Summarizing long texts can be hard, especially when you’re busy or the information is complicated.
Did you know the average person reads about 238 words per minute [1]? That’s not always fast enough when you have a lot to get through.
The good news? With the right ChatGPT prompts, you can save time and make summarizing easier.
In this article, I’ll share 67 of the best ChatGPT prompts for summarizing. These prompts can help you get quick overviews, detailed summaries, or even fun and creative results.
Why Use ChatGPT for Summarizing?
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1. Save Time
Summarizing long texts takes a lot of time, but ChatGPT does it fast. It can turn articles, reports, or books into short and clear overviews in seconds. You get the main ideas without spending hours reading or writing.
2. Works for Any Content
ChatGPT can summarize almost anything. It works with articles, research papers, reports, or even data. No matter what type of content you have, it helps make it easier to understand.
3. Adjust for Any Audience
You can make summaries match whoever you’re writing for. If it’s for beginners, ChatGPT can keep it simple. If it’s for experts, it can focus on detailed points. Whether it’s for kids, students, or professionals, you can adjust the style to fit.
4. Be Creative
Summarizing doesn’t have to be dull. ChatGPT lets you turn summaries into fun things like tweets, poems, or short stories. This makes it great for social media or making your content more exciting and unique.
How to Create Effective Summarizing Prompts
Creating good prompts for summarizing is simple if you follow a few easy steps. The key is to give clear and specific instructions so ChatGPT knows exactly what you need.
Here’s a simple formula to help:
"Summarize [content type] in [specific format or length], for [audience or purpose], and include [tone or style, if applicable]."
Let’s break it down step by step:
1. Be Clear and Specific About the Task
Tell ChatGPT exactly what kind of summary you need. The more specific you are, the better the result. For example:
- Instead of saying, “Summarize this article,” say, “Summarize this article in three sentences, focusing on the main points and ending.”
- If you need more detail, add a word limit: “Write a 100-word summary that explains the key ideas.”
Always include details like how long the summary should be or what parts of the text to focus on, like the conclusion or key facts.
2. Use a Mix of Short and Long Prompts
Use short prompts for quick summaries and longer prompts for more detailed ones. This helps you get the right level of detail depending on the situation. Examples:
- Short Prompt Example: “Summarize this book in one sentence.”
- Detailed Prompt Example: “Summarize this research paper in simple language, explaining its purpose, methods, and key findings.”
Mixing short and long prompts gives you flexibility and helps cover different needs.
3. Include the Audience or Format
Always say who the summary is for or how it will be used. This helps ChatGPT adjust the style and tone. Examples:
- For kids: “Summarize this story for a 12-year-old in simple words.”
- For social media: “Turn this article into a tweet (280 characters) with the main takeaway.”
- For work: “Summarize this report for a business meeting, focusing on key recommendations.”
Knowing the audience makes the summary clearer and more useful.
4. Add Creative or Fun Elements
You can make summarizing fun by asking for creative formats. This is great for social media or just trying something new. Examples:
- “Summarize this article using five emojis.”
- “Write a summary as a haiku.”
- “Turn this text into a movie trailer summary with excitement and drama.”
67 Best ChatGPT Prompts for Summarizing
General Summarization
- Summarize this article in three sentences, focusing on the main idea, key details, and ending.
- Write one paragraph that explains the most important points of this text in a clear way.
- Break down the key points into a simple bullet-point list.
- Write a short summary that would work well for a social media post.
- Summarize this book in less than 100 words, including the main idea, key arguments, and how it ends.
- Give a quick summary of this research paper, explaining what it’s about, how it was done, and what was found.
- Summarize this text for someone who has never heard about the topic before.
- Turn this blog post into one sentence that explains the main idea.
- Write a summary that’s short enough to explain in 5 minutes.
- Create a summary that only includes the pros and cons from this text.
Summarization for Specific Audiences
- Summarize this in a way that a 12-year-old can understand.
- Rewrite this so that someone new to the topic can easily understand the summary.
- Write a summary that is clear for experts or professionals in this field.
- Simplify this content so it’s easier for college students to follow.
- Write a version of the summary that is simple for non-native English speakers.
- Explain this content in a way you’d explain to a young child.
- Summarize this article in terms that a high school student can relate to.
