Operations · Sharp
Pull Decisions, Owners and Deadlines Out of a Messy Transcript
Get an accountable action list from an hour of conversation.
Read the transcript below and extract only what changes what happens next. Transcript: [PASTE TRANSCRIPT] Return four sections: 1. Decisions made — what was decided and by whom. Only include things actually settled, not things discussed. 2. Open questions — the question, who needs to answer it, and what is blocked until they do. 3. Action items — action, owner, due date. One line each. 4. Risks and disagreements — anything raised and left unresolved, including who disagreed. Rules: - Quote or closely paraphrase the transcript. Do not infer intent, add tasks nobody mentioned, or smooth over conflict. - If an owner or date was never stated, write "unassigned" or "no date". Never guess. - Keep every line under 20 words. - If something was said ambiguously and it matters, list it under a final "Needs confirmation" heading with the exact quote.
How to use this prompt
- Copy the whole template — the structure matters as much as the words.
- Replace every bracketed placeholder with your real details. Vague inputs produce vague output.
- Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and let it finish before you judge it.
- Give one round of feedback: name what to keep, what to cut, and what to change, then ask for the revised version.
Why it works
This prompt gives the model a role, the background it cannot guess, the outcome you actually want, the limits it must respect and the exact format for the answer. Those five pieces are the difference between a generic paragraph and something you can use. The words behind them are explained in the prompting glossary.
A template does not know your business. The Prompt Engineer does the asking for you.