Turn one good letter into a mail merge template

You've written one good letter to one supplier, one patient, one new starter. Now it needs to go to eighty people.

Before you paste it in, swap the real recipient's name and details for obvious dummy ones ("Jane Example"). The AI needs the shape of the letter, not who got it.

Below is a letter I sent to one person. Turn it into a mail merge
template.
1. Replace anything specific to that person or occasion with a merge
   field in double curly brackets, like {{FirstName}} or
   {{AppointmentDate}}.
2. Give the fields clear names, no spaces.
3. List every field once, with an example value, so I can build the
   spreadsheet columns.
4. Point out any sentence that only works for the original person (a
   personal remark, something that assumed what they'd said before) and
   suggest a version that works for everyone.
5. Keep my wording otherwise. Don't improve the tone.

Letter: [PASTE]

The field list becomes the header row of your spreadsheet, so copy it straight across.

The curly brackets are only a placeholder format. Word's mail merge has its own fields (Mailings tab) and email platforms each have their own syntax. Take the template and the field list into whatever you're using and swap the placeholders for its fields there.

Step four catches the most. "As we discussed on Tuesday" works for one person and is wrong for the other seventy-nine, and those are the lines that get you the embarrassing replies.

Test it before it goes to everyone. Merge three rows, including one with an unusual name and one with a blank field, and read the results. A missing first name that leaves "Dear ," in the middle of a letter happens more often than you'd think.

The names and details stay in whatever system you'd normally use. You only ever needed the template in the AI chat. If you've already got a template to match, paste that in instead.