Emails and Communication
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Why Start with Emails?
An unclear email can leave the recipient unsure what to do next. Use AI to turn a rough request into a clear reply, compare tones, and build reusable templates. In this lesson, use the supplied fictional messages. For real work, follow your organization’s approved tool and data-handling process; changing names alone does not make a message anonymous.
A useful rewrite makes the request easier to act on while preserving facts and commitments. Compare the draft with the source: is the deadline unchanged, is the request clear, and would you use these words with this recipient?
Replying to Emails
Tell AI who the fictional recipient is, what you want to communicate, and the desired tone and length. Ask it to preserve the supplied facts and mark missing details [to confirm]. Review the result before using it.
Reply prompt: 'Use only this fictional email: [fictional text]. My intended reply is [supplied facts and request]. Write at most 5 sentences in a professional, friendly tone. Do not add reasons, dates or promises; mark missing details [to confirm].'
For a complaint, separate known facts from an offer you are authorized to make. Fictional brief: delivery is delayed; the cause and new delivery date are unknown; no compensation has been approved. Ask for an apology and a request to confirm the date. Reject a draft that blames a supplier or offers a discount: neither is in the brief.
Summarizing Long Threads
Summaries should separate decisions from proposals and preserve uncertainty. Use the fictional thread below. For a longer thread, number the messages and ask for a message reference beside each decision or task so you can check it against the source.
Fictional thread: 1) Alex: 'Could we hold the demo on Tuesday? Sam, please confirm.' 2) Sam: 'Tuesday is not confirmed. I will check the room; I cannot give a deadline yet.' Prompt: 'Summarize the topic, decisions, open questions, tasks and who owes a reply. Use only these messages; mark missing deadlines as not stated.' Expected: demo scheduling; no confirmed date; Tuesday and room availability open; Sam will check the room, deadline not stated; Sam owes Alex confirmation. A booked Tuesday demo would be an invented decision.
Switching Tone
Try formal, assertive or empathetic versions of the same fictional message. Tone is a judgment call: check whether the request is clear and appropriate for the recipient. A smoother sentence must not turn a request into a promise or change a deadline.
Tone prompt: 'Rewrite this fictional email for a company director. Keep the request, facts and deadline unchanged; add no commitments. Return the rewrite and list the wording you changed: [fictional email].'
Choose a tone for a reason: assertive for a clear request, empathetic for acknowledging difficulty, diplomatic for disagreement, or concise for a quick status update. Compare versions rather than assuming one label produces the right result.
Follow-up Emails
A follow-up should identify the earlier request and make the next step clear. You choose when to send it based on the situation and any agreed response time; AI can draft the wording from those facts.
Fictional follow-up prompt: 'I sent a proposal about a training demo a week ago and have received no reply. Draft a polite status question and offer to answer questions. Suggest a 15-minute call as an option, without inventing a date or implying the recipient agreed.' Check that the draft asks rather than assumes agreement.
Bulk communication and templates
Use placeholders for repeatable emails. Prompt: 'Create a fictional order-confirmation template with [customer name], [order number], [confirmed delivery date] and [item list]. Keep unknown values as placeholders; do not promise an unconfirmed delivery date.' Fill and check each field only within your approved workflow before sending.
Before sending, check the recipient, facts, dates, amounts, links and commitments against the source. Read the tone aloud. Remove unsupported additions and resolve every placeholder. A polished draft still needs your judgment.
Fictional input: 'Hello, can you send the demo agenda by Thursday? Also, can you confirm the room? — Alex'. Your reply facts: you can send the agenda by Thursday; the room is not yet confirmed. Prompt: 'Write a professional, friendly reply of at most 5 sentences using only those facts. Do not invent a room or a confirmation date.' Before: 'Agenda Thursday. Room unknown.' Illustrative after: 'Hello Alex, I can send the demo agenda by Thursday. The room is not yet confirmed. Best, [signature].' Check: agenda by Thursday, room unconfirmed, no new promises. Ask for a more formal version and check the same facts again.
Hint
A reply promising to confirm the room tomorrow fails: tomorrow is not supplied. The illustrative after is a reference answer, not a guaranteed AI output.
Use three fictional situations: confirm a demo with an agreed time; request an agenda with no agreed deadline; thank someone for a demo. Ask for templates with [recipient], [topic] and any necessary [date/time] or [deadline to confirm] fields. Test each with invented values, then remove those values to restore the reusable template. Check that each template has one clear purpose, preserves unknown fields and invents no meeting booking, deadline or outcome. Save only the fictional templates.
Hint
For the agenda request, an acceptable pattern is: “Hello [recipient], could you send the agenda for [topic]? Please let me know when it will be available.” A fixed deadline is unsupported.
Use this fictional email: 'The draft is missing the budget section. Please add it by Thursday. If that is not possible, let me know.' Ask for three versions: formal for a director, assertive for a project teammate, and empathetic for an overloaded teammate. For each, underline the missing section, Thursday deadline and fallback request. All three must remain. Compare the vocabulary and choose the version that fits the fictional recipient; edit it into words you would use.
Hint
An empathetic version may acknowledge workload, but must not silently move Thursday to next week. An assertive version must not add threats or penalties.
- Draft from fictional practice inputs; use approved tools and data processes for real work
- Check summaries against source messages; proposals are not decisions and missing deadlines stay missing
- Compare tone variants while keeping the facts, requests and commitments unchanged
- Give a follow-up one clear next step without assuming agreement
- Test templates with fictional values and resolve placeholders before sending