Summarize a long email in three lines for an executive
Boils a long email down to a three-line summary an executive can read in ten seconds and act on.
The prompt
Turn this long email into a three-line summary for an executive.
Email (or thread): [PASTE]
Executive and what they care about: [e.g. "CFO - cost and risk", "COO - delivery dates"]
Why I'm forwarding it: [FYI / needs a decision / needs their help / risk warning]
Write exactly three lines:
1. What this is - the core point or issue in one sentence.
2. Why it matters - the business impact (cost, revenue, risk, customer, timing), using only numbers that appear in the email.
3. What's needed - the decision, action, or "no action needed", with owner and deadline if stated.
Rules:
- Each line under 25 words. No jargon, acronyms the executive may not know, or internal nicknames.
- Lead with the answer, not the history.
- If the email is unclear about impact or the ask, say so on that line with [UNCLEAR] rather than guessing.
Then give me:
- A one-line forwarding note I can put above the summary.
- Anything material left out of the three lines (risks, disagreements, caveats) that I should know about before I send.
Do not add facts, numbers, or conclusions that are not in the source.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Email & Workplace Communication prompts
What to fill in
- PASTE
- e.g. "CFO - cost and risk", "COO - delivery dates"
- FYI / needs a decision / needs their help / risk warning
- UNCLEAR
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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