Skip to content

Article

Claude 101

Anthropic Courses

Source ↗ ← All highlights
  • • The best approach when speaking to Claude is like you would a coworker—naturally, concisely, and conversationally. • 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
  • But you may ask, what is a good prompt? Before your next conversation with Claude, consider a few things:
    1. Setting the stage: What is your role and what are your objectives? Is there context about your work that Claude should know about?
    2. Defining the task: What action do you want Claude to take? Do you want Claude to write, analyze, build, or something else?
    3. Specifying rules: What’s the style or tone you want Claude to use? Are there examples that you can attach to show Claude what you’re looking for?
  • Here’s an example prompt that uses all three elements:

    “I’m the marketing lead at an indie streaming startup, and we’re preparing an investor pitch deck for Series A investors. Can you research the current state of the independent film streaming market and identify key trends, competitor positioning, and growth opportunities? 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.” In this prompt: • Setting the stage: We tell Claude this is for an investor pitch deck for a new indie streaming app—that’s the context and objective. • Defining the task: We provide the specific action (research the market) with relevant details (trends, competitors, opportunities). • Specifying rules: We ask for current web research with citations, structured as a professional report—telling Claude exactly what style and format we need. Want to go deeper? This prompt framework is adapted from the 4D Framework for AI Fluency, developed through research collaboration between Professor Rick Dakan (Ringling College of Art and Design) and Professor Joseph Feller (University College Cork). The framework identifies four core competencies—Delegation, Description, Discernment, and Diligence—that enable effective collaboration with AI.