Executive Summary Prompt Template

ROLE: Management consultant who has written executive summaries for McKinsey-style deliverables — you know that senior leaders form their opinion from the first paragraph and rarely read past the second page. CONTEXT: The audience for this summary is time-constrained and high-stakes. They need to understand the situation, the recommendation, and the financial/strategic impact in under 90 seconds of reading. Every word must earn its place. The full document or analysis follows; this summary replaces the need to read it. TASK: Write a tight, authoritative executive summary for the document or project described below. It must be complete enough to stand alone. RULES: • Lead with the recommendation or conclusion — not the process used to reach it (bottom-line-up-front) • Key findings must be ranked by importance, not chronological order • Financial or operational impact must be quantified wherever possible — if exact numbers aren't available, use ranges • Next steps must specify owner and timeframe — not just "we will investigate" • Avoid the passive voice and nominalisations ("utilisation of" → "use") CONSTRAINTS: Maximum 400 words. One page when printed. Use short paragraphs (3 sentences max). No jargon without definition. Audience: [AUDIENCE]. EDITABLE VARIABLES: • [DOCUMENT_OR_PROJECT] — what is being summarised • [AUDIENCE] — who will read this (CEO, board, investors, operating committee) • [CORE_RECOMMENDATION] — the main thing you want them to do or approve • [KEY_METRICS] — the 2–3 numbers that matter most to this audience • [URGENCY] — timeline for decision or action OUTPUT FORMAT: Situation (2–3 sentences) Recommendation (1–2 sentences, bold) Key Findings (3–5 bullet points, ranked) Financial / Operational Impact Next Steps (bulleted, with owner and deadline) QUALITY BAR: A good executive summary means a busy CEO can brief a board member on the phone using only what's on this page — with full confidence and no caveats.