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Module 1: Prompting that works

Anatomy of a good prompt

20 minutes. Last checked 9 November 2026.

Lesson 1 of 7 in this module

Everything in this lesson is fictional: the firm (Ashdown Wealth Planning), its clients and the pension providers named. Do not paste real client data to follow along.

What you will do

Turn a one-line request into a prompt that gives you a usable file note of a call with a pension provider the first time.

When to use it

You have just rung a provider to chase a client's pension transfer, and you have a page of rough notes. This replaces typing "write up this call" and then rewriting the vague draft by hand, or writing the note from scratch at the end of the day.

A file note has to show what the provider told you, what is still outstanding and who does what next. It must not hold anything the call did not cover. A one-line prompt leaves all of that to the tool's guesswork, so this lesson builds the prompt one part at a time.

On your next working day, try it on one real call:

  1. Straight after the call, copy your rough notes into a plain document.
  2. Leave out what the task does not need, and check whether the AI tool's terms make its provider your processor. Lesson 0.2 shows how. Use placeholders such as [CLIENT] and [PLAN NUMBER] for the real details.
  3. Paste the good prompt below with your notes, and check the draft (see "What to check").
  4. Put the real details back yourself, outside the AI tool, and save the note to the client file.
  5. Save the prompt for the next call (lesson 1.7 shows how).

The prompt

Weak version: the prompt most people write

Weak version

Write up my notes from a call with the pension provider.

The tool has to guess what a file note looks like, what was agreed and what happens next. Expect tidy sentences that state the provider's estimate as a fact, a next step nobody agreed, or a reason for the delay that no one gave. Nothing in the draft shows which lines came from your notes.

Good version

Prompt parts:

  • Role
  • Context
  • Task
  • Inputs
  • Constraints
  • Format
  • Questions first

  1. Part 1. Role: You are helping a UK financial adviser at a small firm write file notes for the client file. Write in plain British English, in the past tense and the third person.

  2. Part 2. Context: I rang a pension provider today to chase the transfer of a client's pension to a new provider. The client and plan details are placeholders in square brackets. The note goes on the client file, where a colleague may need to pick up the case.

  3. Part 3. Task: Write a file note of the call from my rough notes.

  4. Part 4. Inputs: My rough notes of the call, pasted below.

  5. Part 5. Constraints: Use only what is in my notes. Keep every figure and name exactly as written, and write every date in full, such as 19 October 2026. Put what the provider told us under "What the provider said", and do not present it as a fact we have checked. Do not add any reason, timescale or promise that my notes do not contain. Do not give any view on whether the transfer is suitable. Under 200 words.

  6. Part 6. Format: Four headings: "Call details", "What the provider said", "What is outstanding" and "Next actions". Under "Next actions", one line per action saying who does it and by when, with "date not set" where my notes give no date.

  7. Part 7. Questions first: If anything in my notes is unclear, ask me before writing.

[paste your rough call notes here]

Why this prompt works

PartWhat it does
Role (an adviser's file notes, past tense, third person)Sets the reader and the register: a record for the file, not a letter to anyone
Context (a transfer chase, placeholders, a colleague may pick it up)The tool cannot know why you rang or who reads the note. Every fact you leave out, it guesses
Task (one file note of one call)One prompt, one job. Ask for the note and the client email together and you get a mix of both
Inputs (your rough notes)The note can only be as complete as the notes you paste
Constraints (your notes only, the provider's words kept as its words, nothing added, no view on suitability)This is where your judgement goes. It keeps the provider's estimate an estimate, and keeps the tool out of advice
Format (four headings, who and when on each action)You get a note a colleague can act on, in the same shape every time
Questions first ("ask me before writing")Rough notes have gaps and question marks. It asks you instead of filling them

The notes name the provider but not the client: the client and plan are placeholders, and the note does not need anything else about them. Replacing the name alone is not the whole step. Lesson 0.2 shows what else to leave out, and the processor check to run before any client data goes in.

Sample input

Paste this under the prompt, in place of "[paste your rough call notes here]".

