How to Prompt
Every conversation with AI starts with a prompt. Get the prompt right and everything after it gets easier.
Based on the prompting foundations in Anthropic’s Claude 101 and AI Fluency courses.
You get out what you put in
Ask a vague question, get a generic answer.
Nothing about the AI changes. What you feed it does.
Where are you working?
Chat
A conversation. You steer, turn by turn.
- Quick questions, drafts, thinking out loud.
- Does not touch the files on your computer.
A Chat project
A workspace inside Chat that remembers you.
- Holds instructions and files you upload once, then keeps them for every conversation.
- Lives in your Claude account: it follows you to any device you sign in on.
A Cowork project
Can point at a real folder on your computer.
- Claude reads, writes and organises the actual files in that folder.
- Point it at a folder and it lives on that computer, tied to that folder. Start one from scratch and it saves to your account instead.
- 1
Pick the room. Quick question? Chat. A topic you return to? A Chat project. Real work on real files? A Cowork project.
- 2
Name the job. One job, one finished thing.
- 3
Then build the prompt. That is SDS.
Room, job, prompt. That is the whole base case.
Watch context work
Recommend me a Greek mythology book.
The answer: the same five bestsellers everyone gets. Useless.
Recommend me a Greek mythology book. I loved Circe for the writing but found Mythos too jokey. I want something literary I can read in a week, and I already know the myths.
The answer: three titles you’ve never seen on a listicle.
Nothing about the AI changed. The context did.
A good prompt, in three steps
Before your next conversation with Claude, consider: setting the stage (your role, objectives, and context), defining the task (what action you want Claude to take), and specifying rules (style, tone, and examples).
1. Set the stage
- Your role and objectives.
- What it should know.
2. Define the task
- Write, analyse, build, or something else.
- One job at a time.
3. Specify the rules
- Style, tone, length.
- An example to copy, if you have one.
Set the stage
Give it the context only you have
AI cannot read your mind or your inbox.
A sentence of context is the cheapest win there is.
- What is your role, and what are your objectives?
- Is there context about your work that Claude should know?
Define the task
Name the one thing you want done
Vague in, vague out.
Be clear about the single action and the single output.
- What action do you want Claude to take?
- Write, analyse, build, or something else?
Specify the rules
Say what a good answer looks like
This is where most of the quality comes from.
Describe the shape of the answer you want.
- What style or tone do you want Claude to use?
- Are there examples you can attach to show what you are looking for?
An example prompt
All three steps in one real prompt.
- 1Set the stage
I’m the marketing lead at an indie streaming startup, and we’re preparing an investor pitch deck for Series A investors.
- 2Define the task
Can you research the current state of the independent film streaming market and identify key trends, competitor positioning, and growth opportunities?
- 3Specify the rules
Use current web research with citations and structure it as a professional report of up to 5 pages, with an executive summary, market analysis, competitive landscape, and growth opportunities.
Let it interview you
Some ideas are too messy to type. Let Claude pull the context out of you.
Say this, word for word:
“I have an idea I cannot put into words yet. Interview me about it, one question at a time. When I say done, turn my answers into one clear prompt.”
- 1
It asks. One question at a time.
- 2
You talk. Plain words, voice-to-text if you like.
- 3
It writes the prompt. One clean SDS prompt, ready to run.
The light version works in any prompt: add one line, “Before you answer, ask me two or three questions.”
When the first answer misses
Treat the first answer as a draft, then steer.
Ask follow-ups
Build on what it gave you.
- “Expand on the second point.”
- “Make that more concise.”
Give feedback
Say what worked and what did not.
- “Good, but too formal.”
- “Cut the intro, keep the list.”
Redirect or restart
Steer it back, or start clean.
- “I meant X, not Y.”
- A fresh chat clears the context.
Common challenges, and how to fix them
Too generic
Not enough context about your situation.
- Add your audience, role and constraints.
- Name specifics: “our enterprise client, second delay, keep it apologetic”.
Too long or too short
It is guessing at the right length.
- Give it a number: “two paragraphs”, “under 100 words”.
- Or lift the cap: “a full analysis, length no concern”.
The format is off
It got the what, but not the how.
- Paste an example of the format you want.
- Or spell out the structure: “a bold header, then bullets”.
Confident but false
It can state plausible but false facts, especially on niche detail.
- For anything that matters, verify the key facts.
- Ask for its sources, or turn on web search.
The tone is off
It defaults to helpful and professional.
- Name the tone: “more conversational”, “authoritative and formal”.
- Or give an example line in the voice you want.
The context ladder
- 1
Context you type. A good prompt: SDS.
- 2
Context you store. A project that knows you.
- 3
Context that is always on. Your setup: the instructions and preferences Claude reads before every conversation.
- 4
Context that compounds. A second brain your AI reads before every task.
Most people live on step 1 forever. Step 2 starts at Claude 101 and Chat vs Cowork.
- Pick the room first: Chat to steer, a Chat project for a topic that keeps its context, a Cowork project for real files on your computer.
- Set the stage: give it the context only you have.
- Define the task: name the one thing you want done.
- Specify the rules: say what good looks like, and show an example.
- Let it interview you: when you cannot describe it, ask it to ask you.
- Keep going: follow up, give feedback, or restart clean.
- Troubleshoot: too generic, too long, format off, confident but false, or tone off, each has a fix.
- Everything is context: you get out what you put in.
Keep them by you: the one-page Base Case Cheat Sheet → and the SDS Cheat Sheet →
The free sds-prompt skill → does the sorting for you.
New to the tools themselves? Meet them in Claude 101 →
Do it with someone. Everything here is free and you can run it alone. If you would rather work through it with me, one to one, book a free 30-minute chat or see lessons and prices. No pitch.