Start with one bounded fictional task
Give learners a short source note and a defined audience, such as preparing an internal meeting reminder. Specify the required facts and the information that must remain unknown unless the source supplies it. Use an approved training tool and fictional material. Keep the task small enough that participants can inspect the full output during the session. The exercise should teach deliberate revision, rather than require specialist knowledge that the group cannot independently check.
Save the first instruction and its output
Ask participants to write an initial instruction and retain the resulting draft without silently improving it. Record the source material and the conversation context used. Read the output against the task checklist and choose one defect to investigate, such as missing information, an inappropriate audience or an invented detail. Distinguish an unclear instruction from a gap in the source. No wording change can supply a factual answer that the learner does not have permission or evidence to provide.
State a reason for the proposed revision
Before changing the prompt, have the learner complete a short statement: the draft failed this requirement, so the revised instruction will clarify this part of the task. For example, they may identify the intended audience or require unanswered questions to remain flagged. Avoid adding unrelated instructions at the same time. This makes the reasoning easier to discuss, although a difference between two outputs is not proof that one wording change caused every observed difference.
Compare complete outputs using the same checks
Save the revised instruction and the next output beside the original versions. Apply the same factual and presentation checks to both. Look for new omissions as well as the defect the learner intended to fix. If the next result is acceptable, explain which requirements it meets and which still need human review. If it is worse or uncertain, retain that result as useful evidence. Do not select only the most attractive output and conceal the attempts that failed.
Try a fictional meeting-reminder revision
In a fictional exercise, Harbour Services supplies a meeting date and venue but no joining link. A vague instruction produces a reminder containing a made-up online link. The learner revises the instruction to use only supplied meeting details and flag missing access information for the organiser. They check the second draft for the date, venue and audience as well as the missing link. Their explanation should identify why an organiser decision remains necessary before the reminder can be sent.
Record what can be reused and what cannot
Finish with a short revision note describing the defect, the changed instruction and the checks used. Learners may retain a reusable structure with clearly labelled fields for task facts and audience. Explain that those fields need fresh information for each use and that the resulting draft still requires review. Ask a partner to use the structure with a different fictional note. Any misunderstanding becomes a further teaching point, not evidence that a single prompt is ready for every job.