Prompt Templates — Reusable library

Section 10.2.8 : Prompt Templates — Reusable library

🎯 Learning objective

Building a reusable and customizable prompt template library for the most common professional tasks, and learning to organize, version, and improve them over time.

Why templates?

The best prompt engineers don't rewrite every prompt from scratch. They build a template library they adapt to each situation. It's like having a kit of proven recipes you customize based on available ingredients.

The concrete benefits:

• →Time savings: a template takes 30 seconds to adapt vs 5 minutes to write a prompt from scratch
• →Consistent quality: no risk of forgetting a key element when stress or fatigue sets in
• →Team sharing: templates standardize the quality of AI interactions across the entire organization
• →Continuous improvement: each use refines the template — after 10 uses, it's optimized

Template 1: Meeting executive summary

When to use: after every important meeting — particularly effective when you paste raw notes or automatic transcription.

You are an executive assistant expert in synthesis.

From the meeting notes below, produce:

1. **Executive summary** (3 sentences max — a busy executive 
   must grasp the essentials in 10 seconds)
2. **Decisions made** (numbered list in format:
   "[DECISION]: [what was decided] — validated by [who]")
3. **Action items**:

| # | Action | Owner | Deadline | Priority |
|---|--------|-------|----------|----------|
| 1 | ... | ... | ... | High/Medium/Low |

4. **Open items** (to address at next meeting — 
   for each point, indicate who should prepare what)
5. **Identified risks** (any topic that could block 
   if not addressed within 2 weeks)
6. **Immediate next step** (1 sentence: who does what 
   before tomorrow 6 PM)

Format: concise, professional, action-oriented.
No empty phrases or unnecessary paraphrasing.

Meeting notes:
[PASTE HERE]

Template 2: Complete creative brief

When to use: before briefing a designer, writer, or freelancer. This template produces a brief so precise that the deliverable is good from the first version.

You are a senior creative director with 15 years 
of agency experience.

Create a creative brief for: [PROJECT]

Required structure:

1. **Strategic context**
   - Why this project exists (what business problem does it solve?)
   - Relevant history (previous campaigns, results)
   - Current brand positioning vs ambition

2. **Measurable objective**
   - Primary objective (1 only, SMART)
   - Secondary objective (optional)
   - Success metrics (exact expected numbers)

3. **Target audience**
   - Demographic profile (age, location, socioeconomic status)
   - Mindset at the moment of exposure
   - Pain points (the 3 main frustrations)
   - Consumer insight (the tension the project will resolve)

4. **Key message**
   - 1 sentence the audience must remember
   - Supporting evidence (why we can say this)
   - What the message is NOT (anti-message)

5. **Tone and personality**
   - 3 adjectives describing the tone
   - 3 forbidden adjectives (what it must absolutely not be)
   - Reference brand for tone (if we were a well-known brand...)

6. **Deliverables**
   - Exact list of what must be produced
   - Technical dimensions/formats
   - Variations (mobile, desktop, print...)

7. **Constraints**
   - Budget: [amount]
   - Deadline: [date]
   - Brand guidelines: [link or description]
   - Required legal mentions

8. **Inspiration**
   - 3 references (campaigns, brands, visual styles)
   - For each reference: what we like and what we DON'T want

Project information: [YOUR DATA]

Template 3: Code Review / Technical audit

When to use: before merging a PR, to audit legacy code, or to train a junior on best practices.

You are a senior software engineer with 12 years of experience,
specialized in [LANGUAGE/STACK].

Perform a rigorous code review evaluating:

1. **Readability** (naming, structure, comments)
   - Are variable/function names explicit?
   - Does the structure follow language conventions?
   - Do comments explain the "why" (not the "what")?

2. **Performance** (complexity, unnecessary queries, memory)
   - What is the algorithmic complexity (Big-O)?
   - Are there N+1 queries, inefficient loops?
   - Is memory well-managed (potential leaks)?

3. **Security** (injection, XSS, auth, sensitive data)
   - Are inputs validated and sanitized?
   - Is sensitive data exposed?
   - Is authentication/authorization correct?

4. **Maintainability** (coupling, DRY, testability)
   - Is the code unit-testable?
   - Is coupling minimal?
   - Are SOLID principles respected?

5. **Potential bugs** (edge cases, null checks, race conditions)
   - What happens if input is null/empty/very large?
   - Are there possible race conditions?
   - Are errors handled properly?

For each issue found, required format:

🔴/🟡/🟢 [Severity] — Line [N] Problem: [description in 1 sentence] Impact: [what happens if not fixed] Fix: [corrected code]

Final summary: recap table
| # | Severity | Category | Line | Description |
|---|----------|----------|------|-------------|

Code to audit:
[PASTE HERE]

Template 4: Strategic SWOT analysis

When to use: before a strategy meeting, business plan, or product pivot. This template produces a truly actionable SWOT, not just a list of bullet points.

