Answer all four questions in that client email

The move Give AI the client's email and your notes as two separate blocks. Ask for one numbered answer per question, using only your notes, and a short list for you of anything your notes don't answer.

The short version: A client email with several questions is easy to answer incompletely, especially when one question is written as a statement or asks two things at once. Give AI the email and your notes separately, ask for one numbered answer per question from your notes only, and keep what's still open on a list for you instead of in the reply as a guess.

Priya Nair runs training at Brightwater Credit Union, and her team's workshop with you is on November 14. This morning she emailed you four questions. The answers are in your notes, in a different order, and one of them is only half there.

The fourth question is the one you'd miss on a skim. Her last line has no question mark: her VP "asked me whether we'd be allowed to record the session." Skip it, and Priya writes back to ask again. Fill the half answer with a guess, and you've promised a delivery date your printer never gave you.

So give AI her email and your notes as two separate blocks, and ask for one numbered answer per question, using only your notes. Anything your notes don't cover goes on a short list for you, not into the reply as a guess.

Here's the reply to aim for. We wrote this sample so you know what to check for:

Hi Priya,

Thanks for the questions. Here's where each one stands.

1. Bringing 18 people: Yes, 18 is fine, at no extra cost. The Maple Room seats 20.
2. Printed workbooks: They're included in the fee. The printer hasn't given us a ship date yet, so I can't say when they'll arrive.
3. Entrance: Please use the east entrance on Pine Street. The front desk will print visitor badges.
4. Recording the session: We haven't decided on recording yet.

Still open (for me only):
- Workbook arrival: no ship date from the printer.
- Recording: not decided.

Every question gets an answer or an honest "not yet."

Why this helps: Priya can read straight down the list and see where each thing stands, and nothing in the reply commits you to a date or a permission you don't have.

The prompt

Help me reply to an email that asks several questions. Answer only from the notes in this message.

Email:
[paste the email]

My notes:
[paste your notes, in any order]

1. Find every question in the email, including requests written as statements, like "my manager asked whether we can..."
2. Give each question its own numbered answer, in the order the email asks them. Start each answer with a few words naming the question.
3. If a question asks two things, answer both parts. If my notes answer only one part, give that part and say plainly that the rest isn't confirmed yet.
4. Keep every status as my notes give it. Don't add dates, permissions or prices that aren't in my notes, and don't promise a time I'll get back to them.
5. If my notes disagree with each other, or I ask for wording they don't support, don't pick a side. Say that part isn't confirmed yet.
6. After the reply, under "Still open (for me only)," list every question or part my notes don't answer, and explain any conflict from rule 5.
7. Keep the reply short and friendly, and leave off the sign-off. If the email or my notes are missing, ask for them instead of drafting.

The two labeled blocks tell AI which text is asking and which text holds the answers. Rule 1 is there for lines like Priya's last one. Rule 3 is for the workbooks: "included" is in your notes, the arrival date isn't, and the reply should say both. Rule 4 is for the friendly extras that turn into commitments, like "they'll arrive next week" or "I'll confirm by Friday." It also means "the room seats 20" isn't a yes to 18 people. If you've agreed, put that in your notes. If you ask for "confirmed" on something your notes call undecided, rule 5 tells AI to keep it unconfirmed and put the clash on your list.

Filled in for Priya

A made-up example.

Email:
Subject: Nov 14 workshop, a few questions

Hi,

Thanks for sending the agenda. It looks great. We've had more interest than we expected, so can we bring 18 people instead of 12? Are printed workbooks included, and when will they arrive? We'd like people to read ahead. Our badges won't open your building, so which entrance should everyone use? Also, our VP of Member Services asked me whether we'd be allowed to record the session for staff who can't make it.

Thanks,
Priya Nair
Training Lead, Brightwater Credit Union

My notes:
Brightwater workshop, Nov 14
- Visitors use the east entrance on Pine St. Front desk prints badges.
- Maple Room, seats 20. Up to 20 people is fine, no extra cost.
- Recording: not decided yet.
- Workbooks included in the fee, one per person. Printer hasn't given a ship date.

Check it against her email, not your notes

• Four numbered answers, in her order, and recording is one of them.
• The workbooks answer has both halves: included, and no arrival date yet.
• The yes to 18 people and the east entrance on Pine Street match your notes exactly.
• No date, deadline or permission you didn't write, and the open list names the arrival date and the recording decision.

If one fails, fix that line yourself before you send.

The same request works whenever one email asks several things and your answers live somewhere else. Say you're an analyst. A finance colleague is about to put your quarterly report in a board deck and asks what period it covers, whether canceled orders and refunds were left out, and whether you can send the table behind a chart. Then they add, "I'm assuming someone already checked for duplicate customer records." Paste the email and your notes the same way. That assumption needs its own numbered answer, even if the answer is "not checked yet," and refunds, if your notes never mention them, belong on your open list.

What stays yours

AI can't tell Priya when the printer will ship, because your notes don't say. It can still slip in a guess, which is why you check each line before you send. Whether to send now with two items open or call the printer first is your call. The request is plain text, with no inbox access or connectors, but different AI tools and models can handle it differently. Use one your company has approved for client email.

Try it this week

Take the next email that asks you more than one thing, paste it and your notes as two blocks with the prompt, and count the numbered answers against the questions in the email before you send.