Formatting LLM Outputs

Let’s be real: the fastest way to hate using an LLM is getting a beautiful answer… in a format you can’t use.

You asked for “action items” and got a wall of text. You asked for a comparison and got a vague paragraph. You asked for something pasteable into Notion, Jira, Confluence, Slack, or GitHub—and the formatting exploded.

Good news: you can fix 80% of that with one prompt habit:

Tell the model exactly what shape the output should take.

Why formatting is a prompt engineering skill (not a styling detail)

Formatting is how you get:

• Consistency across teammates and runs
• Scannability for busy humans
• Machine-readability for automation (copy/paste, parsing, checklists)

This matters for everyone:

• Engineers want pasteable code reviews and bug tables.
• Sales wants tight follow-ups, not essays.
• HR wants structured interview rubrics.
• Support wants sortable triage outputs.

Lists: for speed, clarity, and “what do I do next?”

Use lists when the reader needs quick decisions.

Prompt patterns that work:

• “Return exactly 7 bullets”
• “Each bullet under 12 words”
• “Order bullets by impact”

Example 1: Executive-ready action items (bullet list)

Turn these meeting notes into action items.
Output rules:
- Exactly 6 bullets
- Each bullet starts with a verb
- Add an owner tag in brackets like [Marketing] or [Engineering]
- Keep each bullet under 14 words

Notes: <PASTE HERE>

That “starts with a verb” trick is sneaky-good. It turns summaries into tasks.

Tables: for comparisons, prioritization, and operational work

Tables are your best friend when you need structure: tradeoffs, QA, planning, evaluation.

Prompt patterns that work:

• “Return a Markdown table with columns: …”
• “No extra commentary outside the table”
• “Include a final row with recommendation”

Example 2: Compare options (Markdown table)

Compare these 3 options for an internal AI chatbot:
1) OpenAI hosted API
2) Anthropic Claude API
3) Self-hosted Llama

Output:
Return a Markdown table with columns:
Option | Best For | Risks | Cost Notes | Recommendation (Yes/No)

Rules:
- Keep each cell under 18 words
- No text outside the table

Now your answer is instantly pasteable into Notion or a decision doc.

Markdown: make outputs portable across tools

Markdown is the "universal adapter" for modern teams: GitHub, Slack, Notion, docs, and wikis.

To get clean Markdown:

• Ask for one H1 title and consistent H2s
• Request code fences for code only
• Use short sections and avoid deep nesting

Quick formatting cheat sheet

• Need clarity fast → Bullets
• Need comparisons or decisions → Tables
• Need a doc you can paste anywhere → Markdown

Takeaway

Formatting isn’t cosmetic—it’s control.

When you specify tables, lists, or Markdown (plus a few tight rules), your LLM outputs become scannable, reusable, and automation-friendly. And that’s when AI stops being a “cool demo” and starts being a real workflow tool.