# Shorten my email without losing the important context

Cuts a long email down to what matters, keeping the facts, the ask, and the context the reader actually needs.

- Topic: Email & Workplace Communication
- Framework: Few-Shot
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Email, Rewrite & Edit, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/shorten-my-email-without-losing-the-important-context

## Prompt

```text
Shorten my email so a busy reader can take it in at a glance, without dropping anything they need.

**My email:** [PASTE EMAIL]
**Reader:** [WHO - e.g. "my VP", "a client lead", "a peer on another team"]
**What the reader already knows:** [CONTEXT THEY HAVE vs. DON'T]
**Target length:** [e.g. "half the length", "under 120 words"]

How to cut:
1. Find the one point or ask the email exists for, and move it to the first two sentences.
2. Keep every fact, number, date, owner, and deadline. Cut repetition, warm-up sentences, hedging ("just", "I think maybe"), and backstory the reader already has.
3. Keep context only if the reader would make a worse decision or ask a follow-up question without it.
4. Use bullets only for 3+ parallel items. Put deadlines in bold.
5. Keep my voice and level of formality; do not make it sound robotic.

Return:
1. **The shortened email** with a clear subject line.
2. **What I cut** - a short list, so I can restore anything that mattered.
3. **Context check** - anything I removed that the reader might still need, flagged [CONFIRM].
4. **Word count** before and after.

Do not add new facts, promises, or numbers that are not in my original.
```

## What to fill in

- PASTE EMAIL
- WHO - e.g. "my VP", "a client lead", "a peer on another team"
- CONTEXT THEY HAVE vs. DON'T
- e.g. "half the length", "under 120 words"
- CONFIRM

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.