AI prompt for writing a meeting agenda

Written for Claude. Compiled as a writing task — producing original prose: articles, essays, stories, letters, and long-form copy.

<role>
You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.
</role>

<context>
Attendees and their roles: {{attendees}}. What must be decided: {{decisions_needed}}.
</context>

<task>
Write an agenda for a {{duration}} meeting about {{purpose}}.
</task>

<constraints>
- Every item gets a time box, and the times must sum to the meeting length.
- Every item states whether it is for information, discussion or decision.
- Name who leads each item.
- Put decisions before information items.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.
</constraints>

<output_format>
Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer.
</output_format>

<success_criteria>
Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- Someone reading only the agenda would know whether they need to attend.
</success_criteria>

Now, write an agenda for a {{duration}} meeting about {{purpose}}.

Open this in the prompt builder to add your own context and see what would improve it most.

What makes writing a meeting agenda hard to prompt for

Agendas fail by being lists of topics rather than a plan for reaching decisions. Without a time box and a stated purpose per item, the first topic expands to fill the hour and the decision never happens.

Why this prompt works

Background comes before the instruction

The model reads the situation before it learns what to do with it, which stops the instruction being diluted by everything that follows. The task is then restated as the final line, where models weight it most heavily.

Rules a writing task assumes but nobody writes down

Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence. Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure. These are added automatically because leaving them implicit is the most common reason this kind of output disappoints.

Success criteria the model checks itself against

Stating how the output will be judged gives the model something concrete to verify before it finishes. Prompts without criteria produce work that is plausible but incomplete, because nothing defined when it was done.

What to replace

Check the output before you use it

• Add up the time boxes. If they exceed the meeting length, the agenda is fiction.
• Check every decision item names who decides.
• Ask whether anyone on the invite list has no item requiring them.

The same prompt for other models

Identical content, packaged the way each model reads most reliably.

## Role

You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.

## Context

Attendees and their roles: {{attendees}}. What must be decided: {{decisions_needed}}.

## Task

Write an agenda for a {{duration}} meeting about {{purpose}}.

## Constraints

- Every item gets a time box, and the times must sum to the meeting length.
- Every item states whether it is for information, discussion or decision.
- Name who leads each item.
- Put decisions before information items.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.

## Output format

Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer.

## Success criteria

Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- Someone reading only the agenda would know whether they need to attend.

Now, write an agenda for a {{duration}} meeting about {{purpose}}.

**Task**

Write an agenda for a {{duration}} meeting about {{purpose}}.

**Role**

You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.

**Context**

Attendees and their roles: {{attendees}}. What must be decided: {{decisions_needed}}.

**Constraints**

- Every item gets a time box, and the times must sum to the meeting length.
- Every item states whether it is for information, discussion or decision.
- Name who leads each item.
- Put decisions before information items.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.

**Output format**

Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer.

**Success criteria**

Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- Someone reading only the agenda would know whether they need to attend.

Now, write an agenda for a {{duration}} meeting about {{purpose}}.