How to Write a Custom Cleanup Prompt for Better Dictation

Every transcription in Tap2Talk passes through a Groq LLM that cleans up your text — fixing grammar, adding punctuation, removing filler words. The default cleanup works well for most people. But the custom prompt feature lets you control exactly how that AI cleanup prompt behaves.

Want British spelling? Bullet points? A specific tone? You write the instructions, and the LLM follows them for every transcription.

How the Custom Prompt Works

Tap2Talk’s cleanup pipeline has two steps:

1. Whisper transcribes your audio into raw text
2. The LLM cleans up the raw text using a system prompt

The custom prompt replaces part of that system prompt. You write natural-language instructions, and the LLM applies them to every transcription. No coding, no syntax to learn. Just tell it what you want.

You edit your custom prompt in Tap2Talk’s settings. Changes take effect immediately.

Practical Prompt Examples

Here are eight prompts you can use directly or adapt for your needs.

1. British/Australian Spelling

Prompt:

Always use British English spelling. Use “colour” not “color”, “organisation” not “organization”, “analyse” not “analyze”, “programme” not “program” (unless referring to a computer program).

What it does: Forces the LLM to convert American spellings to British/Australian conventions. Useful if you work in the UK, Australia, or any Commonwealth country and your documents need to follow local spelling.

Before: “The organization analyzed the color program.” After: “The organisation analysed the colour programme.”

2. Bullet Point Formatting

Prompt:

When I list multiple items or points, format them as a bulleted list using hyphens. Each point gets its own line.

What it does: Detects when you are rattling off a list (“first… second… also…”) and formats it as a clean bulleted list instead of a paragraph.

Before: “We need to update the homepage, fix the contact form, add the new testimonials, and remove the old pricing page.” After:

We need to:

• Update the homepage
• Fix the contact form
• Add the new testimonials
• Remove the old pricing page

3. Preserve Casual Tone

Prompt:

Keep my casual and conversational tone. Only fix obvious grammar errors and add punctuation. Do not make the text more formal. Keep contractions, informal phrasing, and my natural voice.

What it does: Stops the LLM from polishing your text into corporate-speak. Good for Slack messages, texts, and informal emails where you want to sound like yourself.

Before (raw): “yeah so I checked and the thing is totally broken we should probably just rewrite it from scratch honestly” After: “Yeah, so I checked and the thing is totally broken. We should probably just rewrite it from scratch, honestly.”

The punctuation is fixed, but the casual voice stays intact.

4. Technical Writing Style

Prompt:

Use precise technical language. Preserve all technical terms, code references, and acronyms exactly as spoken. Format code terms in backticks. Use active voice. Keep sentences short and direct.

What it does: Optimises the cleanup for developer documentation, bug reports, and technical discussions. Prevents the LLM from “simplifying” technical terms.

Before: “the API returns a JSON object with a data field containing an array of user objects each with an ID and email field” After: “The API returns a JSON object with a data field containing an array of user objects, each with an id and email field.”

5. Email Signature

Prompt:

When the text appears to be an email, add “Best regards,” followed by “Alex” at the end, unless I explicitly dictate a different closing.

What it does: Automatically appends your sign-off to emails so you do not have to dictate it every time. Replace “Alex” with your name.

Before: “Hi Sarah, just confirming our meeting tomorrow at 2pm in the main conference room. I’ll bring the quarterly report.” After: “Hi Sarah, just confirming our meeting tomorrow at 2 PM in the main conference room. I’ll bring the quarterly report. Best regards, Alex”

6. Number and Date Formatting

Prompt:

Always write numbers greater than ten as digits, not words. Format dates as DD/MM/YYYY. Format currency with dollar sign and two decimal places. Format times in 24-hour format.

What it does: Enforces consistent number formatting. Especially useful for finance, accounting, and any field where number formats matter.

Before: “The invoice for twelve thousand three hundred and fifty dollars is due on March fifteenth and the meeting is at two thirty pm” After: “The invoice for $12,350.00 is due on 15/03/2026 and the meeting is at 14:30.”

7. Remove Hedging Language

Prompt:

Remove hedging and weak language. Replace “I think” with direct statements. Remove “maybe”, “probably”, “kind of”, “sort of”, “a little bit”. Make statements confident and direct.

What it does: Turns tentative speech into assertive writing. Good for proposals, recommendations, and any context where confidence matters.

Before: “I think we should probably consider maybe moving to a new vendor because the current one is sort of unreliable and kind of expensive” After: “We should move to a new vendor. The current one is unreliable and expensive.”

8. Multilingual with English Default

Prompt:

I sometimes switch between English and Spanish. Keep each language as spoken — do not translate. Apply grammar and punctuation fixes in both languages. Default to English for ambiguous words.

What it does: Handles code-switching without forcing everything into one language. Useful for bilingual speakers who dictate in mixed language contexts.

Writing Your Own Prompt

The custom prompt is plain English. Write it like you are giving instructions to a very literal assistant. Some guidelines:

Be Specific

“Make it better” is too vague. “Use British spelling, remove filler words, and keep my sentence structure” is actionable. The more specific your instructions, the more consistent the results.

Use Examples

If you want a specific format, show it. “Format dates as DD/MM/YYYY” is clearer than “use Australian date format.” “Use hyphens for bullet points, not asterisks” prevents ambiguity.

Prioritise

If you have many instructions, put the most important ones first. The LLM processes the entire prompt, but earlier instructions tend to get stronger adherence.

Test and Iterate

Dictate a few test phrases after changing your prompt. If the output is not what you expected, adjust the wording. The LLM interprets instructions literally — if you say “remove all filler words,” it will remove “so” even when it is grammatically necessary. Be precise about what counts as filler.

Keep It Under 200 Words

Shorter prompts are more reliable. A 50-word prompt with clear instructions outperforms a 500-word prompt with contradictory rules. If your prompt is getting long, focus on the 3-4 things that matter most.

Combining Custom Prompt with Custom Words

The custom prompt and custom words solve different problems:

• Custom words help Whisper hear your terms correctly during transcription
• Custom prompt tells the LLM how to format and present the transcribed text

For example, if you work in finance:

• Add EBITDA, SaaS, CAC to custom words (so Whisper recognises them)
• Add “Always write financial acronyms in uppercase. Format currency as USD with commas.” to your custom prompt (so the LLM formats them consistently)

Both features work together. Custom words fix the input. The custom prompt controls the output.

Default vs. Custom

The default cleanup prompt handles:

• Grammar and punctuation fixes
• Filler word removal (“um,” “uh,” “like”)
• Sentence structure cleanup
• Basic formatting

Most users never need to change it. Consider a custom prompt when:

• You need specific spelling conventions (British, Australian)
• Your output needs a consistent format (bullets, numbered lists, headings)
• You want to preserve or enforce a specific tone
• You work in a field with formatting standards (legal, medical, financial)

If the default works for you, leave it. If you keep manually editing the same things in every transcription, that is a signal to add a custom prompt rule for it.

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FAQ

Can I have multiple custom prompts and switch between them?

Not currently. Tap2Talk uses a single custom prompt that applies to all transcriptions. If you need different formatting for different contexts, write a prompt that covers your most common case and manually adjust the rest.

Will a complex custom prompt slow down dictation?

No. The custom prompt is processed by the LLM during the cleanup step, which typically takes 200-400 milliseconds regardless of prompt length. A longer prompt does not add noticeable latency.

Can the custom prompt break the cleanup?

Unlikely, but possible with contradictory instructions. If your prompt says “keep all filler words” and “make the text concise,” the LLM will try to do both and the results may be inconsistent. Keep instructions clear and non-contradictory.