
  days we may give one free month of the software as goodwill. This delay
  is 4 working days, so the free month applies.
- If the reader does not arrive by Friday 18:00, the customer can take
  card payments on Saturday with our free phone app ("Northwind Tap").
  Setup takes about 10 minutes. The guide is at
  help.northwind.example/tap.
- The customer says this is the second late delivery. I cannot confirm
  that. Do not argue with it, and do not confirm it.

Example of our tone: "Thanks for telling us, and sorry for the stress.
Here is what we are doing about it."

Format: Under 150 words. Short paragraphs. Friendly and plain. No
"we apologise for any inconvenience". Sign off as "[MY NAME], Northwind
Support".

Checks:
- Do not promise the parcel will arrive. Say what the courier told us.
- Do not offer a refund.
- Mention the free month and the phone app as a backup plan.
- At the end, under a line, list anything you were not sure about.

Before you start, ask me up to 5 questions about anything that is unclear.
Then wait for my answers.

Typical questions the AI asks: "Should I tell the customer how to claim the free month, or is it added automatically?" "Do you want to give a direct phone number for Saturday?" "Is the free month added to the current month or the next one?" These are exactly the details a customer then asks about. You answer them once, and the reply is complete.

How to check the result (1 minute): Is the delivery described as the courier's estimate, not a promise? No refund? Free month and phone app both mentioned? Under 150 words? Does it sound like us? Read the "not sure" list first.

Use it with your whole team

The Brief card is one part of the AI at Work team kit, which lets one of your own staff run a full-day AI workshop: script, workbook, prompts by job and data-safety rules.