As convenient as it may be to whip up something in Claude, if your prompt strategy is basic, you’re likely missing out. Vague prompts conjure up vague answers, and the reality is that Claude is actually going to be pretty surface level and polite in its responses, unless you tell it otherwise.
Learning a few prompt tricks will get you much more out of your usage, especially if you’re on a paid model. These Claude hacks and tips will help it take direction well, and respond effectively to constraints. There are actually a ton of features that a lot of us don’t realise are free to us, so here’s your guide to getting the most out of Claude’s generative AI.
Ask for Harsh Criticism
Claude is largely programmed to be agreeable by default, so when you ask for criticism, it’ll likely give you its softest version of it. To override it explicitly, encourage it to give you its harshest criticism with a prompt such as “critique this as harshly as possible, assume it is flawed so find every weakness possible and do not offer encouragement”. This direction will change the character of the response.
Arrange the Text in Your Prompt Properly
If you’re pasting a lengthy document or a substantial piece of text, ensure to paste the material first and leave your prompt at the bottom. Anthropic’s prompt engineering statement says this formatting can improve response quality significantly, especially for complex tasks.
Always Say Why
Anthropic suggests that you always provide an explanation for your reasoning, to better lead the model in generating consistent responses that align with your need. For example, instead of asking it to never use ellipses, you could say “your response will be read out loud by text-to-speech engines, so never use ellipses, since it will not know how to pronounce them”.
Set 3-5 Examples
The fastest way to determine a house format, or get something written in a specific style, is to show Claude a handful of examples within your prompt. These will steer tone more reliably than describing the tone you want. Ensure each example is varied.
Let Claude Ask You Questions Too
If you are prompting something with no clear vision of the outcome you’re looking for yet, the best way is to work alongside Claude to get it to ask you questions along the way. Adding a phrase like “ask me any questions you need before you answer” to the back end of a prompt will help decipher gaps, and it will generate a multi-choice poll for you for ease of responses.
