Prompts by task (starter set)

Copy a prompt, paste your work under it, and get an answer you can actually use. These are starting points for ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and Gemini. I’ll add more as I use them in real work. Nothing here is a magic shortcut, and you should still read the output before you send or ship it.

How the library should work

• Search and filter by task: Writing, Excel, Coding, Meetings, IT fixes.
• One-click copy. Each card shows where it works (ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot) when that matters.
• Don’t label a prompt “tested” or “Terrence approved” until Terrence has actually used it.
• Don’t paste confidential client data into a public chat. Prefer Copilot or a work-approved tool when the file is sensitive.

Starter prompts

1. Review this like a senior engineer

Task: Coding Also planned as its own page later (code-review-prompt). This is the prompt from the weekly X tip.

Review this like a senior engineer on my PR. What breaks, what's slow, and what would you push back on?

Rank the issues by risk, and tell me what you'd fix first. Don't rewrite the whole file unless I ask.

Here's the code:

[paste the code here]

How to use it: paste the code under the prompt, ask it to rank issues by risk, then fix one thing at a time and re-run.

2. Explain this Excel formula

Task: Excel Full draft: explain-excel-formula.md

Explain this Excel formula like I'm new to Excel.

1. Say in one or two sentences what it returns, in plain English.
2. Walk through the formula left to right and explain each function and range.
3. Call out anything fragile: hard-coded values, volatile functions, or ranges that will break if I insert rows or copy the formula down.
4. If there's a simpler or clearer way to get the same result in modern Excel (including dynamic array functions), show it and explain the tradeoff.
5. Give two examples: one normal case and one edge case (blank cells, text where a number is expected, or a missing match).

Here's the formula:

[paste the formula here]

3. Rewrite this email so it sounds like me

Task: Writing

Rewrite this email so it's clear, polite, and sounds like a real person, not a corporate template. Keep my meaning. Don't add new commitments. Don't add filler like "I hope this email finds you well."

Make it shorter if you can. Then give me two subject lines: one direct, one softer.

Here's the draft:

[paste the email here]

A bit about how I usually sound:
[optional: "short sentences, informal, I work in IT support"]

4. Turn meeting notes into action items

Task: Meetings

Turn these meeting notes into a clean recap I can paste into an email or Teams chat.

Include:
- Decisions (only if they were actually decided)
- Action items, each with an owner and a due date if one was mentioned
- Open questions
- Anything I might have missed or that's ambiguous, listed separately so I can confirm it

If an owner or due date wasn't mentioned, say "not assigned" instead of inventing one. Don't invent decisions.

Notes:

[paste notes or transcript here]

5. Explain this error and what to try next

Task: IT fixes

Explain this error in plain English, as if you're helping someone who isn't a technician.

1. What it usually means.
2. The safest things to try first, as a numbered list.
3. What I should not do (especially anything that could delete data or break a work account).
4. What details you'd need from me if it still isn't fixed.

Here's the exact error text and what I was doing when it appeared:

[paste the error and a short description]