Everyday AI · Module 5

Check the draft before accepting it

Suggested time: 7 minutes.

Use two passes. First check meaning. Then check presentation. A well-formatted draft with an invented deadline still needs correction.

Meaning pass

For every factual sentence, point to the supporting source passage. Ask:

1. Does it preserve the relevant date, quantity, owner and condition?
2. Does it imply that an unresolved issue is settled?
3. Does it promise an action or outcome nobody approved?
4. Is the request within the stated purpose of this practice draft?
5. Do the update, email and FAQ agree with each other?

Presentation pass

Check the named reader, purpose, tone, structure and length. Remove duplicated context before removing a necessary caveat. If the limit is too small for essential meaning, flag that conflict rather than silently deleting a condition.

For the practice below, count every whitespace-separated word in the draft itself. Count the email subject, greeting, sign-off and source markers. Exclude the separate recipient routing note and your review record. A source marker such as “[G5.1]” counts as one word under this convention. This is a course checking convention; your editor’s counter may handle punctuation differently. Leave a comfortable margin below the limit.

Keep source labels in your practice drafts. In real workplace writing, references might instead sit in a review note if the format requires that, but the human reviewer still needs a traceable record. Never remove the only record of where a claim came from.

Copyable review prompt

Check these fictional practice drafts against the supplied source notes. For each draft, identify any unsupported fact, removed caveat, changed commitment or unclear request. Quote the relevant draft words and the supporting source passage, or say that no support is present. Also check the stated word limit using the counting convention I provide. Suggest corrections without sending or publishing anything.

To use this template, append the complete current source pack, drafts and word-count convention. AI can help find issues, but you still inspect the source and count yourself.

Quick pause: The AI says, “All checks passed.” What evidence must you inspect before accepting that judgement?