Ask for plain English
When a document is dense, ask for a plain-English brief that quotes the exact lines it is summarizing. Then open the source and find those lines. If a quote is not on the page, the sentence is not yours to rely on. A lease, an insurance policy, a benefits booklet, a medical bill, and a lab page all use the same move. The brief is not legal, medical, or financial advice.
Next step: copy the first prompt that matches your task. Fill in the brackets. Send only that.
A prompt is the message you paste. An approval gate is a stop you control. A checkpoint is a pause after one phase. School pages teach. They do not do the homework. Follow your teacher's rules.
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How do you do it?
Do the steps in order. Each line is one action, and you stop at the end of that action.
- 1 Say the hook out loud. Ask for plain English, and make it quote the line. Then open the page yourself. A smoother paragraph is not a truer one.
- 2 Paste the dense page, with secrets removed. The lease, the policy, the bill, or the benefits booklet is the source. Black out a Social Security number, a bank account, a member ID, and a password before it goes in the chat. If a section is missing from what you pasted, the chat has not read it.
- 3 Ask for the brief and the quote. Each plain sentence has to be followed by the exact line it came from. If the line is not in the paste, the chat writes NOT IN THE DOCUMENT. It does not borrow a typical clause, a typical benefit, or a typical fee.
- 4 Open the source, then stop if you still cannot explain it. Search the file for two quotes. If a quote is not there, cut the sentence. If the quote is there and you still do not know what it does to you, stop. A lawyer, a clinician, a tax preparer, or the office named on the paper is the next step. The brief is not advice.
Work
What prompt fits “A benefits booklet or a policy you were told to read”?
The weak version is "Explain my benefits and tell me what to pick." The booklet is not in that message, so the chat invents a deductible. The directed version pastes the pages you have and quotes them. You still choose. This is not insurance or legal advice.
Do not tell me which plan or policy to pick. This is not insurance, legal, or financial advice.
Do not add a benefit, a deadline, or a dollar amount that is not in the text.
Document: [benefits booklet or workplace policy].
Text, with member IDs removed:
[paste]
For each point I ask about, give one plain sentence, then the exact line in quotes.
Topics: [the three you care about, such as the deductible, the deadline, and who is covered].
If the text does not say, write NOT IN THE DOCUMENT.
Then stop.School
What prompt fits “A syllabus or a financial-aid page you have to follow”?
The weak version is "Summarize the rules and write my appeal." You still write anything you turn in. The directed version quotes the line about late work, attendance, or the aid deadline. Follow your teacher's rules, and follow the aid office's page.
This is for learning. Do not write anything I will turn in. Follow my teacher's rules.
Do not write an appeal, an email to the aid office, or a paragraph I could turn in.
Answer only from the page I paste. Quote the line. If it is not there, write NOT IN THE DOCUMENT.
Page: [syllabus or aid instructions].
Text:
[paste]
What I am trying to find: [late work, the attendance rule, or the aid deadline].
Give the quote, then ask me to say the rule in my own words. Wait. Do not draft the message.
Then stop.Life
What prompt fits “A lease, a medical bill, or a lab page”?
The weak version is "Is this lease fair, is this bill wrong, and are my labs bad?" That invites a verdict. The directed version asks for plain English and a quote. You still read the PDF. A lease is not legal advice. A bill is not financial advice. A lab page is not a diagnosis.
Do not tell me the document is fair, legal, wrong, or a diagnosis. Quote the line or write NOT IN THE DOCUMENT.
What this is: [lease, medical bill, or lab page].
Text, with Social Security numbers, bank numbers, and member IDs removed:
[paste]
For each topic I name, one plain sentence and the exact quote.
Topics: [fees and the end date / the charge and the date of service / the test name and the number on the page].
If you cannot quote it, do not explain it.
Then list questions I could ask the landlord, the billing office, or my clinician. Questions only.
Then stop.What mistakes should you avoid?
These are the misses that waste the result. Skip them before you send anything.
- Asking for plain English with no document in the message.
- Keeping a summary that never quotes the line.
- Letting the chat add the clause, the fee, or the diagnosis that would make the brief feel finished.
- Treating a plainer sentence as legal, medical, or financial advice.
- Pasting a Social Security number, a bank account, or a member ID so the chat can "see the whole file."
- Using a school prompt to get the appeal or the paper written. The quote is the lesson. The sentences you turn in are yours.
More in this section: Answer only from your sources · Catch facts the AI made up · Give it the numbers
Practice on a real task: Read a lease with AI · Understand a medical bill with AI · Understand lab results with AI · Understand your taxes with AI · Compare health plans with AI
Also on this site: Money and bills · Health plans · Life
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Where does this come from?
These are public pages. The note after each link is what that page says, in plain words.
- OpenAI Help, “Prompt engineering best practices for ChatGPT”. OpenAI says a prompt should be clear and specific, and should provide enough context for the model to understand what you are asking. The document you paste is that context. A request for plain English without the page is a request for a guess.
- Google Workspace Learning Center, “Using Google Workspace with Gemini”. Google says Gemini features may suggest inaccurate or inappropriate information, and not to rely on them as medical, legal, or financial advice. A plainer sentence is still a sentence you check against the file.
- HUD Exchange, “Checklist for Counseling Rental Clients”. HUD's checklist tells a counselor to review lease length, renewal, rent, utilities, the deposit, late fees, repairs, and entry, and to know state and local law. Those are questions for the document in front of you. The checklist is not a national lease.
- USA.gov, “Find a lawyer for affordable legal aid”. USA.gov points to legal aid, including for housing problems such as landlord-tenant disputes and eviction. A plain-English brief does not replace that person when the stakes are high.
What else do people ask?
Open a question. The short answer under it is the one to use.
What does ask for plain English mean?
You paste the dense page and ask for a short brief that quotes the exact lines it is summarizing. Then you open the source and find those lines. A quote you cannot find is a sentence you do not keep.
Why not just ask it to summarize?
A summary can add a clause that was never on the page and still sound clear. OpenAI says the prompt has to give the context. The quote is how you check the context survived.
What if a section is missing from the brief?
Search the document for that topic yourself. Silence is a claim too. If the section is in the file and not in the paste, paste it. Do not ask the chat to remember a typical version.
When do I stop and get a person?
When you still cannot explain the quote, or the stakes are an eviction, a diagnosis, a tax filing, or a benefits choice you do not understand. USA.gov lists legal aid. The clinician, the billing office, or a preparer is the person for a medical or tax paper. The brief is not that person.
Will this do my homework?
No. You can ask for the quote and then say the rule in your own words. You write anything you turn in. Follow your teacher's rules.