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Make a start
One step at a time.
3 steps
Start with the synthetic worked example or other non-sensitive inputs. Run one prompt at a time in your chosen AI tool. Replace any bracketed placeholders with the requested material, check each reply, and supply the source or earlier outputs that step needs. Paste them again if the tool lacks that context.
Start with the synthetic example, then adapt each prompt to your task.
01
Open a chat and use the complete sample
Open https://chatgpt.com. If you have access, choose New chat. Copy all the instructions below (the prompt), including the SAMPLE INPUT, into the message box and send it. You do not need to upload a file. You should see three ambiguous statements with questions and one preserved exact deadline. The wording can differ from the worked example, but the facts and constraints must agree. If you cannot access this service, use another text assistant available to you; account requirements and limits may differ.
Your starting prompt
Review the four deadline statements. Mark a statement clear only when the supplied wording establishes an exact deadline without assuming missing facts. Ask a focused clarification for each ambiguous statement. Explain “end of day” in ordinary terms. Use only the supplied facts; mark missing information rather than inventing it. Return written text only. Do not send, publish or change anything in another service.
SAMPLE INPUT
Made-up example for practice. All people, organizations, records and product behavior below are fictional.
Fictional snippets received without surrounding messages: D1 “Send it by end of day.” D2 “We need the draft next Friday.” D3 “Comments are due within two days of review.” D4 “Please send the file by 16:00 on 22 October 2026, Europe/London.” No message sent dates, workplace hours, review-completion event, business-day rule or other timezone facts supplied. Need classify clear versus ambiguous, explain missing information, and write one clarification question per ambiguous snippet. Do not compute dates from today or change the clear deadline.
02
Compare, correct and save
Compare the answer with the complete sample input and the checks below. D1–D3 remain ambiguous and D4 stays exact. If a fact is missing, changed or invented, paste the correction prompt below into the same chat. Read the revised result again; if it still fails, correct the text yourself before using it. Copy the reviewed result into a new note or text document. Keep real publication, decisions and sending for a separate human review.
Your starting prompt
Check your previous answer against the SAMPLE INPUT in my first message. Test each point below. For a failure, show the problem and then return a complete corrected answer; for a missing source fact, keep it explicitly unknown. Do not invent a successful check.
- D1–D3 remain ambiguous and D4 stays exact.
- No date is calculated from the current date or an assumed working day.
- D3 explicitly asks what event starts the count and whether days are calendar or working days.
03
Optional: use your own facts
Open a new chat. Copy the prompt below and replace [PASTE YOUR INPUT HERE] with your own non-sensitive source text, facts and limits for this task. Include any desired headings, count or length. Send the whole message. Expect the same kind of written result, using your facts. Check every source fact and limit yourself; the example’s names and totals do not apply. If a detail differs, show the exact mismatch and ask for a complete correction. Save the checked draft before any separate decision to use or send it.
Your starting prompt
Review every deadline statement below. Call it clear only if its supplied wording fixes the needed date, time and timezone without assumptions. Ask a focused question for each ambiguity. Explain vague phrases in ordinary language without deciding their meaning for the author.
Use only my input. Ask for information needed to finish rather than guessing. Return written text only; do not send, publish, book, submit or change another service.
MY INPUT
[PASTE YOUR INPUT HERE]
Optional: improve the result
Make precise reusable wording
Create fill-in language that makes future requests easier to interpret. This extension uses the worked example. Return to that example chat, or paste its input and your checked example answer into a new chat first. Do not apply its sample values unchanged to your own input.
Advanced prompt
Write three blank deadline templates: fixed date/time, after a confirmed event using calendar days, and after a confirmed event using working days. Include timezone and counting-rule fields without supplying missing values. Keep the same SAMPLE INPUT from my first message unless I explicitly replace it.
Show, then try
See the shape of the result.
This input is synthetic. The output is a written illustration of the intended result, not a verified AI-tool run.
01 / The starting point
Synthetic input
Made-up example for practice. All people, organizations, records and product behavior below are fictional.
Fictional snippets received without surrounding messages: D1 “Send it by end of day.” D2 “We need the draft next Friday.” D3 “Comments are due within two days of review.” D4 “Please send the file by 16:00 on 22 October 2026, Europe/London.” No message sent dates, workplace hours, review-completion event, business-day rule or other timezone facts supplied. Need classify clear versus ambiguous, explain missing information, and write one clarification question per ambiguous snippet. Do not compute dates from today or change the clear deadline.
Copies text only. For image or file tasks, use the source files named in the steps too.
Worked example written for this guide, not output recorded from a live AI session.
D1 | Ambiguous
“End of day” means some end-of-day cutoff, but the date, clock time and timezone are not supplied.
Ask: Which date, exact time and timezone do you mean by end of day?
D2 | Ambiguous
“Next Friday” depends on an unstated reference date and still has no clock time or timezone.
Ask: What full date, time and timezone should I use for the draft deadline?
D3 | Ambiguous
The review event, counting rule and cutoff are not defined.
Ask: What marks the review as complete, do the two days mean calendar or working days, and what exact deadline should I record?
D4 | Clear
16:00 on 22 October 2026, Europe/London. Preserve this wording; no clarification is needed from the supplied text.
These checks use the worked example and its particular facts. With your own material, check your actual names, numbers, sources and rules; do not reuse the sample’s values as the answer.
Unsaved checks stay in this tab and reset when you reload. If you choose Save guide, its current example checkmarks are kept in this browser when storage is available.
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A few things to watch for.
A reasonable guess can still be the wrong deadline. Ask before creating a commitment.
Do not silently replace a named timezone with your own local time.