One-liner: Turn a task you do repeatedly into a reusable AI prompt template that works every time — your first step toward automation.
Think of something you do at least once a week that involves writing, analyzing, or summarizing. Examples: writing a status update, summarizing meeting notes, drafting an email to a client, reviewing a document.
Step 1 — Do it once with AI. Open any AI chat and do the task the way you normally would — just ask the AI to help. Don't overthink the prompt. Just get the job done.
Step 2 — Reverse-engineer your prompt. Now send this:
Look at the prompt I just gave you and the output you produced. Help me turn this into a reusable template that I can use every time I need to do this task. The template should have:
- Clear placeholders — marked with [BRACKETS] for the parts that change each time
- Fixed instructions — the parts that stay the same every time
- Output format specification — exactly what the result should look like (length, structure, tone)
Write the template so someone else on my team could use it without any additional explanation.
Step 3 — Test it. Copy the template. Start a new chat. Paste the template and fill in the placeholders with a different example of the same task. Does the output match the quality of your original? If not, adjust the template.
Here's a concrete example:
Original task: "Summarize this meeting for my team"
Reusable template:
Summarize the following meeting notes for a team update.
Meeting notes: [PASTE NOTES HERE]
Output requirements:
- Start with a 1-sentence summary of the main decision or outcome
- List action items with owner names in bold
- Flag any unresolved questions
- Keep the total summary under 150 words
- Tone: professional but informal
Here's what you're about to do:
"Done" looks like: You have a saved prompt template with clear placeholders that consistently produces good output for your repeatable task.
Most people use AI in one-off conversations that disappear. This exercise introduces the shift from ad-hoc prompting to systematic workflows — the foundation of all AI automation. A reusable template is the simplest form of an AI workflow: defined input, consistent process, predictable output. At the intermediate level, you'll chain multiple templates together into multi-step workflows. Every automated AI process in production started as someone's reusable prompt.
Ready for more? Try WA-Intermediate-01 — where you'll chain multiple prompt templates into a multi-step workflow.
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