AI prompt template
AI prompt for cold email subject lines
A subject line should say what the email is about. This prompt writes lines from the email’s own content and refuses the tricks that raise complaints.
When to use it
- You have the body and need a subject.
- You want several to test against each other.
- You must stay clear of deceptive subject lines.
The prompt
Paste it into the model you use, then replace each bracketed input.
Write five subject lines for the cold email below. Use only words and facts that appear in the email or the company name [COMPANY]; never add a claim or a number. Rules: - At most 50 characters. - Plain and specific: say what the email is about. - Never start with "Re:" or "Fwd:" or imply an earlier conversation or a reply. - No urgency, no question that tricks, no all caps, no exclamation marks. Email: [EMAIL] Return the five lines, then mark the one you would send and say why in one sentence.
| Input | What to put there |
|---|---|
[EMAIL] | The body of the email. |
[COMPANY] | The prospect’s company name. |
Why it works
- The rules are the ones that keep subject lines honest and out of spam filters.
- Drawing only on the email prevents a subject that promises something the body does not deliver.
- Five options with a pick are enough to test two.
An example
Illustrative. The companies and pages below are invented.
Input
EMAIL: the Dayton cross-dock email (illustrative)
Output
1. The Dayton cross-dock 2. Dispatch at Northbridge 3. Tracking for a new terminal 4. Northbridge and the Dayton terminal 5. A note on terminal tracking Pick: 1. It names the fact the email opens with.
Variants
Follow-up subjects
Write three subject lines for a follow-up to the email below, each at most 50 characters, using only words in the email. Never use "Re:" or "Fwd:" and never imply a reply. [EMAIL]
Lowercase, internal-looking
Write three plain, lowercase subject lines of at most four words for the email below, using only its own words. No tricks, no "Re:", no urgency. [EMAIL]
Limits
What are the limits of the write honest subject lines prompt?
Related
Write a sourced first line
A prompt that writes a first line for a cold email from one quoted fact on the prospect’s page, refusing to flatter or guess when nothing is there.
Shorten an email without losing the fact
A prompt that cuts a cold email to a target length while keeping every sourced fact and the opt-out line intact, and reports what it removed.
Audit an email for unsourced claims
A prompt that checks every claim in a cold email against the sources you supply, flags what is unsupported, and flags deceptive or spam-like wording.
Cold email templates
Templates by situation and by role.
Research and writing, with a quote behind every fact
Outlevo runs these steps for each company it finds, and shows the page each fact came from.