The one rule, and how these prompts work

Most people's first go with AI email is disappointing, and it is almost always the same reason. They ask for something like "write a follow-up email to a client." What comes back is grammatically perfect and completely forgettable — the kind of email that could have been sent by any business to any customer about anything.

The fix is not a cleverer prompt. It is a more specific one.

Why specificity does the work

An AI tool writes from what you give it. Give it a category — "a follow-up email" — and it writes the average of every follow-up email ever written. Give it a situation — "I quoted Dave at Ridgeline Plumbing eight hundred dollars for a hot water service swap, eleven days ago, and he has gone quiet" — and it has something to work with.

The difference is not effort. Both take about the same time to type. One gets you a draft you send in a minute; the other gets you something you rewrite from scratch.

The one rule

Add one specific detail that proves the email is personal.

Their business name. Something they said in the last conversation. A real date. A real number. The job you did for them in March.

That is it. That single habit is the difference between an email that reads like it came from you and one that reads like it came from a system. AI cannot invent that detail, because AI was not in the room. You were.

How to run a prompt

Every prompt in modules 02 and 03 follows the same shape, so once you have used one you have used all eight.

1. 1
   Copy the whole prompt. There is a copy button on each one.
2. 2
   Replace everything in [square brackets]. Anything you leave in brackets will come back in the draft as a literal bracket, which is how people end up sending "Hi [Client Name]".
3. 3
   Paste it into a new chat. A fresh chat each time keeps the last email's context out of this one.
4. 4
   Read the draft properly. Not a skim. You are looking for anything that is not true, anything that does not sound like you, and anything you would not say out loud.
5. 5
   Add your one real detail, then send.

What to do when the first draft is not right

Do not start again. Reply to the AI in the same chat and adjust it:

• "Shorter. Half the length."
• "Less formal — write it like I'd say it."
• "Take out the last paragraph."
• "Make the ask clearer. One action only."

Two or three of those and you are there. Starting over usually gets you a different draft with the same problems.