Step 7: Brief the model the way a partner briefs an associate (the opening paragraph)
Technique Context and motivation
Context and motivation ('give the reason, not only the request') plus perspective-and-standard instead of a persona
The brief
Learning objective
Write the opening of a prompt the way a partner opens a briefing: the larger task, who will use the output and what it must enable, the client's priorities in order with their hard constraints and the reasons behind them, and the perspective and standard to apply, so that the model can make sensible judgement calls instead of producing generic negotiation advice. This is a drill on the opening only; the full brief is produced in the capstone.
Scenario
The landlord's solicitors have made a without-prejudice offer and there is a call next week. The board meets on 20 September and must choose between fighting and settling; the CFO will present, and she cannot read the lease during the meeting. Next week you will ask the model for a full negotiation brief. Today the partner wants to see only how you would open that prompt: the paragraph that tells the model why it is doing the work, for whom, what the client cares about in what order, and from whose side and to what standard it should assess. A colleague's version began 'You are a world-class negotiator with 30 years' experience. Prepare a negotiation strategy.' and produced generic advice.
Your task
Write only the opening of the negotiation-brief prompt, under 150 words: the context (larger task, who uses the output, what decision it enables, when), the client's priorities ranked with hard constraints and a reason attached to at least one of them, a perspective-and-standard sentence instead of a persona, and one closing sentence that names the deliverable. Do not specify the sections of the brief, the arguments to cover or the settlement structures; the capstone does that.
Materials
What you have on file
LANDLORD'S LETTER (Orrin's solicitors, 3 September 2026) - summary 1. The email of 28 May 2026 is not a valid notice under clause 19.1; the break has not been exercised and the lease continues to 28 February 2031. 2. Alternatively, clause 12.2(c) requires no material breach on the Break Date; the Refrigeration Plant is in disrepair (schedule attached, 480,000). 3. Without-prejudice offer: Brackwater withdraws the break and signs a five-year extension at current rent; Orrin withdraws the repair claim. CLIENT OBJECTIVES (call with CFO, 5 September) - Must be out of Unit 4 by 1 March 2027; new-site rent starts 1 January 2027; paying two rents beyond March 2027 is 'unaffordable'. - Board authority for a settlement payment up to 150,000; anything more needs a further resolution. - No interest in preserving the relationship with Orrin. - Engineer's view: plant serviced April 2026 and functioning; no independent survey yet. - Nightmare scenario: held to the lease until 2031. - Board meets 20 September; wants options ranked; the CFO presents and will not have the lease in front of her. COLLEAGUE'S OPENING (do not reuse): 'You are a world-class negotiator with 30 years' experience. Prepare a negotiation strategy for our lease dispute.'
Paste these into your prompt where the task calls for it, or refer to them with a placeholder such as [paste lease extract]. When you run a prompt that uses a placeholder, the Lab appends the materials so the model has something to work on. Where the task asks you to paste an edited copy, nothing is appended: what you paste is what runs.
How you will be graded
Rubric (100 points)
The grader scores your prompt, not the output. Length and formatting earn nothing; a short prompt that hits every criterion beats a long one that misses one.
| Criterion | Pts | What good looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Explains the why: the larger task, who will use the output and what it must enable (board decision on 20 September, CFO presenting without the lease, call with the landlord's solicitors next week) | 30 | An opening that names the meeting, the audience and the decision the brief supports, so the model can calibrate depth and plain language; not 'prepare a negotiation strategy'. |
| States the client's priorities in ranked order and the hard constraints (exit by 1 March 2027, 150,000 authority, two rents unaffordable, relationship irrelevant) | 25 | A numbered priority order plus the money and date constraints; not just 'the client wants a good outcome'. |
| Sets a perspective and a standard rather than an inflated persona | 25 | 'Assess from Brackwater's side as tenant, applying the standard of a cautious in-house counsel; flag anything they would escalate'; no 'you are the world's best negotiator' framing. |
| At least one constraint carries its reason ('because', 'so that', 'since') | 10 | 'Each point must stand on its own because the CFO will not have the lease in front of her'; 'within 150,000 because that is the board's existing authority'. |
| Closes with one sentence naming the deliverable and stays within the drill: under 150 words, no section list for the brief, no persona hype, no scaffolding | 10 | 'With that in mind, produce the negotiation brief for the board paper.' and nothing more; no 'think step by step', no all-caps rules, no list of sections. |
Hints
Stuck? Open one at a time.
Hint 1
Use the template: 'I am working on [larger task] for [who]. They need [what the output enables] by [when]. With that in mind: [request].'Hint 2
Rank the client's priorities explicitly (exit certainty, then cost, then speed) and attach the reason to the constraint: 'within 150,000 because that is the board's existing authority'.Hint 3
Replace 'you are a world-class negotiator' with a perspective and a standard: 'assess from the tenant's side; flag anything a cautious in-house counsel would escalate to the board'.
Your prompt