Prompts That Work · Lesson 3 of 5

Give it a job, and say why

Two habits in one lesson. A one-sentence role changes how Claude thinks, and a reason attached to a rule changes how well it follows it.

Habit 1: the role sentence

Start a prompt with who Claude should be, and everything downstream changes: vocabulary, judgment, what it thinks matters. "You are an experienced office manager for a small HVAC company" produces a different writer than no role at all. The office manager knows that a late-paying repeat customer gets a different letter than a first-time stranger. That judgment comes free with the role.

Keep roles realistic. "An experienced restaurant manager writing to a regular customer" works. "The world's greatest marketing genius" doesn't add anything but noise.

Habit 2: rules with reasons

Compare two rules. "Keep it under 100 words." And: "Keep it under 100 words, because customers read this on their phone." The second one is better, and not just politer. When Claude knows why a rule exists, it makes the right call in situations you didn't think to cover. It'll keep sentences short and front-load the important part, because it understands the phone screen, not just the word count.

You already do this with employees. "Always photograph the job site before you leave, because that photo settles half our disputes" gets followed better than a bare order. Same principle.

Both habits in one prompt

You are an experienced office manager for a small HVAC company in Fort Myers. Write a payment reminder for an invoice that's 30 days late. Keep it firm but warm, because this is a repeat customer we want to keep. Under 100 words, because it's going in an email they'll read on their phone.