Your first AI prompt at the desk
Listen to this lesson
Nigerian voice narration
Fictional training case. Your Director needs a one-page summary of a 14-page circular before a 10am meeting, and you have 30 minutes. This lesson introduces the Role-Task-Format (R-T-F) prompt formula so AI produces a usable summary on the first try. Work through the example, identify the evidence needed and practise the method with cleared or synthetic inputs. Any additional figures in the explanation are separate practice examples, not claimed rows in a downloadable file.
Worked example
Ibrahim receives the 14-page Head of Service circular on digital records management at 9:25am. Instead of typing 'summarise this', he writes a full R-T-F prompt: Role — 'You are a senior admin officer in a Federal Ministry'; Task — 'summarise the circular below for my Director'; Format — 'give 5 bullet points and one line of recommended action'. The AI returns five clean bullets plus an action line naming a deadline. Before forwarding it, Ibrahim checks that deadline against the actual circular text and finds the AI wrote 'Friday' when the circular said 'Monday' — a hallucination he catches just in time, saving him from sending his Director the wrong date.
The method
Always build prompts with three explicit parts: Role (who the AI should act as), Task (exactly what to produce), and Format (bullets, table, word count, structure). This structure consistently produces shorter, more usable first drafts than vague requests. Never skip verifying names, dates and figures against the source document afterward.
Worked practice and common mistakes
Separate the obligation from the department’s action. A circular may require a nomination, while the department still has to select an officer. Compare five summary bullets with their source passages and leave a confirmation marker for a missing owner or deadline. A summary shortens the document without granting authority or supplying facts the source does not contain.
Review before using the result
R-T-F — Role, Task, Format — turns a vague request into a focused, usable draft. AI sometimes invents details called hallucinations, so always check dates and figures against the original. You remain responsible for anything sent under your name.
Your workplace practice
Use the recommended free assistant with this lesson's fictional example. You are a senior admin officer in a Federal Ministry. Summarise the circular below for my Director in 5 bullet points, then add one line on the action our department must take and by what date. Keep a copy of the input and draft. Compare the result with the verification steps above, record any correction, and retain placeholders where evidence is missing. The expected result is a checked draft for human review, not an automatically approved decision. Course examples and practice responses are fictional; amounts, dates, rules and thresholds are not official guidance or supplier quotations.
Open ChatGPT (free tier) and paste this prompt there. A convenient free drafting assistant for a first summary, which you compare with the source.
You are a senior admin officer in a Federal Ministry. Summarise the circular below for my Director in 5 bullet points, then add one line on the action our department must take and by what date.
Why this tool: A convenient free drafting assistant for a first summary, which you compare with the source.
Hit a free limit? Switch to ChatGPT or Gemini and continue — the prompt works in any assistant.