AI prompt brief template: a printable worksheet (PDF)
Fill in role, context, task, constraints and format before you type a prompt. Includes a filled-in example, a pre-send checklist and five fixes for a wrong answer.
A prompt brief is a short written request that tells an AI assistant who to act as, what it needs to know, what exactly to do and what the result should look like. This worksheet gives you those fields on paper, with blank lines to fill in before you type anything. It is for business owners, freelancers and students who use ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or another assistant for work that someone else will read. Use it when the task matters and a one-line question has already given you something generic.
What is inside
- Five core fields with lines to write on: role, context, task, constraints and output format
- Two fields for examples: an output you would accept and one you do not want
- A checking section: which facts to verify, against which source, and who reads the answer before it is used
- A table of weak and specific wording for each field, shown on a product description for an online shop
- One filled-in brief: a small studio replying to a customer enquiry
- A list to go through before sending: personal data, passwords and keys, facts to verify, tone
- Five fixes for an answer that does not work
How to use it
- Print the worksheet or open it next to the chat window. Fill in the task first: if it does not fit in one sentence, split it into two briefs.
- Fill in the context, the constraints and the format. Paste the source text (your price list, the customer's message) rather than describing it from memory.
- Write down one output you would accept and one you would not. A single sentence of each is enough.
- Before sending, go through the checklist. Remove names, phone numbers, passwords and anything confidential.
- Type the fields into the chat in the same order, as one message.
- Compare the answer with the checking section. If it does not work, use the list of fixes and change the brief instead of simply asking again.
When a brief beats a one-line question
A one-line question is fine when any reasonable answer will do: a synonym, a formula, the meaning of a term. The assistant fills the gaps with general assumptions, and for those tasks that is enough.
A brief is worth the extra minutes when only you can fill the gaps: the answer depends on your prices, your customer or your tone, or it will go out under your name. The assistant cannot guess those details, and it does not always say what it assumed. Fill in the worksheet when:
- the result will be sent to a customer or published
- the answer has to use your own facts: prices, terms, product details
- you have already asked twice and got generalities
- you repeat the task every week and want to ask for it the same way each time
- someone else on the team will send the same request
What the worksheet does not do
The worksheet organises your request. It does not make the facts a model gives you correct. An assistant can state a wrong price, date or name in the same confident tone as a right one, and a clear brief does not change that.
That is why the last section asks how the answer will be checked, by whom and against which source. Checking stays with the person who sends the text. If you cannot say where a fact can be verified, do not leave it to the assistant: write the fact into the context yourself or take it out.
The worksheet also does not decide what is safe to paste into a chat. Customer names, phone numbers, passwords, keys and confidential documents stay out of the prompt unless the rules of your company and of the service allow it.
Keep the briefs that worked
A filled-in brief that gave you a usable draft is worth keeping, with the date and the name of the task. Next time you change only the context and the task.
Kept this way, they add up to a small set for the jobs you repeat: replies to enquiries, product descriptions, meeting summaries, post drafts. Review the set when your prices or terms change, because an old brief carries old facts into new answers.
Questions
Does it work with ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini?
Yes. The worksheet is on paper and does not depend on a tool: you type the filled-in fields into whichever assistant you use. The fields describe your request, not a feature of one product.
Do I need to fill in every field?
No. You cannot do without the task and the context; the rest depends on the request. Leave a field empty because you decided it does not matter, not because you skipped it. For a short internal note, the role and the examples can stay blank.
How long should a prompt written from the brief be?
As long as the facts require. A reply to a customer may need ten lines of context; rewriting one paragraph may need two. Length is not the aim: a missing price or an unnamed reader costs more than three extra sentences.
Can I paste a customer's message into the prompt?
First remove the name, phone number, email, address and any order or document numbers, and check that the rules of the service and of your company allow it. The assistant needs the question, not the person's identity.