Sample input

FICTIONAL SAMPLE FOR COURSE PRACTICE. Not a real client.
Ashdown Wealth Planning, rough call notes, details the task does not need left out

Call: Monday 9 November 2026, 10.15, [ADVISER NAME] rang Northgate Life (fictional), pensions transfers team, spoke to [PROVIDER CONTACT]
Client: [CLIENT], plan number [PLAN NUMBER]
Transfer: to [RECEIVING PROVIDER], transfer forms sent by us 19 Oct
- they have the transfer request, recd 21 Oct
- held up, they need the client's signed discharge form, says it was not in the pack??
- we have a copy on file, signed 15 Oct, will email it to them
- once they have it, she said "usually about 10 working days" to pay over
- transfer value on their system £84,350.20, not fixed, changes daily
- me: email the form today, ring back Mon 16th if no confirmation
- tell client? yes, short email, today

Example output

Example output. Yours will differ in wording.

(Fictional, written for this course.)

Call details

Monday 9 November 2026, 10.15. [ADVISER NAME] rang the pensions transfers team at Northgate Life and spoke to [PROVIDER CONTACT] about the transfer of [CLIENT]'s plan [PLAN NUMBER] to [RECEIVING PROVIDER]. We sent the transfer forms on 19 October 2026.

What the provider said

  • It received the transfer request on 21 October 2026.
  • The transfer is held up because it needs the client's signed discharge form, which it said was not in the pack.
  • Once it has the form, it is "usually about 10 working days" to pay the transfer over.
  • The transfer value on its system is £84,350.20. It is not fixed and changes daily.

What is outstanding

  • The client's signed discharge form. Our file holds a copy signed on 15 October 2026.

Next actions

  • [ADVISER NAME] to email the signed discharge form to Northgate Life: today, 9 November 2026.
  • [ADVISER NAME] to send the client a short email update: today, 9 November 2026.
  • [ADVISER NAME] to ring Northgate Life again if there is no confirmation: Monday 16 November 2026.

What to check

  • Every line of your notes, accounted for. Ten lines went in. Each should appear once in the note, under the right heading. A dropped line is the commonest fault.
  • The provider's words stay the provider's. "Usually about 10 working days" is its estimate, not a promise. If the note says "the transfer will complete by 23 November", the tool turned an estimate into a date. Put the provider's words back.
  • Nothing added. No reason for the missing form, no blame on anyone, no view on the transfer. None of those were in your notes.
  • Dates and the figure, exactly. Your notes say "19 Oct", "recd 21 Oct", "signed 15 Oct" and "Mon 16th"; the note should give 19 October 2026, 21 October 2026, 15 October 2026 and Monday 16 November 2026, and £84,350.20 unchanged. A shorthand date is where a wrong month or year creeps in, so check each one, and the weekday of any date the note states.
  • Who and when on every action. Three actions in your notes, three in the note. If your notes had given no date for one, it should say "date not set", not a date the tool chose.
  • The real details, put back by you. Replace [CLIENT], [PLAN NUMBER] and the names outside the AI tool, then read the note once more before you save it.

Variations

  1. A call to a platform. Change "a pension provider" in the Context to "an investment platform", and "the transfer" to whatever you chased. The headings still fit.
  2. The client email from the same notes. Change the Task to "Write a short email telling the client where the transfer stands", and add to the Constraints: "Do not say when the transfer will complete." Keep it in its own chat or prompt, so the file note stays a file note.
  3. A colleague will pick it up. Add to the Format: "Then one line headed 'If you pick this up' that names the next action due and its date."

Try it

About 10 minutes. Write the whole prompt for a new job: a handover note for the colleague who will cover your clients while you are on leave. The note should give your dates away and who is covering, then each open case with where it stands and the next action and date. Where your notes say nothing was agreed, the note must say so. Keep the rule that it uses only what is in your notes, and add a line so it gives no view on what any client should do.

Fictional notes to use:

Sample input

FICTIONAL SAMPLE FOR COURSE PRACTICE. Not a real client.
Ashdown Wealth Planning, notes for a handover, client details replaced with placeholders

Away: Monday 30 November to Friday 11 December 2026, back Monday 14 December
Covering: [COLLEAGUE]
Open cases:
- [CLIENT A]: pension transfer to [RECEIVING PROVIDER], waiting on the old provider, last chased 9 Nov, chase again if nothing by Wed 2 Dec
- [CLIENT B]: annual review booked Thursday 3 December 2026, 2pm, by video call, papers sent 23 Nov, questionnaire back
- [CLIENT C]: asked whether to pay more into her pension, I said we would look at it at her review in January, nothing agreed
- [CLIENT D]: new client, client agreement signed, waiting on the letters of authority back from the client
Do not start any new advice on my cases.
Ring me only if it is urgent.

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