My NotebookLM Summarization Prompt
Lately, I’ve been using this prompt in NotebookLM a lot, so I’m sharing it in case anyone wants to copy and use it:
Originally, I would use NotebookLM’s default summariation buttons, but I wasn’t very happy with the results. So, I gradually refined the prompt until I got something that I’m happy with. This prompt has been through a lot of prompt engineering:
| Text | Description |
|---|---|
in a … list | Without it, sometimes the summaries are a wall of long paragraphs. |
around 50-100 points | Without it, nuance may be lost if the summary is too short. |
numbered | Without it, you might get bullet points instead. Having numbers is helpful when you have a question about a specific point, as it can be easily referenced when asking follow-up questions. |
without prior knowledge | Helpful for reading articles on topics I'm not familiar with. |
examples…visualize | Some concepts are just difficult to understand without examples. Without it, NotebookLM sometimes cut out examples when summarizing, making it hard to get a clear picture. |
make it fun to read | Without it, summaries can be dull. |
divide it into sections | Without it, it might just list points 1-100 without any divisions, making it difficult to read. |