We all know those days when tasks pile up faster than you can manage. A last-minute schedule change drops in, your executive forwards a lengthy email thread with a quick "Can you take care of this?", a colleague hasn't replied to your follow-up, and you still need to prepare materials for tomorrow's meetings.
Sound familiar?
While we've covered complex AI workflows in previous issues of The Curve, this edition focuses on practical simplicity. Below are 10 ready-to-use prompts designed for the core tasks EAs handle every day. No complicated automations or technical setups required, simply select a prompt, swap in your details, and run it in your organization's approved AI assistant.
AT A GLANCE
AI Level: Beginner
Reading Time: 8-10 minutes
You'll Learn: How to use simple prompts for scheduling, emails, prioritization, meeting preparation, follow-ups, and more.
Jump to a prompt
1. When You Need to Schedule or Reschedule a Meeting
When you need to present open time slots clearly or handle last-minute meeting adjustments, a structured prompt ensures your message is concise, clear, and actionable.
Try this prompt:
I'm an executive assistant scheduling a [duration]-minute meeting between [participants].
The meeting is about [purpose].
Here are the available times I've already checked: [dates, times, and time zones].
Draft a short, friendly, professional email offering these options. Make it easy for the recipient to respond. Do not suggest additional times or imply the meeting is confirmed.Quick tip: Always specify the time zone and exact dates, and re-verify calendar availability before finalizing any invite.
2. When an Email Thread Has Too Many Replies
When an executive forwards a long, complex email chain with minimal context, you need a quick way to extract key insights and outstanding action items before taking action.
Try this prompt:
Read the email conversation below and summarize:
1. What was discussed
2. What decisions were made
3. What still needs a response or action
4. Who is responsible for the next step
5. Any deadlines mentioned
Keep the summary short and easy to scan. Don't assume something was decided if the conversation doesn't clearly say so.
[PASTE EMAIL THREAD]Quick tip: If your AI tool integrates directly with your inbox, it can analyze threads natively. Otherwise, ensure you only input text compliant with your company's data privacy policies.
3. When You Know What to Say but Don't Want to Write the Email
When key points are clear but drafting the message requires extra polish or time, AI can bridge the gap quickly.
Try this prompt:
Turn my notes below into a short, professional email.
Recipient: [Who it's going to]
Purpose: [What I need to communicate]
Tone: [Friendly / Professional / Warm / Direct]
My notes:
[PASTE YOUR NOTES]
Keep the writing natural and straightforward. Don't add information, promises, or commitments I haven't provided. Make the next step clear if one is needed.Quick tip: If the initial draft feels overly formal, prompt it with: "Refine this to sound natural, conversational, and direct." For deeper guidance on avoiding a robotic AI tone, review our guide here.
4. When Everything Feels Urgent
When urgent requests flood in simultaneously, structuring your task list upfront helps maintain clarity and focus throughout the day.
Try this prompt:
I'm an executive assistant with several tasks to manage today.
Here is my task list:
[PASTE TASKS AND DEADLINES]
Help me organize these into:
1. Needs attention today
2. Important but can wait
3. Waiting on someone else
Identify any conflicting deadlines or missing information. Suggest what I should tackle first based on the deadlines and priorities I've provided.
Don't assume every task is urgent, and don't invent deadlines.Quick tip: Include fixed meetings and hard constraints in your task input to ensure your prioritized list reflects your actual working availability.
5. When You're Still Waiting for Someone to Respond
You sent the email. You followed up. Now you need to check again without sounding impatient.
Try this prompt:
Help me write a polite follow-up email to [recipient] about [topic].
I last contacted them on [date], and I'm waiting for [response, document, approval, or information].
Keep the message brief, friendly, and professional. Make the request clear without sounding demanding or creating unnecessary urgency.Quick tip: Tell AI whether the recipient is an external client, colleague, or senior executive. That context can help it choose an appropriate tone.
6. When Your Executive Needs a Quick Meeting Brief
Your executive has a meeting tomorrow and wants the important details without reading several pages of background information.
Try this prompt:
Prepare a concise meeting brief using the information below.
Meeting: [Name or purpose]
Date and time: [Details]
Attendees: [Names and roles]
Background: [Relevant information]
Previous discussions: [Notes, if available]
Organize the brief into:
1. Meeting purpose
2. Important background
3. Topics to discuss
4. Decisions needed
5. Questions or missing information to clarify
Keep it to one page or less. Use only the information I provide and clearly flag anything that needs verification.Quick tip: If your executive already has a preferred briefing format, provide a sample and ask AI to follow it.
7. When Meeting Notes Need to Become Action Items
The meeting is over, but now you have several pages of notes and need to figure out what everyone agreed to do.
