AI Resources
Prompt Library
Prompts from our workshops, ready to copy. Paste one into ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, or Claude, and fill in anything in [BRACKETS] with your own details.
How to use these prompts
- Tap Copy, paste the prompt into your AI tool, and replace anything in [BRACKETS].
- Paste your own material (notes, a table, a bid) under the prompt. The tool only knows what you give it.
- In free tools, use made-up or cleaned-up examples. Never paste customer, employee, or student personal information.
- Read every result before you use it. Check facts, numbers, names, and dates.
- Send a second prompt. Asking the tool to check its own work against your notes is where the work gets good.
Jump to
New to the vocabulary? The AI Glossary explains prompts, tokens, context windows, and more in plain language.
Prompts for any business
These come from our AI for Business seminar. They work in any chat tool, including Copilot Chat with a work account.
Start with RACE: Role, Action, Context, Expectation
Use it for any task. Fill in each part, then paste your material underneath. What each letter means.
RACE prompt
Role: Act as a [ROLE: project manager, safety officer, office manager]. Action: [THE SPECIFIC TASK: build a project schedule, write a safety checklist, summarize these notes]. Context: [WHAT ELSE IT SHOULD KNOW: the audience, regulations, constraints]. Use only the information I give you, and mark anything missing as TBD. Expectation: [WHAT THE OUTPUT SHOULD LOOK LIKE: an email under 150 words, a spreadsheet-style table, a checklist]. [PASTE YOUR SOURCE MATERIAL HERE]
Turn meeting notes into action items
Use it after any meeting where the notes are messy and the follow-up email never gets written.
Prompt
Act as an operations coordinator. Using only the meeting notes below, produce: (1) A five-column action table: Action | Owner | Due Date | Priority | Risk if Not Done (2) A follow-up email under 180 words, with a subject line (3) A list of any items that still need an owner assigned Do not invent missing information. Mark gaps as TBD. [PASTE MEETING NOTES HERE]
Review a vendor proposal
Use it before a decision meeting to find what the proposal leaves out.
Prompt
Using only the vendor proposal below, create an executive summary table with these columns: Category | What the Proposal Says | Risk or Gap. Categories: Pricing, Services Included, Support Hours, Service Commitments (SLAs), Contract Terms, Missing Information. Be specific. Mark anything unclear or absent as MISSING. [PASTE THE PROPOSAL HERE]
Follow-up
Based on the gaps you identified, write 8 specific follow-up questions I should send to the vendor before signing. Format as a numbered list. Focus on service-level penalties, uptime guarantees, price increases, data ownership, and references.
Summarize a long report for leadership
Use it when a detailed report needs to become a one-page brief.
Prompt
Using only the report below, write a one-page executive summary with four sections: 1. Performance snapshot: a table showing each area, its status (On Track / Needs Attention / Below Target), and one key metric. 2. Top 3 concerns: each with its root cause, one sentence each. 3. Top 3 wins: each with supporting data. 4. Recommended focus areas: 3 actions leadership should prioritize next, based only on this report. Keep the whole summary under 400 words. [PASTE THE REPORT HERE]
Follow-up
Write a 3-sentence opening paragraph a senior leader could say aloud to introduce this summary. Name the overall performance honestly (no spin), mention the biggest concern, and say what the leadership team is doing about it.
Announce a change people won’t like
Use it for a message that has to be clear, honest, and kind at the same time.
Prompt
Using the situation notes below, draft an all-staff email announcing [THE CHANGE]. Requirements: - A clear, specific subject line - Acknowledge staff concerns directly and honestly - State the actions each employee must take, and by when - End with a call to action (reply with questions, attend a Q&A) - Tone: direct, empathetic, honest, not corporate-speak - Under 250 words [PASTE SITUATION NOTES HERE]
Follow-up
Critique the email you just wrote. Score it from 1 to 5 on clarity (are the required actions easy to understand?), empathy (does it acknowledge concerns genuinely?), and actionability (does the reader know exactly what to do next?). Identify the weakest sentence and rewrite it.
Compare options and stress-test the choice
Use it for purchasing and vendor decisions. The tool organizes the comparison; you check every number.
