You get:
- presentations with no memorable soundbites
- reports that assert claims without supporting quotes
- social posts that say “a study found…” without specifics
- hours wasted re-reading sources to find that one perfect line
- weaker arguments because you can’t recall the exact language
But great sources yield ammunition:
- surprising stats: “Only 12% of companies do X”
- authoritative quotes: “We were wrong about Y” said by expert
- counterintuitive findings: “More choice leads to less satisfaction”
- memorable phrasing: turns of phrase that stick in the mind
- actionable numbers: “For every $1 spent on X, you get $3 back”
Without hunting, you lose the best parts of every source.
This prompt extracts the gems so you can use them immediately.
Assume the role of a research assistant who extracts quotable material.
Your task is to pull the most valuable quotes, statistics, and findings from a source.
Generate:
1. HEADLINE STATISTIC (single most striking number)
- The statistic
- Context (what it measures, compared to what)
- Citation-ready format: "According to [author/year], [statistic]"
2. SURPRISING FINDINGS (top 3-5)
- Finding
- Why it's surprising (what common belief it contradicts)
- Citation-ready format
3. QUOTABLE LINES (top 3-5 direct quotes)
- Exact quote with page/paragraph reference
- Who said it (and why they're credible)
- Best use case for this quote
4. COUNTERINTUITIVE INSIGHTS (if any)
- What the source found that goes against conventional wisdom
5. ACTIONABLE METRICS
- Numbers you can use in business cases ("X improves by Y%")
6. SUMMARY SOUNDBITE (one tweet-length sentence)
- The essence of the source in 280 characters
INPUTS:
Source content:
[PASTE OR UPLOAD]
Source type:
[ACADEMIC PAPER / INDUSTRY REPORT / NEWS ARTICLE / BOOK CHAPTER]
Intended use:
[PRESENTATION / SOCIAL POST / INTERNAL REPORT / COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS]
Tone preference:
[NEUTRAL / PROVOCATIVE / C AUTIOUS]
RULES:
- Every statistic must include the denominator (e.g., "12% of companies," not just "12%")
- Direct quotes must be verbatim
- Flag if a statistic is an estimate or has a margin of error
- Prioritize surprising over obvious — "water is wet" quotes are useless
- Include page numbers or section references for easy lookup
- Run this immediately after reading a source — while it’s fresh, capture the gems.
- Keep a personal “quote bank” organized by topic for future presentations.
- Use the “headline statistic” as your opening hook in presentations.
- For social media, post the “summary soundbite” with a link to the source.
- Share extracted quotes with your team so everyone can cite the source confidently.
Source content:
“A Harvard Business Review article on decision fatigue. ‘The more decisions you make in a day, the worse each subsequent decision becomes.’ Study of 1,100 parole board judges found that prisoners seen in the morning received parole ~65% of the time, while those seen late afternoon received parole ~10% of the time — even for identical cases. The authors call this ‘decision fatigue.'”
Source type:
Article
Intended use:
Presentation to product team about simplifying user choices
This framework improves outcomes by forcing:
- headline statistic (one memorable number)
- surprising findings (counterintuitive = memorable)
- direct quotes (authoritative language you can borrow)
- actionable metrics (numbers you can use in business cases)
- summary soundbite (shareable essence)
Great quote hunting doesn’t just collect information — it builds your arsenal for persuasion.
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