Try this prompt:
Review these meeting notes and create a simple action-item table with:
1. Task or commitment
2. Responsible person
3. Deadline
4. Follow-up needed
Use only information explicitly mentioned in the notes. If an owner or deadline wasn't specified, write "Not specified."
Also list any unresolved questions separately.
[PASTE MEETING NOTES]Quick tip: Check the action items against the original notes before adding them to your task tracker or sending reminders.
8. When Your Executive Gives You a Vague Assignment
"Can you look into this?" Sometimes that's the entire instruction. You understand the general request, but you need a clear starting point and a plan for gathering the necessary information.
Try this prompt:
My executive asked me to [DESCRIBE REQUEST].
Help me turn this into a practical action plan.
Include:
1. What needs to be done
2. Information I need to gather
3. Questions I should clarify with my executive
4. A suggested order of steps
Keep the plan simple and actionable. Don't assume deadlines, budgets, or authority to make decisions unless I've provided them.Quick tip: Run this prompt before starting an unfamiliar assignment to identify what needs clarification early, rather than discovering missing information halfway through.
9. When You Need to Compare Options
Your executive wants you to research three venues, compare service providers, or review a few proposals. You have the information, but it's scattered across websites, emails, and documents.
Try this prompt:
Compare the following options for [purpose]:
[PASTE OPTIONS AND DETAILS]
Create a table comparing:
1. Cost
2. Key features or services
3. Advantages
4. Limitations
5. Missing information
Highlight the most important differences based on these priorities: [INSERT PRIORITIES].
Do not invent prices, availability, or features. If information is missing, mark it as "Needs verification."Quick tip: Give AI the actual quotes, proposals, or verified details when possible. For current prices and availability, check directly with the provider.
10. When You're Worried You've Missed Something
Whether you're coordinating an executive trip, preparing an offsite, or managing an event, everything may seem organized, but having a second set of eyes helps ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
Try this prompt:
I'm preparing for [trip, meeting, event, or project].
Here are the confirmed details and requirements:
[PASTE DETAILS]
Create a practical preparation checklist covering what needs to be confirmed, prepared, communicated, or followed up on.
Separate items into:
1. Already confirmed
2. Still needs verification
3. Potentially missing
Don't assume something has been completed unless I've said so. Flag anything that could create a scheduling or logistical problem.Quick tip: AI can help you spot potential gaps, but always verify reservations, transportation, deadlines, and other important arrangements directly.
TIP: HOW TO GET BETTER RESULTS FROM ANY PROMPT
You may have noticed that the prompts above follow a clear pattern: they define what you need, provide relevant context, specify the desired format, and set boundaries. Building this structure into your prompts consistently yields much better results.
For example, instead of typing or speaking (Try using the voice feature. You'll be surprised how much time it saves!):
"Write a follow-up email."
Try:
"Write a short, friendly follow-up email to a vendor who hasn't sent the revised proposal we requested last Thursday. Ask when we can expect it. Keep the tone professional and don't create a new deadline."
Adding a bit of context makes the first draft much more useful. Remember, you don't have to settle for the initial response. You can always ask AI to shorten it, adopt a friendlier tone, reorganize the details, or clarify key points.
An important reminder before you start: Always use your organization's approved AI tools and exercise caution with confidential emails, executive calendars, client data, and other sensitive materials. Be sure to double-check names, dates, deadlines, and commitments before finalizing any AI-generated content.
AI UPDATES OF THE WEEK
Claude Design is moving into Claude, and users need to migrate their projects. Anthropic is retiring the standalone Claude Design experience on December 14, 2026, bringing design capabilities into Claude's Artifacts. Existing projects and design systems can be migrated, but chats and comments won't transfer. For EAs who use Claude Design to create presentations, branded materials, or executive documents, it's worth reviewing existing projects, saving important instructions and feedback, and checking that branding and layouts remain consistent after migration. Read Anthropic's migration guide.
Gemini can now create and edit files directly in chat. Users can now generate, preview, and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and PDFs inside the Gemini app. For EAs, this means you can ask Gemini to create a task tracker, draft a document, or organize information into a spreadsheet, then refine it before exporting or opening it in Google Workspace.
Google Sheets now shows sources for AI-generated information. Google introduced cell-level web citations for information generated using Fill with Gemini in Sheets. Instead of receiving a table of AI-generated information without knowing where the details came from, users can inspect the web sources associated with individual cells. This could be useful for EAs researching vendors, organizing information, or comparing options, although the underlying sources still need verification.
We’d still love to hear from you!
If you haven’t completed our 2-minute survey yet, we welcome your input. Let us know how you’re leveraging AI, where challenges persist, and what topics you'd like covered next. Your feedback directly shapes future content.
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!
And please keep sharing what you’re learning with us. Your real answers help us make each issue more useful to the EAs reading it.
The Base Team
