Draft a difficult message (say no, push back, deliver bad news)

Prompt of the DayDraft a difficult message (say no, push back, deliver bad news)

You need to send something awkward and want it firm but not damaging.

Help me write a message that is honest and firm but preserves the relationship. Context: [situation]. What I need to convey: [the hard part]. Make it respectful, take responsibility where fair, avoid over-apologizing, and end constructively. Give me a shorter version and a slightly softer version.

Today's prompt is sponsored by PromptSharp. See PromptSharp

Word of the DayRetrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

RAG feeds the model relevant documents at query time so its answer is grounded in your source data, not just its training.

Every Word of the Day becomes a permanent page. Full definition →

Try ThisTry This

Give the model three things — a ROLE ('act as a hiring manager'), an AUDIENCE ('for a first-time applicant'), and a FORMAT ('a 5-bullet list'). These three levers improve output more than any clever wording.

Don't Do ThisDon't cram five jobs into one prompt

"Summarise this, draft a reply, build a plan, and make a slide outline" reliably produces four mediocre things, because quality drops as the instruction count climbs.

Instead: One task per message. Do the summary, check it, then ask for the reply built on the summary you approved.