How to write a good request
What you want, who it is for, what you have, what to avoid.
A skill knows how the job is done. But only you know what you want, who it is for and why. A good request answers those three questions. It does not need to be long, it needs to be clear.
First, name the job and the output. Instead of "make a presentation", write "turn these meeting notes into a five-slide presentation for the management meeting". How many pages, which file type, which language: once these are set, your AI has less to guess.
Then name the reader. The same report can be written for the board or for teammates, but the two will not be the same text. Saying "the reader does not know the subject" or "the team already knows the details" sets the tone and the level of detail.
Hand over the material you have. Notes, an older example, the table with the numbers, your company colors. Your AI cannot know what you do not give it, and it fills the gap with general sentences. If you do not want it to make up a number or a name, supply it yourself and say "leave blank what you do not know".
Say what you do not want, too. Limits such as "no more than five slides", "no jargon" or "do not mention prices" are easier to set at the start than to fix afterwards.
The first result is rarely the final one. Be specific about what you do not like: instead of "make it better", say "cut the table on slide two down to three rows". Fixing what is there usually takes less time than starting over.
A short pattern does the job: what I want, who it is for, what I have, what to avoid. A request that answers these four questions gives a more accurate result than a one-line request. With a skill installed you do not need to write out the formatting details, you only describe the content.
One last note: be careful with confidential information. Do not put customer names, ID numbers or contract details into a request if your company rules do not allow it. If needed, work with changed names.