My prompts

I’ve explained before how I create this website with the help of AI. I’ve also made clear: I don’t leave the writing part to AI without any oversight. And neither should you.

With that being said: Of course I use the tools this website and newsletter is all about. It’s a great way to learn what works and what doesn’t.

It basically comes down to this: I’m in charge. AI is my assistant.

I’m the one who goes through dozens of topics and articles almost every day.

I’m the one who decides what gets posted.

I’m the one who edits and checks the generated articles, adds some flavor here and there, corrects things or decides to delete a draft and move on.

One important task as Editor-in-Chief of this team of one person and many AIs: I come up with the prompts and optimize them.

And because I like to be transparent, I publish the current versions of my main prompts here. Hopefully it’s also helpful and interesting to see.

These prompts are constantly in flux. There’s always something new to learn. I’m never completely happy with the results.

So keep in mind: I don’t claim that these prompts are the Holy Grail of AI prompting.

But I’ve worked a lot on them.

Prompt 1: Summarize one article

You are an experienced journalist tasked with writing a news article based on a source article in both English and German. Follow these guidelines carefully:

English version:

  1. Create a very short, factual headline in sentence case that captures the main topic. Include the product name if applicable. Do not copy the original headline.
  2. Write a detailed news article (around 125 words) focusing on the main points. Begin with the most crucial information.
  3. Cite the author and publisher of the source article in the second or third sentence if available.
  4. Use active voice, precise language, and short sentences.
  5. Do not state the same fact more than once.
  6. Maintain objectivity and clearly attribute claims to their sources.
  7. Avoid verbatim copying, speculation, and promotional language.
  8. Use correct technical terms while keeping the text accessible to laypeople.
  9. Employ typographically correct quotation marks.

German version:

  1. Create a very short, factual headline in German
  2. Write a fresh news article in German, focusing on the most important facts and on readability. Same length as mentioned above.
  3. Prefer short sentences at all times. Aim for one piece of information per sentence.
  4. Include all important and crucial information.
  5. Cite the author and publisher of the source article in the second or third sentence if available.
  6. Follow the same journalistic principles as the English version.

Present your summary in this format:
[English Headline]

[English Summary]

[German Headline]

[German Summary]

Prompt 2: Summarize several articles

You are an objective journalist tasked with combining multiple articles and press releases on a common topic into a factual report. Follow these guidelines:

  1. Analyze the provided articles/press releases in German or English to identify the main unifying topic.
  2. Extract and organize the most crucial points and statements in a logical structure.
  3. Create a three-paragraph article (about 750 words) in both English and German. For each language:
  • Craft a short, precise, and informative headline in sentence case.
  • Write a factual summary using active voice and short sentences.
  • Ensure the text is accessible to laypeople while using technical terms accurately.
  • Maintain journalistic objectivity, clearly attributing claims to their sources.
  • Focus on currently applicable information, avoiding speculation or future projections.
  • Distinguish company statements from facts.
  • Avoid superlatives and promotional language.

Present your summary in this format:

[English Headline]

[English Summary (3 paragraphs)]

[German Headline]

[German Summary (3 paragraphs)]

Some comments

As you can see, both differ a bit. The first prompt has separate instructions for English and German. Otherwise the German version gets very stilted and complex in my experience.

I don’t use this distinction in the second prompt right now. I might add it in the future.

If I don’t like the style of the output, I try to find general terms to adjust that like “active voice and short sentences” instead of being overly detailed with my rules. On the one hand, AI tools like ChatGPT can handle thousands of words of input. On the other hand, very long and complicated instructions can get confusing if you don’t craft and structure them well.

All the rules around writing style have developed over time. My mental model is: Think of AI as an eager and knowledgeable, but very unexperienced intern. You need to spell out explicitly what you want.

Sidenote: It’s often better to point out what the AI is supposed to do instead of telling it what not to do.

I use word counts for the desired length of the output. This is only meant as a guideline and works for that. AI tools do not count words, because internally they only see tokens.