Prompt
Act as a business analyst. Using only the information below, compare the options in a table. Then score each option from 1 to 5 on [CRITERION 1] ([WEIGHT]%), [CRITERION 2] ([WEIGHT]%), and [CRITERION 3] ([WEIGHT]%), and show the weighted total. Mark any score where the data is insufficient as "Data needed." Do not invent information. [PASTE THE OPTIONS OR DATA HERE]
Follow-up
Which single assumption in this analysis, if wrong, would most likely change the recommendation? Explain in 3 sentences. Then suggest one low-cost way to test that assumption before committing.
Write AI ground rules for your team
Use it to draft a first version of a responsible-use policy, then edit it with the people who will follow it.
Prompt
Act as an operations manager for a [TYPE OF BUSINESS] with [NUMBER] employees. Write a one-page AI responsible-use guideline with five numbered rules covering: what information must never be entered into a public AI tool, which outputs require review by a qualified person before use, review of anything customer-facing or public, disclosure to customers when appropriate, and who to ask when unsure. Plain language, under 200 words.
Plan a two-week AI pilot
Use it to start small: one recurring task, two weeks, and a person who checks the work.
Prompt
Act as an operations coach for a [TYPE OF BUSINESS] with [NUMBER] employees. Help me plan a two-week trial of an AI chat tool on one recurring task: [TASK]. On one page, give me: the steps we do today; the one or two steps where AI could help; the person who checks the AI's work before anything goes out; what must never be pasted into the tool; the one person who owns the trial; how we will measure it (minutes saved, mistakes caught); and a three-sentence note to staff explaining the trial. Plain language.
Prompts for home builders
These come from our AI for the Construction Industry training. The practice bids, meeting notes, and job cost table are on the training packet pages: Afternoon Exercise – Part 1 and Office Operations Packet.
Explain a change order to a buyer
Use it for plain-language explanations a buyer can actually follow.
Prompt
Act as a customer-care coordinator for a residential home builder. Explain to a first-time home buyer, in plain language and under 120 words, what a change order is, why it affects price and schedule, and what they should do before signing one. Friendly, not legal. End with one sentence inviting questions.
Follow-up
Make it warmer and 40 words shorter.
Tell a buyer about a delay
Use it when a schedule slips and the buyer needs to hear it from you first. A promised date is a commitment, so a second person reads it before it goes out.
Prompt
Act as a customer-care coordinator for a residential home builder. Write an email to a buyer whose framing on [LOT] is delayed two weeks by rain. The buyer is anxious. The next milestone is roof dry-in, and the new target date is [DATE]. Tone: warm and confident. Under 150 words. Include the new target date, and do not promise anything that is not stated here.
Turn a daily log into a field report
Use it at the end of the day. The second prompt makes the tool check its own work against your notes.
Prompt 1
Act as a construction project coordinator. Using only the daily log notes below, write a daily field report with these sections: Weather & conditions, Crews on site, Work completed, Deliveries & inspections, Open issues (with who is responsible), Tomorrow's plan. Do not add anything not in the notes; mark gaps as TBD. [PASTE THE DAILY LOG HERE]
Prompt 2
Review the report you just wrote. Check it against the notes line by line. List anything you added that was not in the notes, anything you left out, and any open issue without a responsible party. Then give me a corrected version.
Draft a toolbox talk
Use it for safety talks nobody has time to write. The superintendent checks it against your safety program before the crew hears it.
Prompt
Act as a residential construction safety coordinator. Write a five-minute toolbox talk on heat illness prevention for a framing crew working in Alabama in September. Include: why it matters (2 sentences), five specific actions the crew should take today, three warning signs to watch for in a coworker, what to do if someone shows symptoms, and three discussion questions the foreman can ask. Plain language at an 8th-grade reading level. End with a sign-in line. Do not cite specific regulations by number; I will verify those.
Compare subcontractor bids
Use it to line up bids side by side and find what each one leaves out. It organizes the words; it never does the takeoff.
Prompt
I received three bids for the same job. Make a table comparing them: total price, what is included, what is excluded, warranty, schedule, and anything one bid mentions that the others do not. Then list the questions I should ask each bidder before choosing. Do not add anything that is not in the bids; if something is not stated, write "not stated." [PASTE THE BIDS HERE]
Find what’s missing before you price a job
Use it on any scope of work before you commit to a number.
