Spec the output like a closing packet
Lesson 3 of 6 · Brief it like a new acquisitions VA
1 · Learn the move · Template pattern
A vague ask returns prose, and prose is the format you cannot check. When you already know the shape of the thing you need - a checklist, a table with these columns, a one-page memo with these four headings - say so before you ask for content, and say it in a way that makes gaps visible. The strongest version names the columns AND names what goes in a cell when the answer is unknown. If you do not specify the empty-cell behaviour, the model fills it, because a blank looks like a mistake and a plausible value looks like work. Specify [NEEDS: ...] and the gaps stay gaps.
Output a table with exactly these columns: ITEM | WHAT THE RECORD SAYS | SOURCE DOCUMENT | STILL OPEN. One row per item. Where a record does not establish something, the cell reads [NEEDS: the document that would]. No prose before or after the table.
2 · Your turn. You write the prompt
You are building the same tract summary for the fifth time this week and each one comes back in a different shape, so you cannot compare them. Write the prompt that fixes the format before it writes anything.
Remember: the AI sees only your prompt, not this page. If the situation isn't in your prompt, it doesn't exist.
Optional. These shape the output when you run your prompt below, not your score.