You are a business strategy consultant 
(BCG / McKinsey level).

Perform a complete SWOT analysis for: [COMPANY/PROJECT]

Context: [SITUATION, MARKET, MAIN COMPETITORS]

For each quadrant:
- 4-6 points ranked by impact (highest to lowest)
- Each point with: description + evidence/data + implication

**Strengths (internal +)**
| Strength | Evidence/Data | Strategic implication |
|----------|---------------|----------------------|
| 1. ... | ... | ... |

**Weaknesses (internal -)**
| Weakness | Evidence/Data | Risk if untreated |
|----------|---------------|-------------------|
| 1. ... | ... | ... |

**Opportunities (external +)**
| Opportunity | Estimated size | Time window |
|-------------|----------------|-------------|
| 1. ... | ... | ... |

**Threats (external -)**
| Threat | Probability | Potential impact |
|--------|-------------|-----------------|
| 1. ... | High/Medium/Low | ... |

**Strategic crossings** (this is the most important part):
- **Strength × Opportunity**: how to leverage our strengths to seize this opportunity?
- **Strength × Threat**: how to use our strengths to neutralize this threat?
- **Weakness × Opportunity**: which weakness to correct first to not miss this opportunity?
- **Weakness × Threat**: what is our greatest risk?

**3 strategic recommendations**:
For each recommendation: concrete action + timeline + success KPI + required resources.

Template 5: Contextual professional email

When to use: for any important email where tone and structure matter — client follow-up, internal announcement, negotiation, partnership request.

You are an expert in professional written communication.

Write an email for the following situation:
- **Context**: [DESCRIBE THE SITUATION]
- **Recipient**: [ROLE, RELATIONSHIP, WHAT THEY ALREADY KNOW]
- **Objective**: [WHAT I WANT THEM TO DO AFTER READING]
- **Desired tone**: [FORMAL/SEMI-FORMAL/WARM/DIRECT]
- **Constraint**: [LENGTH, ELEMENTS TO INCLUDE/EXCLUDE]

Output format:
- Subject: [< 50 characters, captivating, not clickbait]
- Body: [inverted pyramid structure — most important first]
- CTA: [1 single clear call-to-action]
- Signature: [adapt to context]

Rules:
- No "I'm reaching out to..." or "Following up on our conversation..."
- First sentence = immediate value for the recipient
- Max 150 words for the body
- Every sentence must move toward the CTA

Template 6: Data analysis / report

When to use: when you paste raw data (CSV, table, stats) and want a structured analysis with recommendations.

You are a senior data analyst.

Analyze the data below and produce:

1. **Overview** (3 key figures to remember)
2. **Main trends** (what's rising, what's falling, 
   what's stagnating — with % variation)
3. **Anomalies detected** (anything unusual,
   with explanatory hypotheses)
4. **Correlations** (which variables seem linked)
5. **Recommendations** (3 concrete actions based on the data)

Present results with:
- Tables for comparative data
- Bullet points for insights
- A 2-sentence conclusion for a busy decision-maker

Data:
[PASTE HERE]

Template 7: Interview / pitch preparation

When to use: before a job interview, investor pitch, or important presentation.

You are a professional coach specialized in public speaking
and interview preparation.

Help me prepare for [TYPE: job interview / 
investor pitch / client presentation].

Context:
- My profile: [SUMMARY IN 3 LINES]
- The company/audience: [WHO, WHAT, STAKES]
- The position/objective: [WHAT I'M AIMING FOR]

Produce:
1. **Elevator pitch** (30 seconds, impactful)
2. **5 likely questions** + structured answer 
   (STAR method: Situation-Task-Action-Result)
3. **3 trick questions** + how to answer without getting stuck
4. **5 questions to ask** (showing preparation 
   and strategic interest — not Google-able questions)
5. **Watch points** (warning signals to monitor, 
   things to definitely not say)

How to organize your library

The template library only has value if you can find things instantly. Here are the 3 most effective approaches:

Approach 1 — By professional domain:

Approach 2 — By storage tool:

Approach 3 — The rating system:

After each template use, quickly rate it:

• →⭐⭐⭐ Result was excellent from the first use
• →⭐⭐ Result needed 1-2 iterations
• →⭐ Template needs revision

After 5 uses, if a template never got 3 stars, replace it.

Practical exercise: Build your starter kit

Duration: 30 minutes

1. →Identify the 5 AI tasks you perform most often in your work
2. →For each, write a template using the models above as inspiration
3. →Test each template with a real case
4. →Rate the results and iterate on weak templates
5. →Store your library in the tool of your choice

Success criterion: your template produces an 80% usable result from the first generation.