Prompt
Here is a scope of work I've been asked to price. List everything that is unclear, missing, or could change the price, as questions I would need answered before I could give a firm number. Group them by who would answer them (customer, designer, supplier). Do not answer the questions yourself. [PASTE THE SCOPE OF WORK HERE]
Turn production-meeting notes into an action list
Use it after the weekly production meeting. Check for the job nobody volunteered for.
Prompt
Act as an office manager for a home builder. Below are rough notes from our weekly production meeting. Turn them into a table with four columns: Action, Owner, Due, Lot. Use only names and dates that appear in the notes. If an action has no owner, write "Unassigned." If it has no due date, write "Not stated." Then write a short follow-up email from [YOUR NAME] to the team, under 120 words, listing each action with its owner and due date. [PASTE MEETING NOTES HERE]
Check a job cost table
Use it to spot overruns and schedule overlaps. Check one flagged row by hand every time.
Prompt
Act as a construction office manager. Below is a job cost table. For each task, calculate Actual minus Budget and the percent over or under budget. Flag any task that is more than 10% over budget. Then tell me which lot is furthest over budget in dollars, and flag any task that starts before the previous task on the same lot is finished. Show your calculation for every task you flag. End with three sentences the owner could read in thirty seconds. [PASTE THE TABLE HERE]
Follow-up
A blank in the Actual column means the task has not started yet. Redo your answer without treating blanks as zero.
Write a listing, then check it for fair housing
Use the pair together. Describe the property, not the people who might live there.
Prompt 1
Act as a marketing writer for a residential home builder. Using only the property fact sheet below, write a 120-word listing description that describes the home, the lot, and the community amenities. Describe the property only; do not describe or imply who might live there. Then write three Instagram captions under 30 words each with a call to action for the open house on [DAY AND TIME]. [PASTE THE PROPERTY FACT SHEET HERE]
Prompt 2
Review everything you just wrote for fair housing compliance. Flag any phrase that describes or implies preferences about buyers' family status, religion, national origin, race, disability, age, or any other protected characteristic, or that steers toward a type of buyer. Explain each flag and rewrite the sentence.
Build a new-buyer orientation deck
Use it in PowerPoint with Copilot, or ask any chat tool for the slide text. Every [CONFIRM] gets checked before a buyer sees it.
Prompt
Create a five-slide presentation for new home buyers who just signed a contract with our company. Slides: 1) Welcome, 2) What happens next, 3) Your selection deadlines, 4) How we'll keep in touch, 5) Who to call. Three to five short bullets per slide, friendly and plain. Mark every specific fact you are not sure of (dates, deadlines, warranty terms, names, phone numbers) with [CONFIRM].
Follow-up
Add speaker notes to the selection deadlines slide, under 80 words, written the way I would say them out loud.
Write responsible-use rules for a builder
Use it for a first draft of your company’s AI rules.
Prompt
Act as an operations manager for a small residential home builder with [NUMBER] office and field employees. Write a one-page AI responsible-use guideline with five numbered rules covering: what information must never be entered into a public AI tool, which outputs require review by a qualified person before use, fair-housing review for marketing copy, disclosure to customers when appropriate, and who to ask when unsure. Plain language, under 200 words.
Plan your two-week pilot
The take-home from the construction training. Put your task where it says TASK and your company size where it says NUMBER.
Prompt
Act as an operations coach for a residential home builder with [NUMBER] employees. Help me plan a two-week trial of an AI chat tool on one recurring task: [TASK]. On one page, give me: the steps we do today; the one or two steps where AI could help; the person who checks the AI's work before anything goes out; what must never be pasted into the tool; the one person who owns the trial; how we will measure it (minutes saved, mistakes caught); and a three-sentence note to staff explaining the trial. Plain language.
Before you use any output
- Verify every fact, number, name, and date against your source. AI can produce plausible specifics that are wrong.
- Protect data. Confirm nothing sensitive went into a tool your organization hasn’t approved.
- Fit the audience. Check that the tone is right for who will read it.
- Own the decision. A person makes the final call and signs off. AI organizes the evidence.
- Save what worked. Keep the prompts that worked so you can reuse them.
And one question before anything goes out the door: would you put your name on it exactly as written?