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format control

In prompt engineering, the format is often as important as the content.

Large Language Models allow you to be extremely precise about how you want information structured for immediate professional use.

A way to think about this, is through a Format Specification Hierarchy:

  • STRUCTURE: Overall organisation (sections, headers, flow)
  • LENGTH: Word counts, paragraph counts, section balance
  • STYLE: Voice, tone, perspective, formality level
  • ELEMENTS: Required components (CTAs, data, examples)
  • FORMATTING: Lists, tables, headings, emphasis
  • COMPLIANCE: Brand guidelines, legal requirements, standards

Let’s walk through how that looks for a Professional Presentation:

STRUCTURE:

  • Title slide with compelling headline
  • Problem statement (1 slide, hook + context)
  • Solution overview (1 slide, high-level approach)
  • Benefits breakdown (3 slides, one major benefit per slide)
  • Implementation plan (1 slide, timeline + milestones) - Next steps (1 slide, clear decisions needed)

LENGTH:

  • Maximum 7 slides
  • 6 bullet points max per slide

STYLE:

  • Executive-appropriate, confident but not overselling, data-driven

ELEMENTS:

  • Each slide must include one supporting statistic or example

FORMATTING:

  • Consistent headers, parallel bullet structure, action-oriented language

COMPLIANCE:

  • Company template colors, logo placement, legal disclaimers as needed

Now go try this for your own work?

Pro tip: You can actually PROVIDE a document with the structure you want, and ask it to look just like that. You don’t have to specifically write out what you want.

Now it’s time to build your own format library:

The task is to build format specifications for your 5 most common professional outputs - E.g:

  1. Email communications:

    2. Subject line requirements, greeting style, body structure, closing

    Subject: Action-oriented, 6-8 words

    Greeting: Personalised, professional

    Body: Problem/context (1 paragraph), solution/request (1 paragraph), next steps (bullets)

    Closing: Clear action items with deadlines

  2. Project reports

    3. Executive summary, progress sections, metrics, recommendations

  3. Meeting agendas

    4. Objectives, time allocations, prep requirements, decision points

  4. Customer proposals

    5. Problem validation, solution description, implementation plan, pricing

  5. Team communications

    6. Context setting, information sharing, action items, deadlines

For each format, specify:

  • Required sections and order
  • Length guidelines for each section
  • Tone and style requirements
  • Essential elements that must be included
  • Formatting preferences (bullets, numbers, headers)

Conclusion

Save these as reusable templates and add them to your prompt library.

You'll use them throughout the program and in your ongoing professional work.