Summarization prompts that preserve meaning (not just reduce length)

Templates to summarize long texts while keeping the right level of detail, key facts, and tone.

What makes summaries fail

Not specifying the audience: the model guesses who needs the summary.
No output length constraint: it either over-compresses or barely cuts.
Missing 'what to preserve': key facts, decisions, open questions.
No tone guidance: a formal report and a casual Slack message differ significantly.

Controls that work

Set a word or sentence limit and make it a hard constraint.
Name the audience and their goal ('a PM who needs to decide quickly').
List what must be preserved ('all numbers, deadlines, open decisions').
Ask for a structured output: TL;DR + key points + action items.

Templates

Structured document summary

Summarize the document below for [audience: e.g. busy executive / junior developer].

Constraints:
- TL;DR: <= 2 sentences.
- Key points: <= 5 bullets (preserve all numbers, dates, and named decisions).
- Open questions: list anything that needs follow-up.
- Tone: [formal / casual / technical].

Document:
"""[paste]"""

Opens on home with the prompt prefilled.

Open in Promptea

Meeting notes → action items

Extract a structured summary from these meeting notes.

Output:
1. Decision log: [decision] (owner, if mentioned)
2. Action items: [action] — [owner] — [deadline or 'no deadline']
3. Blocked items: [what is stuck and why]
4. TL;DR: <= 3 sentences

Notes:
"""[paste]"""

Opens on home with the prompt prefilled.

Open in Promptea

FAQ

How do I avoid hallucinated facts in summaries?

Tell it to preserve only what is in the text and mark anything uncertain. Add: 'If a fact is not stated, omit it.'

What if the document is too long?

Split it into sections and summarize each one. Then summarize the summaries. Specify the priority order if sections differ in importance.