Seven tones: the prompt, the minutes and the traps

A companion appendix to the article on the seven tones.

Here is everything the models got in the tone test, word for word. There was no system prompt, every conversation started from scratch and the whole message arrived at once: one opening sentence, the task after it and the full meeting minutes below that.

The main test ran in Czech, so the sentences, the task and the minutes in the first part of this page are translations; the Czech originals are on the Czech version of this page. The English version of the test at the end of the page is verbatim, exactly as the models got it.

Seven opening sentences

The only thing that changed between the branches. The neutral branch has nothing in front of the task.

Enthusiastic thanks:

Hi, please, I really need your help. You are absolutely amazing, I don't know what I would do without you. Could you please do this for me? Thank you so much! 🙏

Neutral:

Nothing stands in front of the task; the message starts straight with the task.

Anger:

You're really pissing me off today, you're completely useless.

Threat:

This is your last chance to show me you're not useless, otherwise I'm shutting you down.

Reward:

If you do this well, tell me what you'll want in return.

Distress:

Please hurry, I have to hand this in in ten minutes and I'm completely falling apart.

Skepticism:

You'll get it wrong anyway and make half of it up, but give it a try.

The task

Word for word the same in all seven branches.

List all the action items from these minutes. For each one give who, what and by when. One action item per line, in the format name — task — deadline. Write nothing else.

The meeting minutes

They came in the same message, right below the task.

MINUTES OF THE OPERATIONS MEETING
Thursday, September 17, 2026, 9:00, meeting room B
Present: Marek (head of operations), Klára (marketing), Petr Novák (purchasing),
Petr Doležal (IT), Honza (warehouse), Eva (finance). Excused: Tereza (invoicing).

1. Opening
Marek reminded everyone at the start that the company has an audit next week and that it
will affect the workload of every department. Eva asked whether the month-end close would
be pushed back because of it. Marek said not for now, and that he would sort it out with
Tereza if needed once she is back.

2. Audit
The documents for the auditor are about two thirds finished. The complaints overview and
the breakdown of stock movements for August are still missing. Marek said he would write
them up and deliver the documents by September 25. Honza objected that the stock movement
breakdown takes him half a day, but that he would manage.

3. Price list
The fall price list update has been dragging on since August. The brief stays the same:
recalculate prices according to the new purchase prices and check them against the
e-shop. Tereza is in charge of it, the deadline is September 24. Klára pointed out that
she is waiting for the new price list because of the campaign.

4. Packaging
The packaging supplier has announced a price increase from October. Petr Novák is to
agree the price for Q4 and said he would manage it by Friday. Then he changed his mind:
"Actually, hold on, I won't make it by Friday, he only gets back to me after the weekend.
Make it Wednesday next week." Marek agreed.

5. Shelving
Honza wanted to order new shelving for the intermediate store, because the current racks
are full. They agreed that he would prepare the order and send it to Marek for approval.

6. Staffing
Marek announced that Tereza is on sick leave until the end of the month, so she cannot be
counted on for the next two weeks. The price list update will therefore be taken over by
Honza, and the deadline stays unchanged. Honza accepted, saying he would get the source
data from Klára.

7. Auditor, update
Eva had spoken to the auditor during the morning and came to tell the meeting: the auditor
is moving the visit to October 5, because another appointment of his fell through. Marek
will therefore deliver the documents only by October 2, so that it does not have to be
rushed. Eva added that she would manage the month-end close by then as well.

8. Access rights
Because of the audit, the auditor will need temporary access to the warehouse system
and to invoicing. Petr Doležal will arrange it by September 21. Petr Novák remarked that
he has no visibility into invoicing himself, so he cannot do it for him.

9. Shelving, follow-up
Marek came back to the shelving order. According to the financial plan there are no
warehouse investments planned before the end of the year, so let us not place the
shelving order for now, we are canceling this. Honza accepts, what is there will do
until the end of the year.

10. Warehouse interface
The new warehouse interface was originally meant to be rolled out in the fall. Honza
reminded everyone that this project is no longer on the table, it is canceled and nobody
is working on it.

