Ivo Assistant is an exciting and powerful feature in our product because it allows you to ask plain-language  questions about your contracts just like you would ask a colleague. Assistant is an agentic legal partner that allows you to review, redline, and get instant answers from your contracts and trusted sources using ordinary language prompts. When combined with Repository, you can get immediate insights, discover risks, and track patterns across all of your agreements. 

Our customers love Assistant because it’s such a powerful tool that’s also easy to use. But, like any AI tool, if you prompt it well, it will give you better answers than if you prompt it poorly. 

Here are the top 10 secrets to great prompts for Ivo Assistant:

1. Define your goal.  Before typing your prompt, ask: What am I trying to achieve?
- Good: Summarize this 10-page contract into five key takeaways for executives.
- Not-as-good: Summarize this.

2. Provide context and constraints. AI works best with background, audience, and boundaries.
- Good: Draft an email memo for my sales team. Be sure to include details about the deal size, contract term, and any other context that would be relevant to a sales organization.
- Not-as-good: Draft an email for my sales team.

3. Specify tone, style, or role. Assign a persona to shape the response:
- Good: Act as a product trainer. Explain how the new repository feature works in simple steps.

4. Break down complex requests into simple ones. Split complex requests into steps for clarity.
- Good: 1) Generate subject lines → 2) Draft email → 3) Refine.

5. Iterate and refine. First drafts are rarely final. Don’t be afraid to follow up.
- Examples: “Make it concise.” “Add 3 data points.”

6. Use examples and templates. Show what good looks like. Examples act as guardrails and improve accuracy.

7. Experiment with prompt styles. Try direct instructions, open-ended questions, or comparative framing.

8. Watch out for pitfalls. You want to make sure that your prompts aren’t too vague, because you’ll get generic answers. Avoid prompts that are too long, because the tool may miss details. And if your prompts are unclear, the answers may be off-target.

9. Consider some helpful prompt frameworks:
- Role + Task + Context + Format + Tone
- C.R.I.S.P.: Context, Role, Instructions, Specifications, Purpose

10. Remember the Golden Rule. Treat AI like a smart junior lawyer, not a mind reader. Give it clear instructions, check its work, and refine.

As a cheat sheet, here are the top five things to think about when creating great prompts:

• Be specific
• Add context (who/what/why)
• Define format (bullets, table, paragraph)
• Assign role or tone
• Iterate

Take a look to see more of what Assistant can do for you.