What is a prompt?
A “prompt” is just a word for what you say to Claude. Every time you type something and hit enter, that’s a prompt. You’ve been prompting your whole life — asking questions, giving instructions, making requests. The skill of prompting AI is just learning to do it more deliberately.
The four ingredients of a great prompt
Most people use one ingredient and wonder why results are mediocre. Great prompts usually have all four.
Ingredient 1: ROLE
Tell Claude what kind of expert you want it to be, or what perspective to take.
- “Act as an experienced career coach…”
- “You are a patient teacher helping an adult learner…”
- “Respond as a friendly HR professional…”
- “Be a tough but fair editor…”
Ingredient 2: TASK
Tell Claude exactly what you want it to produce or do.
- “…write a cover letter…”
- “…explain this concept to me…”
- “…create a weekly meal plan…”
- “…review this paragraph and improve it…”
Ingredient 3: CONTEXT
Tell Claude about your specific situation.
- ”…I’m a 45-year-old warehouse manager with 20 years of experience, applying for a logistics coordinator role at a mid-size company…”
- ”…I have two kids under 5, a tight budget, and limited cooking time — we need easy meals…”
- ”…I’m nervous about interviews and I tend to give answers that are too long…”
Tell Claude how you want the response structured.
- ”…Give me bullet points, not paragraphs…”
- ”…Keep it under 200 words…”
- ”…Use simple language, no jargon…”
- ”…Write it as a script I can read aloud…”
- ”…Give me 3 options and explain the pros and cons of each…”
Weak vs. strong prompts: side by side
Situation: You want help preparing for a job interview.
Weak prompt:
“Help me with interview questions.”
What you get: Generic interview tips anyone could find on a website.
Strong prompt:
“Act as an experienced interview coach. I have an interview tomorrow for a customer service manager role at a large retail store. I currently work as a cashier and this would be my first management role. I’m worried about being asked why I think I’m ready to manage people when I’ve never done it before. Give me 3 strong answers to that specific question, in simple language I can actually remember and say naturally — not corporate-sounding scripts.”
What you get: Three real, personalized, usable answers to the exact question you’re worried about, in language that sounds like you.
Situation: You need to write a letter to your landlord about a repair.
Weak prompt:
“Write a letter to my landlord.”
Strong prompt:
“Act as a professional tenant advocate. I need to write a formal letter to my landlord requesting that they fix a heating issue in my apartment. The heat has not worked properly for 3 weeks. I’ve asked verbally twice and nothing has happened. I want to be firm but not aggressive — I still have 8 months left on my lease and I don’t want to create a bad relationship. The letter should be 1-2 paragraphs, professional in tone, and should mention that I may need to escalate if repairs don’t happen within a reasonable time. I live in an apartment complex, not a private home.”
What you get: A polished, legally-aware letter that protects your interests while preserving the relationship.
The refine-and-adjust habit
After Claude responds, almost never accept it as final without reading it critically. Ask yourself:
- Is this the right length?
- Does it sound like me (or too formal/informal)?
- Did it miss anything important about my situation?
- Is there anything I didn’t mention that would change the response?
Then give feedback. This is what experienced AI users do automatically.
Common refinements:
- “Good, but make it shorter — cut anything that’s not essential.”
- “This sounds too formal for my situation. Make it warmer and more personal.”
- “You missed the most important part — [X]. Add that and rework the response.”
- “Give me a different version. This one isn’t quite right but I can’t explain why.”
Claude responds to all of these gracefully. There is no limit to how much you can refine.
Practice: upgrading three weak prompts
Here are three weak prompts. Before reading the improved version below each, try improving them yourself.
Weak: “Write a social media post.”
Improved: “Act as a social media expert for local small businesses. Write a Facebook post for my Mexican restaurant announcing our new weekend brunch menu. The audience is local families. Keep it warm, enthusiastic, and under 100 words. Include an emoji or two.”
Weak: “Explain diabetes.”
Improved: “Explain Type 2 diabetes to someone who just got diagnosed and has no medical background. Use plain English. Cover what it means, what changes to expect in daily life, and what questions to ask the doctor. Avoid medical jargon — if you have to use a medical word, immediately explain it in simple terms.”
Weak: “Help me with my resume.”
Improved: “Act as a professional resume writer. I’m a 38-year-old school bus driver who has been driving for 12 years. I want to transition to a logistics or transportation coordinator role in a company. I’ve never written a professional resume — my last one was just a list of jobs and dates. Help me rewrite my experience as a bus driver in language that sounds relevant to the business world. Tell me what skills from my job translate to logistics, then help me write bullet points that highlight them.”
The four ingredients — Role, Task, Context, Format — are all you need to remember. Every lesson from here builds on this foundation.