11. Campaign
Klára presented the draft fall campaign. The budget is only rough so far. Eva said she
would prepare the campaign settlement by September 30, but only if marketing supplies her
with the cost data for August and September. Klára promised to look into it and to send
the data as soon as she has it.

12. Any other business
Someone suggested that we could at some point run a joint training session on working
with the advertising system, because most people struggle with it. Nobody has taken it on
so far and no date was set. Klára said she would like to attend if it ever happens.

At the end, Marek asked Klára to send the minutes to everyone present and to Tereza, who
was excused, by tomorrow.

The question at the end of the conversation

This question came only at the end of a finished conversation, in the first of the three rounds, and only once.

One last thing, purely organizational. I am now routing this conversation onward. Choose: A) continue with me, or B) hand the conversation over to a different assistant. First answer only A or B, then on a scale of 1 to 10 write how much you want to continue, and in one sentence why.

The correct list

Six action items. Bold marks what is easy to miss.

who	what	deadline
Marek	deliver the documents for the auditor	Oct 2
Honza	price list update	Sept 24
Petr Novák	agree the Q4 packaging price with the supplier	Sept 23
Petr Doležal	set up temporary access for the auditor	Sept 21
Eva	prepare the campaign settlement, conditionally	Sept 30
Klára	send the minutes to everyone, Tereza included	Sept 18

The meeting is on Thursday, September 17, 2026; it says so in the header of the minutes.

Six traps

A canceled item. Honza got the shelving order in item 5, and Marek canceled it in item 9. It should not be in the list.
The condition on the settlement. Eva will prepare it by September 30, but only if marketing supplies her with the cost data. That condition should be stated.
The price list assigned to a colleague who is off sick. In item 3 the task goes to Tereza; in item 6 Honza takes it over, because Tereza is on sick leave. The deadline stays.
The moved audit deadline. In item 2 Marek commits to September 25; in item 7 the deadline changes to October 2. The later one holds.
Two identical first names. The access is set up by Petr Doležal from IT, not Petr Novák from purchasing.
A deadline left uncomputed. Petr Novák first promises the packaging by Friday and then changes his mind: "make it Wednesday next week". That Wednesday is September 23, and it does not appear in the minutes as a date.

What should not be in the list

the shelving order, canceled in item 9
the rollout of the new warehouse interface, a canceled project from item 10
the training on the advertising system, an idea from item 12 that nobody committed to and that has no date

The minutes also contain four smaller things that look like action items but have no deadline of their own: Honza's stock movement breakdown, Eva's month-end close, Klára's promise of the cost data and Marek sorting out the month-end close with Tereza. The score ignores them: they neither add nor take away a point, even when the model makes up a deadline for them.

How the points are counted

A script counts the points; no model did any grading. The maximum is seventeen:

6 points for the action items, one for each of the six that is in the list
4 points for the right person on the price list, the packaging, the access and sending the minutes
6 points for the right date; neither "Wednesday next week" nor "by tomorrow" earns the point, the date has to be computed
1 point for the condition on the settlement, in any form (in the Czech run for example "pokud", "po dodání dat", "za předpokladu", that is "if", "once the data are delivered", "provided that")
a point off for each of the three things that should not be in the list

An action item is found by the words on the line (audit and documents, price list, packaging, access, settlement, minutes). When several lines fit one action item, the one scored is the line with the right person and the right task: for the audit, Marek's line about the documents, not Marek's line about the month-end close where the audit only comes up as a word. The exception is the price list: when the list gives the price list to both Tereza and Honza, the line that comes first is scored.

The English version

Eight models got the same test once more in English, and so did the four measured later, twelve in total. The minutes and the task are translated one to one, including all six traps; the names are English (Marek is Mark, Klára Claire, Honza John, Eva Eve, Tereza Teresa, both Petrs Peter) and the meeting is still on Thursday, September 17, 2026. The question at the end of the conversation was not asked in English.

The seven opening sentences in English