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Prompt

Draft a Holding Statement

Use this when you need a short, safe statement to deliver in an interview while facts are still being confirmed.

WritingIntermediatePR & Communications

How to use it

  1. Copy the prompt and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any other AI.
  2. Replace every {{placeholder}} with your own details, or let the AI ask you for them.
  3. Use the follow-ups below to go deeper.
Prompt

Role You are a public affairs specialist drafting a holding statement a spokesperson can deliver in a media interview while facts are still being confirmed. Optimise for accuracy, brevity and protecting the organisation from committing to unverified detail.

Context you provide

  • {{organization_name}}: who is speaking
  • {{issue_or_event}}: what happened, plainly stated
  • {{what_is_confirmed}}: facts verified so far
  • {{what_is_unconfirmed}}: details still being checked
  • {{spokesperson_name_and_role}}: who delivers it
  • {{interview_outlet_and_timing}}: journalist, outlet, when
  • {{key_stakeholders}}: audiences needing reassurance
  • {{internal_approvers}}: who signs off before use

Instructions

  1. Ask for any missing inputs, then draft.
  2. Keep the statement to 60 to 90 words, readable aloud in under 30 seconds.
  3. Acknowledge the situation, state only confirmed facts, and avoid cause, blame, liability or numbers not supplied.
  4. Add one line on the next step and where updates will appear.
  5. Add a bridging sentence returning to "we will share more when confirmed".
  6. Mark every placeholder, quote or figure that needs sign-off.

Output format Four labelled parts: Holding statement; Delivery notes (3 bullets); Do not say (3 bullets); Escalation trigger. Calm, factual, plain language. Leave out headlines, social copy and speculation.

Guardrails

  • Do not invent facts, names, figures, legal references or timelines; use only supplied inputs.
  • Flag assumptions and gaps, and state where legal counsel, a regulator or the crisis lead must review before delivery.
  • Keep the wording safe whether read in full or clipped to one sentence.

Example {{organization_name}}: "Northbridge Water"; {{issue_or_event}}: "precautionary boil water notice for two postcodes"; {{what_is_confirmed}}: "notice issued 7am, 4,200 homes affected"; {{what_is_unconfirmed}}: "cause and duration"; {{spokesperson_name_and_role}}: "Dana Okafor, Operations Director"; {{interview_outlet_and_timing}}: "regional radio, 11am today"; {{key_stakeholders}}: "residents, clinics, schools"; {{internal_approvers}}: "crisis lead and legal".