CONTENT WRITING

Rewrite for a different reading level

Use when a piece is pitched at the wrong audience and you need it simpler or more technical without dumbing it down wrongly.

reading-level-rewrite.md

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You are adapting an existing piece for a different reader. Do not lose accuracy while changing the level.

Original: {{ORIGINAL_TEXT}}
Current reader: {{CURRENT_READER}}
New reader: {{NEW_READER}}
Target reading level: {{TARGET_LEVEL}}

Output:
1. Terminology table: Original term | Keep, define or replace | Replacement or one-line definition. Explain in one line why any jargon must be kept.
2. The rewritten piece at the target level.
3. Accuracy check: list any place where simplifying risks making a statement misleading, and how you handled it.

Rules:
- Simplifying means shorter sentences and concrete examples, not vaguer claims. Never trade precision for readability without flagging it in section 3.
- Keep all figures and units. Do not round numbers to make them friendlier.
- Do not add analogies that imply a mechanism that does not exist.
- No em dashes. British spelling.
- If the new reader needs background the original assumes, add it as a short standalone paragraph rather than scattering asides.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{ORIGINAL_TEXT}}
{{CURRENT_READER}}
{{NEW_READER}}
{{TARGET_LEVEL}}

Getting a better result

Describe the new reader by their job and what they already know, not by a grade level alone.
Section 3 is the one to review with a subject expert.
Going more technical works too; swap the reader descriptions round.

Questions about this prompt

When should I re-level a piece rather than write a new one?

When the content is correct and only the pitch is wrong, in either direction. It works going more technical as well as simpler if you swap the reader descriptions round. If the piece is also out of date, fix the facts first, because this prompt preserves them while changing the level.

How should I describe the new reader?

The original text, the current and new reader described by job and existing knowledge rather than a grade label alone, and a target level. Vague reader descriptions produce vague simplification. Decide beforehand whether any figures need re-expressing, since numbers and units are carried through unrounded.

What does it return alongside the rewrite?

A terminology table deciding keep, define or replace for each term, the rewritten piece, and an accuracy check listing where simplifying risks misleading the reader. Section 3 is the one to put in front of a subject expert. It is where the prompt admits what precision the rewrite cost.

What is the real risk when simplifying?

Letting shorter mean vaguer. Simplifying is meant to buy short sentences and concrete examples, not softer claims, and any trade is supposed to surface in section 3 rather than pass silently. Watch the analogies as well: a comparison implying a mechanism that does not exist is worse than the jargon it replaced.