- Focus on the key points and summarize them for an audience interested in technology.
- Write a summary that scientists or researchers in this subject would find helpful.
- Simplify the key ideas into a summary for marketers or advertisers.
Format-Specific Summarization
- Turn this into a short list of bullet points.
- Write the summary like a headline with subheadings.
- Summarize this in a question-and-answer format.
- Write down the top 3 ideas or takeaways from this text.
- Turn this article into a script for a short 2-minute video.
- Summarize this as a tweet in 280 characters or less.
- Write the summary as if it’s for a LinkedIn post.
- Rewrite the summary in the format of a press release.
- Write a short email summary, with a catchy subject line and a clear body.
- Summarize this as a short poem or in rhyming sentences.
Use Case-Specific Summarization
- Summarize this for a meeting and only include the most useful points.
- Turn this into a short summary for an elevator pitch.
- Simplify this content into a summary for a product description.
- Summarize this book for a book club discussion, with a focus on the theme and characters.
- Write a summary that would work well in a company newsletter.
- Summarize this so it’s helpful for someone studying for a test.
- Write a summary of the key points for a TED Talk-style presentation.
- Simplify this text into a summary for a project proposal.
- Break this content into a simple summary for a marketing pitch.
- Write a summary that fits on a PowerPoint slide.
Analytical Summarization
- Summarize the main arguments and opposing ideas from this text.
- Focus on the problem and the solution, and summarize them in a simple way.
- Simplify the text to show the cause and effect relationships.
- Summarize just the numbers, facts, and data from this text.
- Summarize the key findings of this research in plain language.
- Focus on the story structure and summarize the beginning, middle, and end.
- Summarize the ethical issues or dilemmas discussed in this text.
- Write a summary of the pros, cons, and potential outcomes mentioned.
- Highlight the trends and patterns from the content in a short summary.
- Summarize the challenges and what might happen as a result.
Creative and Fun Summarization
- Use emojis to explain and summarize this text.
- Write the summary as if two people were having a conversation about it.
- Turn this into a summary as a short haiku or poem.
- Write a short summary as if it’s a fictional story.
- Summarize this text like a sports commentator explaining the key plays.
- Write a movie-trailer-style summary of this content.
- Summarize this as if you’re writing a short comedy skit about it.
- Turn the text into a recipe-like summary with ingredients and steps.
- Summarize this like a pirate talking about the main idea.
- Rewrite this summary with a futuristic, sci-fi style.
Shortened Summarization
- Can you explain this in 50 words or less?
- Write a summary in just one clear and simple sentence.
- Simplify this into a headline-only summary.
- Summarize this text in 10 words or fewer.
- Write a summary that could fit on a small postcard.
- Turn this into a hashtag and explain what it means.
- Write a short notification-style summary, like what you’d see on a phone.
Benefits of Using These Prompts for Summarizing
Summarize Faster
These prompts save you a lot of time. Instead of reading and writing everything yourself, clear instructions help ChatGPT create quick and accurate summaries.
You can get the key points in seconds, which is great when you’re working on a tight schedule or dealing with long texts.
Be More Creative
With these prompts, summarizing doesn’t have to be boring. You can turn summaries into fun formats, like tweets, poems, or even short stories.
This is especially helpful if you’re creating content for social media or want to make your summaries stand out. It keeps the process fresh and interesting.
Match the Audience
These prompts let you adjust summaries to fit different people. For example, you can simplify a summary for kids or beginners, or make it more detailed for experts.
By matching the style and tone to the audience, you can ensure the summary is clear and easy to understand for whoever reads it.
Focus on Key Points
Sometimes long texts can feel overwhelming, but these prompts help you focus on what really matters.
By giving clear instructions, you can ask ChatGPT to summarize only the most important parts. This makes big tasks feel smaller and helps you stay organized.
Final Thoughts
Summarizing doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming. With these 67 ChatGPT prompts for summerizing, you can create clear and creative summaries for any purpose—whether it’s for work, school, or fun.
This list includes prompts for general use, specific audiences, and even unique formats like tweets and poems.
No matter the task, these prompts make it easier to focus on what matters most.
Try one of these prompts today and see how much easier summarizing can be! Let us know which one works best for you.