# Module 02: Prompt Anatomy ## Demo Data: The Vague Request Emails These are real-sounding messages a colleague might send you. Each one is a terrible prompt. The exercise: transform each into a five-part structured prompt (Role, Context, Task, Constraints, Format) and compare the outputs. --- ### Email 1: The Marketing Request ``` Subject: content help Hey, can you help me put something together about our new product? I need it kind of soon. Thanks! ``` **What's missing:** Which product? For what audience? What format (blog post, email, social, press release)? What tone? What's "kind of soon"? Where will it be published? **Structured version for demo:** ``` Role: You are a B2B marketing writer for a manufacturing company. Context: We just launched the GF-400 precision milling machine, our first product targeting the aerospace sector. Our audience is procurement managers at mid-size aerospace manufacturers. The key differentiators are: 0.001mm tolerance, 40% faster cycle time than our nearest competitor, and full AS9100 compliance built in. Task: Write a product announcement email to send to our prospect list of 2,400 aerospace procurement contacts. Constraints: Keep it under 300 words. No jargon that a procurement manager wouldn't know. Include one clear CTA. Do not make claims we can't substantiate. Format: Email with subject line, body copy, and CTA button text. ``` --- ### Email 2: The HR Request ``` Subject: policy thing We need to update our remote work policy. Can you draft something? ``` **What's missing:** What's the current policy? What's changing? Who approved the change? What's the company culture around remote work? What are the legal considerations? Who is the audience? **Structured version for demo:** ``` Role: You are an HR policy writer for a 200-person company in Connecticut. Context: Our current remote work policy allows two days per week from home. Leadership has approved expanding this to three days per week, with the requirement that all employees be on-site Tuesdays and Wednesdays for collaboration. This applies to all salaried positions. Hourly production staff are excluded. We need to address: equipment reimbursement ($500 annual stipend, already budgeted), expectations around availability during remote days (9 AM to 5 PM ET, reachable via Slack within 15 minutes), and the process for requesting additional remote days for special circumstances. Task: Draft the updated remote work policy section for our employee handbook. Constraints: Professional but not legalistic. Avoid language that implies remote work is a "perk" or "privilege." Keep it under 800 words. Must be consistent with Connecticut employment law. Format: Policy document with numbered sections, ready to insert into our existing handbook template. ``` --- ### Email 3: The Finance Request ``` Subject: numbers Can you look at last quarter's numbers and tell me what happened? ``` **What's missing:** Which numbers? Revenue? Expenses? Headcount? What time period specifically? Compared to what (budget, prior year, prior quarter)? What does "what happened" mean? **Structured version for demo:** ``` Role: You are a financial analyst reviewing Q4 2025 performance for a mid-market manufacturing company. Context: [Paste the Q4 data from quarterly-financials.csv] Our Q4 2025 revenue was $4.2M against a budget of $4.8M, a miss of $600K. Q3 2025 revenue was $4.5M. The same quarter last year (Q4 2024) was $4.6M. Key factors we already know: we lost the Meridian account ($280K annual) in November, our second-shift production was down 12 days due to equipment failure, and raw material costs increased 8% in October. Task: Analyze the Q4 revenue shortfall. Quantify how much of the $600K miss is explained by the three known factors. Identify what portion remains unexplained and suggest where to investigate. Constraints: This analysis goes to our CFO, who wants numbers, not narratives. Every claim should reference specific figures. Format: Executive summary (3 sentences), then a variance bridge table showing each factor's contribution to the shortfall, then a section on unexplained variance with investigative recommendations. ``` --- ### Email 4: The Sales Request ``` Subject: Fwd: competitor Saw this on LinkedIn. What do we think? [Imagine an attached competitor announcement] ``` **Structured version for demo:** ``` Role: You are a competitive intelligence analyst at a B2B manufacturing company. Context: Our main competitor, Apex Industrial, just announced a new "SmartFloor" IoT-enabled production monitoring system. Their LinkedIn post claims it reduces unplanned downtime by 30% and integrates with major ERP systems. They're pricing it at $45K for installation plus $800/month. Our current offering in this space is our FloorWatch system, priced at $38K installation plus $650/month. FloorWatch does not currently have ERP integration, but we have it on our roadmap for Q3 2026. Task: Write a competitive response brief that I can share with our sales team this afternoon. Constraints: Factual only. Do not disparage the competitor. Focus on where we win (price, reliability track record, customer support response time), where we're at parity, and where we need to address a gap. Include suggested talk tracks for when prospects bring up the Apex announcement. Format: One-page brief with three sections: Our Advantages, Parity Points, Gap to Address. Then a "When the Prospect Asks" section with two to three scripted responses. ``` --- ## Facilitator Notes Run Email 1 both ways live. Paste the vague version into Claude. Show the output. Then paste the structured version. Show the output. The contrast teaches the lesson faster than any lecture. For the exercise portion: divide the room into four groups. Each group gets one email. They have 10 minutes to build the structured version. Then each group tests their prompt live and presents the result. Room votes on which group's output is most useful.