The average professional spends 28% of their working week on email. That's over 11 hours. Most of that time isn't thinking — it's the mechanical labour of translating a clear idea in your head into polished, professional words on a screen.
That's exactly what AI is extraordinarily good at. In this lesson, you'll learn how to brief the AI on any email so it produces a draft that actually sounds like you — and use the refinement tools to tighten it until it's exactly right.
Email is personal. The AI needs to know the relationship (who is this person to you?), the outcome you want (what should the reader do or feel?), and the tone (is this a client, a colleague, a stranger?). Give it those three things and you'll get something usable in seconds.
This isn't a generic exercise. Pick a real email you have to write — something sitting in your drafts, something you've been putting off, or something you need to send today. Fill in the details below and let the AI write it for you. Then we'll refine it together.
Once you understand what the AI needs to write a great email, you can apply it to any situation. The pattern is always the same:
Recipient + relationship → who is this person to you?
Situation → what's the context and history?
Outcome → what do you want the reader to do or feel after reading?
Tone → how should it sound?
Constraints → length, what to include, what to avoid
Don't expect the first draft to be perfect — expect it to be 80% there. The remaining 20% is one or two targeted refinements: "make it shorter", "make the ask clearer", "remove the apology at the start". That loop usually takes 90 seconds and produces something you're genuinely happy to send.
Awkward but necessary. Give AI the amount owed, how many days overdue, whether it's first or second chase, and the relationship — it will hit exactly the right tone of firm but not aggressive.
Declining requests gracefully is hard. Tell the AI what you're saying no to, why, and what (if anything) you can offer instead. It handles the delicate balance of being clear without being cold.
Give AI the person you're reaching out to, what you want, and any genuine connection you have to their work. Ask it to write something that doesn't sound like a template — and specifically to avoid any opener that starts with "I hope this finds you well".
Feedback, corrections, conflict. These are the emails that sit in drafts for days. Tell the AI the situation, what outcome you want, and the relationship dynamic — it will find language you wouldn't have thought of yourself.
Brief the AI like you'd brief a skilled assistant. Recipient, situation, outcome, tone. That's all it needs. The time you save is immediate and compounding.