Emails, Letters and Messages

Writing messages is the most common use of AI at work, and the easiest place to lose your voice, or to send something you did not really read. In this lesson you will learn how to reply, follow up and handle a delicate tone faster, how to adapt a message to its reader, and how to keep a review step that protects you.

In chapter 1 you chose your first use cases and set up a safe workspace. For many people, the first candidate is the inbox. Let us see how to do it well.

Camille's inbox

Camille, the marketing manager, receives a message from a supplier: the printed brochures will be delivered four days late. She is annoyed, the launch event is coming, and she needs to write a firm but constructive reply. Her first instinct is to ask the assistant: "Reply to this email." The result is polite and empty. It could have been written by anyone, to anyone.

What changes the result is the same thing you learned in the prompting course: context, intention and constraints. The assistant does not know that this supplier is usually reliable, that Camille wants a revised date in writing, or that she prefers short sentences. Only you can provide that.

The anatomy of a good message prompt

For an email or a letter, five ingredients make a difference:

1. Purpose: what should happen after the reader reads it? (Confirm a date, accept an offer, apologize, ask for a document.)
2. Reader: who are they, what is your relationship, what do they already know?
3. Key facts: the points that must appear, written by you, exactly as they are true.
4. Tone and length: formal, warm, firm, concise; and a word limit.
5. Constraints: what to avoid (promises, blame, jargon) and what to leave as a placeholder.

A ready-to-use prompt: reply with a precise intention

You are helping me write a professional email reply.
Context: I am [job title] at [type of company]. I received the message below from [role of the sender, e.g. a regular supplier].
Purpose of my reply: [e.g. ask for a firm delivery date in writing and a gesture for the delay].
Key facts to include, exactly as written:
- [fact 1, e.g. launch event on 14 March]
- [fact 2, e.g. we need delivery at least two days before]
Tone: firm but constructive, no blame. Length: under 120 words. Language: English.
Do not invent facts, dates or promises. If something is missing, put it in [square brackets].

Message received:
[paste the message, without personal data that is not needed]

Give me two versions: one more direct, one more diplomatic.

Asking for two versions is a small habit with a big payoff: you see two possible tones and choose, instead of accepting the first thing produced.

Common message situations

Replying

Give the incoming message, your decision, and the points to include. If you have not yet decided, ask the assistant to list the options and their consequences, then choose yourself. The assistant should draft your decision, not make it.

Following up

Reminders are the perfect task for AI: repetitive, textual, low-stakes. Julien, the accountant, has to chase clients for missing documents every month. He keeps a template prompt that takes the list of missing items and generates a polite reminder with the right level of firmness depending on whether it is the first or the third reminder.

Rephrasing a difficult tone

You wrote an email while irritated. Before sending, paste it (without unnecessary personal data) and ask for a calmer, professional version that keeps the same facts and the same request. This is not about hiding disagreement; it is about being clear and respectful. Always compare the result to your original: does it still say what you mean?

Adapting to the recipient

The same information needs different wording for a new customer, a long-standing partner, your manager or a technical colleague. You can ask for several adaptations from the same core message: "Rewrite this for a customer who is not technical", "Rewrite this for my director in three sentences", "Rewrite this as a message for the team chat".

Reusable templates

Save your best prompts and emails as templates with brackets for the variable parts. Marc, the plumber, has three: a quote follow-up, a message confirming an appointment, and a polite reminder for an unpaid invoice. He adapts them in a minute instead of rewriting each time.

Keeping your own voice

Without guidance, AI writing drifts towards a smooth, generic, slightly over-enthusiastic style that readers learn to recognize. Your colleagues will notice if you suddenly write very differently. A few ways to keep your voice:

• Show your style: give two or three short emails you wrote in the past (with personal data removed) and ask the assistant to describe your style and follow it.
• List your habits: "short sentences, no exclamation marks, I never write 'I hope this finds you well'".
• Edit the result: replace stock phrases with your own words; remove filler.
• Keep personal messages personal: condolences, congratulations, apologies and sensitive conversations should be yours.

A ready-to-use prompt: capture your style

Here are three emails I wrote, with names and personal details removed:
[email 1]
[email 2]
[email 3]

Describe my writing style in 6 bullet points (sentence length, tone, openings and closings, expressions I use, what I avoid).
Then rewrite the draft below in that style, keeping the facts unchanged:
[draft]

Review before sending: a five-point check

The message goes out under your name, so a quick review is not optional. Use this checklist:

1. Facts: names, dates, amounts, commitments. Compare each with your source.
2. Promises: did the draft commit you to something you did not intend?
3. Tone: would you say this to this person?
4. Recipient: right person, right copy list, no confidential information for the wrong audience.
5. Placeholders: no leftover [brackets] or invented details.

Bad use versus good use

Bad use	Good use
"Reply to this email" and send as it comes.	State your purpose, key facts, tone and length; ask for two versions; review the facts.
Pasting the full email thread with names, addresses and order numbers into an unapproved tool.	Removing what is not needed, or using the approved tool only, and keeping sensitive details as placeholders.
Using AI to write an apology to a colleague.	Writing it yourself, perhaps asking for feedback on the tone afterwards.

Your turn: three emails, one method

Exercise. Take a real situation (with names removed) for each of these: (1) a reply that requires a firm answer, (2) a reminder, (3) an email you would rather rewrite after reading it twice. Write one prompt for each using the five ingredients, ask for two versions, then apply the five-point review. Note how much time you spent in total and how much you changed the drafts.

See a solution

An example for the reminder (Julien): "Write a polite reminder to a client about three missing documents: [list]. This is the second reminder; the first was two weeks ago. Tone: friendly but clear that we need them before [date] to meet the filing deadline. Under 90 words. Leave the client's first name as [First name]. Do not mention any amounts."

Typical review notes: the first draft added "as discussed by phone", which never happened, so it was removed; the deadline was checked against the calendar; a sentence that sounded too stiff was replaced with Julien's usual wording. The value of the exercise is the note on what you changed: it tells you which instructions to add to your template next time.