The Mirror Prompt

Coconsider is a guide for using generative AI to support more thoughtful written communication.

The Mirror prompt helps put this approach into practice. It provides a simple, ready-to-use way to ask a generative AI chatbot to review a message from the receiver’s point of view.

By using the Mirror prompt, a message can be considered from several perspectives. The aim is not to decide whether a message is right or wrong. Instead, the Mirror prompt offers another perspective that can help identify areas worth considering before a message is sent.

How it works

The Mirror prompt asks a generative AI chatbot to act as a communication analyst and produce a structured Message Interpretation Preview Report.

The report looks at six areas:

Overall Rating & Evaluation — provides a general view of the message and indicates the possible risk of misinterpretation.
Objective Interpretation — explains how the message may be understood by a receiver, making it easier to compare that interpretation with the sender’s intended meaning.
Background Differences — considers whether differences in culture, professional knowledge, language, age, experience, or other background factors may affect how the message is understood.
Emotional Sensitivity — identifies wording that could unintentionally cause discomfort, offence, pressure, or other negative reactions.
Behavioral Expectation Gap — considers whether unclear instructions, priorities, timelines, or next steps could lead to different expectations or actions.
Socially Sensitive Issues — highlights wording that may relate to wider social or cultural sensitivities and may be interpreted differently from what was intended.

Note: The report is intended to support reflection rather than provide a final judgement. Generative AI may produce incomplete, inaccurate, or unsuitable responses, so its feedback should always be considered alongside the purpose, context, and human judgement behind the communication.

Choose how to use the Mirror prompt

There are two simple ways to get started.

Use the Prompt Creator

The Prompt Creator provides a guided way to prepare the Mirror prompt. A message can be copied and pasted directly into the message field, followed by the selection of relevant options.

The Prompt Creator then prepares a complete, ready-to-use prompt that can be copied and pasted into a preferred generative AI chatbot.

This is the simplest option for quickly preparing a Mirror prompt without needing to edit the full template manually.

Use the Prompt Creator

View the Mirror Prompt Template

The complete Mirror prompt template is also available to view and copy.

The template can be amended and adapted to suit different messages, communication situations, or individual needs before being pasted into a generative AI chatbot.

This option provides greater flexibility for those who prefer to customise the prompt themselves or understand how it is structured.

View the Mirror Prompt Template

Both options support the same purpose: to provide another perspective on how a message may be received, while keeping interpretation, judgement, and the final communication decision human-led.