Get AI to answer your email — here's how (for example)
A prompt template for calm, precise replies to annoying emails. Plus editing rules so it doesn't sound like a robot.
Most of my email isn’t hard to answer — it is just long. That is where AI helps: not with finding the clever words, but with getting a clear reply drafted in under a minute, so I only have to edit.
The template I use
Write a reply to this email:
[paste the email here]
My position: [e.g. 'We'd like to, but not before July']
Important: [e.g. 'mention that the budget is fixed']
Tone: friendly, but clear. Max 4–5 sentences.
Write in English, without overdoing the formalities.The result is almost always usable as a first draft. It isn’t finished — it is a draft you can edit, and that is the whole point: going from a blank page to almost-done in one go.
The editing rules (the important part)
- Read it out loud. If it sounds like a person, it’s ready.
- Cut anything that doesn’t answer the question in the email.
- Replace any word you’d never use yourself with your own.
- Sentences must be short. A robot writes long ones, a person writes short ones.
Why it doesn’t become a robot
Three out of four replies I can send directly after that review. And the fourth? I would have used my own words on it anyway — because the subject was sensitive. AI has to know the limit, and it is still my job to set it.
