Operations

Markdown Report Prompt

Purpose, Highlights, Details, Recommendations, Next Steps — recurring business reports with conclusions first and numbers in context.

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Overview

Recurring reports earn their audience by being identically shaped: readers learn where the headline lives and stop reading linearly. This setup generates business reports in five pinned sections with report-specific rules — lead each section with its conclusion, then support it; every number needs its comparison point, because a figure without context is noise. Optional tables handle the metric grids; Next Steps closes with owners and timing so the report ends in motion, not in prose.

How to use this resource

Same prompt every cycle

The structure is the product: readers learn it once and navigate every future report by instinct.
Audit the comparison points

"Up 12%" against what? The number-context rule makes every figure carry its baseline.
Check Next Steps for owners

Concrete actions with owners and timing — the section that turns reporting into management.

Why This Works

Stable shape converts readers from parsers into scanners
Conclusion-first sections respect the reader's attention budget
The comparison-point rule kills decorative numbers

Best for

Recurring reports with a trained readership
Teams compiling reports from metrics and notes
Leaders who read the Highlights and skim the rest

Not for

Summarizing someone else's report — that's the Structured Summary Prompt
One-off analyses — recurring shape is where this contract pays

Use cases

Monthly business reports in the same shape every cycle
Forcing conclusions-first writing in every section
Ending reports with owned, dated next steps

FAQ

Why does this report prompt force conclusions before the supporting data?

Because the DOCUMENT block orders it: "lead each section with its conclusion, then support it." It pairs with "every number needs its comparison point — a figure without context is noise," so a figure like "up 12%" carries its baseline. The five sections run Purpose, Highlights, Details, Recommendations, Next Steps. The markdown-output-builder emits this shaped prompt; you run it in your assistant to draft each cycle's report.

Can I add my own sections to this monthly report format?

Not as top-level sections. The CONSISTENCY RULES say "do not add new top-level sections — put extra material inside the closest existing section," and require all five (Purpose, Highlights, Details, Recommendations, Next Steps) in that exact order. That fixed shape is the point. Extra material goes inside Details or Recommendations rather than becoming a sixth heading; CODE RULES also bar code blocks entirely.

Customize This Resource

Opens this setup in Markdown Output Builder. Generate to get the full markdown prompt — then adjust the sections, table rules, and consistency level.

Open in Markdown Output Builder

Prompt Template

Copy it as-is, or use Open in Markdown Output Builder to load it pre-filled and customize it with your own context.

TASK
Produce the monthly business report for the leadership team.
Produce a new markdown document — there is no source text to summarize.

DOCUMENT
The document is a business report.
- Lead each section with its conclusion, then support it.
- Every number needs its comparison point — a figure without context is noise.

DOCUMENT STRUCTURE
Start with one "# " title line, then use exactly these sections, in this order:
## Purpose
Why this report exists and what it covers.
## Highlights
The headline results, conclusions first.
## Details
The supporting data and analysis.
## Recommendations
What should be done, based on the details.
## Next Steps
Concrete actions with owners and timing.

MARKDOWN RULES
- One "# " title at the top; every section below it is a "## " heading.
- Use markdown lists for enumerations — no walls of prose.
- No HTML tags — pure markdown.

TABLE RULES
- Use a markdown table when content is naturally tabular — comparisons, option matrices, parameter lists; otherwise prefer prose.
- Every table needs a header row and a separator row.

CODE RULES
- Do not include code blocks.

CONSISTENCY RULES
- Use every section defined above, in the order given.
- Do not add new top-level sections — put extra material inside the closest existing section.

OUTPUT RULES
- Return only the markdown document — no preamble, no closing commentary.
- Start directly with the "# " title line.
- Do not wrap the document in code fences.

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Workflow

AI Content Strategy Workflow

Decide what to publish and why before you write a word — set the business goals and audience, map needs to topics, brief the priority pieces, then turn it into a content plan you publish against.

4 steps 45–75 minutes

Tip: Save time by exploring related resources and tools that integrate with this resource.