Talk to Claude

Explanation

Anthropic compares Claude to a brilliant but new employee who does not know your routines or your background. It is a good rule of thumb. You cannot count on Claude guessing right if you have not said what you mean.

Anthropic also gives a simple test: show your instruction to a colleague who knows nothing about the task. If the colleague would be confused, Claude will be too.

Before and after

Weak instruction:

Write an email about the tap.

Clear instruction with all four parts:

You are a friendly and clear assistant. I am a tenant and want to write a short email to my landlord. The kitchen tap has been dripping for a week and I want it repaired. The tone should be pleasant but firm. At most 100 words, with a subject line.

Explanation

It is easy to forget important background when you know the subject yourself. Then you can turn the roles around and let Claude interview you. It is a practical way of working, and it saves time because you do not have to rewrite everything afterwards.

How to do it

1. Briefly describe what you want to achieve.
2. Add that Claude should ask first.
3. Answer the questions, preferably short and numbered.
4. Ask Claude to write once it has what it needs.

I want to plan a 50th birthday party for my dad. First ask me up to five questions about anything you need to know. Wait for my answers before you suggest anything.

Explanation

The first answer rarely has to be the last. Adjusting is faster than writing a new long instruction. Three simple rules help.

1. Be concrete in your feedback

2. Say what you want, not what you do not want

Anthropic's guidance recommends telling Claude what to do instead of what not to do. Their example: instead of "do not use markdown", write that the response should be made up of smoothly flowing paragraphs.

3. Say whether Claude should act or suggest

Anthropic points out that Claude may suggest changes instead of making them if you only ask. Compare "Can you suggest changes?" with "Change the text so it is shorter". The second gives you a finished text.

Explanation

If you ask for the same kind of help again and again, it pays to save a template. You write it once and only swap out what varies.

A simple template

You are [role].
My goal: [what I want].
Background: [what Claude needs to know].
Audience: [who it is for].
Format: [length, structure, tone].

Material:
[paste text here]

Show with examples

Anthropic describes examples as one of the most reliable ways to steer format, tone and structure. They recommend roughly three to five examples that are relevant and different from each other, so that Claude does not copy an unintended pattern.

Clear structure with tags (optional)

In long instructions you can mark up the parts with tags such as <instructions>, <background> and <material>. Anthropic notes that tags help Claude tell instructions from material, and it is most useful when you mix several kinds of content. For short questions you do not need it.

Save them in the right place

According to Anthropic's help article, there is an "Instructions for Claude" setting that applies to all your conversations, and project instructions that only apply inside a given project. Which features are included can differ between plans, so check your app. We cover projects in module 5.