Providing Additional Instruction

An AI tool’s first response may not fully match what you need. You can continue the conversation by providing additional instructions that refine the content, correct its direction, or establish clearer expectations. These follow-up prompts might ask the tool to be more concise, question your assumptions, change the tone, reorganize information, or focus on a specific outcome.

Effective additional instruction is direct and specific. Instead of simply saying that a response is not right, explain what should change and what the next response should provide. This iterative process helps move the output closer to your intended result.

These follow-up instructions are especially useful for communications work. They work best when users replace placeholders such as [audience] or [outcome] with specific details.

Focus and length

  • “Make this more concise without removing the information someone needs to act.”

  • “I do not need additional background. Focus only on [specific outcome].”

  • “Summarize this in no more than three sentences.”

  • “Remove repetition and combine overlapping ideas.”

  • “Lead with the most important information.”

  • “Give me the recommendation first, followed by a brief explanation.”

Critical feedback

  • “Do not automatically agree with my approach. Identify its weaknesses and recommend alternatives.”

  • “Challenge the assumptions I am making.”

  • “What important perspective or concern have I overlooked?”

  • “Identify anything that may confuse, concern, or frustrate the intended audience.”

  • “Make the strongest reasonable argument against this recommendation.”

  • “Tell me where the evidence does not support the conclusion.”

Accuracy and uncertainty

  • Do not assume or invent university policies, procedures, deadlines or requirements. Clearly mark any details that must be confirmed by the appropriate office.

  • “Separate confirmed information from assumptions.”

  • “Do not invent missing facts, policies, quotations or sources.”

  • “Flag any statements that should be verified before publication.”

  • “If information is missing, mark it as [information needed].”

  • “Identify claims that require a source.”

  • “Do not present an inference as an established fact.”

Audience and accessibility

  • “Rewrite this for [audience] without assuming prior knowledge.”

  • “Explain unfamiliar terms the first time they appear.”

  • “Use plain language while preserving the meaning.”

  • “Identify language that may be too technical for this audience.”

  • “Make the next step clear to the reader.”

  • “Review this from the perspective of someone encountering this process for the first time.”

Tone and voice

  • “Make this sound confident and helpful without sounding promotional.”

  • “Use a professional, conversational tone.”

  • “Make this warmer without adding unnecessary enthusiasm.”

  • “Remove language that sounds defensive or bureaucratic.”

  • “Avoid clichés, filler, and exaggerated claims.”

  • “Preserve the meaning, but make the language more direct.”

Structure and presentation

  • “Organize this so readers can scan it quickly.”

  • “Convert this into a step-by-step process.”

  • “Use headings that describe what the reader needs to do.”

  • “Separate required actions from optional recommendations.”

  • “Present the differences in a comparison table.”

  • “End with a clear call to action.”

Maintaining control of the content

  • “Revise only the section about [topic]. Leave everything else unchanged.”

  • “Keep the existing structure but improve the wording.”

  • “Show me what you changed and explain why.”

  • “Provide three alternatives that take meaningfully different approaches.”

  • “Before revising, identify the problems you intend to address.”

  • “Do not expand the scope beyond the information I provided.”