Using AI to Summarise Documents and Reports
Long documents can absorb hours of your attention: reports, research papers, strategy decks and client deliverables. AI can help you extract the main ideas, decisions and actions much more quickly, while still leaving space for your own judgement.
Prompt: Executive summary in bullet points
You are my executive summary assistant. I will paste the text of a document.
Please create:
- A 5–7 bullet summary of the key points
- 3 key risks or concerns
- 3 recommended actions or decisions
Write for a busy senior manager who has 2–3 minutes to read this.
Here is the document:
[PASTE DOCUMENT]
Prompt: Summary for a specific audience
You are my communication assistant. I will paste a long report.
Please summarise it specifically for <AUDIENCE> (for example,
"marketing team", "project sponsors", "clients"), focusing only on what they
need to know.
Keep the summary under 300 words, use UK English, and include:
- What this audience should know
- What decisions they may need to make
- What actions they might need to take
Here is the report:
[PASTE DOCUMENT]
Prompt: Extract data for follow-up work
You are my analysis assistant. I will paste the text of a report.
Please extract:
1) All explicit deadlines or dates mentioned.
2) Any promised deliverables.
3) Names of key stakeholders.
Return the result as a table with columns:
Stakeholder | Deliverable | Deadline / Date | Notes
FAQs
Can AI read PDFs and slides directly?
Many tools can accept file uploads and perform the text extraction for you. If yours cannot, you can copy and paste text or work section by section. The prompts above still apply.
How do I check that the summary is accurate?
Skim the original document after reading the AI summary. Look for any major points that are missing or misrepresented. You can ask the AI to revise its summary if needed.
Is this suitable for legal or financial documents?
AI can help you understand structure and main themes, but should not be used as the sole basis for legal or financial decisions. Always consult appropriate professionals and primary sources.
Next steps
Take one upcoming report or article and run it through the executive summary prompt. Use the output to decide whether you need to read the full document immediately or can schedule it for later.
For a broader approach that connects document summarising with email, meetings and planning, consider the AI Productivity for Busy Professionals course.