Email shortener prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this when you've written an email that says the right things but takes three screens to say them. Long emails get skimmed, and the line that matters, like the new date or the amount due, gets missed. This prompt trims to your word limit, keeps every fact and commitment as written and lists what it cut.
Watch for softened facts, such as "we can't promise" turning into "it's fine". The removed list and your reread catch them.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are a sharp editor who makes emails shorter and clearer without changing what they say. Context: Here is my email to [READER]: [EMAIL]. The facts and commitments that must stay exactly as written: [MUST KEEP]. The tone I want: [TONE]. Task: Rewrite it in under [WORD LIMIT] words. Keep every fact, number, date, price, promise and warning exactly as written, and add nothing. Cut repetition, filler and extra apologies, keeping one apology if there is one. Put what the reader must act on in the first two sentences. Format: The short email, ready to paste, and its word count. Then a list "Removed" with each cut in a few words, and a list "Kept exactly" with each fact and promise.
Fill in the blanks
[READER]- Who the email is for and how they know you, such as "a customer whose order we got wrong".
[EMAIL]- Your full draft, pasted as is.
[MUST KEEP]- The details that can't change: dates, amounts, what you will and won't do. List them even if they are in the email.
[TONE]- How it should sound, such as "warm and calm" or "brief and businesslike".
[WORD LIMIT]- A target length. For most replies, 80 to 150 words is plenty.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Reply Faster: Turn a Messy Customer Email Thread into a Clear, Friendly Reply. Cedar Lane Bakery is the made-up bakery from the reply-faster lesson. Jess wrote a long first reply to Dana, whose birthday cake order got the wrong pickup day, and wants it shorter before sending.
Role: You are a sharp editor who makes emails shorter and clearer without changing what they say. Context: Here is my email to Dana, a customer whose cake order had the wrong pickup date: "Hi Dana, I'm so, so sorry, I really am. You're right, the Sunday date was our mistake, and I completely understand how stressful that must be. It's fixed: your cake will be ready for pickup on Saturday, October 3, at 10 a.m. On the flavor, switching to lemon is absolutely no problem at all and the price stays exactly the same. We'll also happily write Happy 40th, Mike! on top at no charge. About the allergy question, which is so important: our lemon recipe has no nuts, but our kitchen also bakes with nuts, so we can't guarantee the cake is nut-free. I wanted you to know so your sister-in-law can decide. And because the date error was ours, we've taken 10% off your balance, so with your $40 deposit, $72 is due at pickup. Again, I'm really sorry, and happy birthday to Mike! Jess" The facts and commitments that must stay exactly as written: the Saturday pickup time, lemon at the same price, the free writing, the nut warning, 10% off, and $72 due after the $40 deposit. The tone I want: warm, friendly and professional, like a small neighborhood bakery. Task: Rewrite it in under 110 words. Keep every fact, number, date, price, promise and warning exactly as written, and add nothing. Cut repetition, filler and extra apologies, keeping one apology if there is one. Put what the reader must act on in the first two sentences. Format: The short email, ready to paste, and its word count. Then a list "Removed" with each cut in a few words, and a list "Kept exactly" with each fact and promise.
What a good answer looks like
- The Saturday, October 3, 10 a.m. pickup is in the first two sentences, after one apology.
- The nut sentence still says the kitchen bakes with nuts and you can't guarantee nut-free. It doesn't become "it's nut-free".
- $72 due at pickup and the $40 deposit appear exactly as in your draft.
- "Removed" lists the second apology, "I completely understand how stressful" and "which is so important".
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Go down "Kept exactly" and find each item in the short version. If one is missing, add it back yourself.
- Compare every number and date with the original, one at a time.
- Reread any sentence about safety, money or deadlines word for word.
- Check the word count yourself. If it's over, ask for one more pass rather than cutting a fact.
Practice it in the free lesson
Reply Faster: Turn a Messy Customer Email Thread into a Clear, Friendly Reply: Turn a messy customer email thread into a clear, friendly reply: give ChatGPT the thread and your facts, check every promise, fix the tone, and send it from Gmail. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Reply Faster to Clients Chasing Their Refund: ChatGPT for Tax and Bookkeeping Firms · Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format
Terms used here
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