Talk to it like a colleague

If you'd say it to a colleague, you can say it to Claude. There are no magic words.

You don't need a formula or a template. Anthropic's own guide suggests thinking of Claude as a brilliant but new employee. Smart, keen, and new to your workplace.

A good test: would a colleague understand your message without asking a follow-up question? Then Claude will too.

Stiff: "Rewrite text. Tone: friendly. Output: one sentence."

Plain: "Can you make this friendlier? It's going to a client who's annoyed about a late order."

Both get an answer. The plain one says who it's for, so the answer fits the situation.

Ask, read, reply

1. 1

   Ask plainly

   Write one or two sentences, the way you'd say them across a desk.

2. 2

   Read the answer

   Read it like a first draft from a new colleague.

3. 3

   Reply normally

   Not quite right? Say so, in the same message box. “Warmer” is a complete instruction.

Make it friendlier

Copy one sentence from an email you sent this week. Nothing confidential. Then type this, filling in the gaps:

Can you make this friendlier? It's going to [who it's for]: [paste your sentence]

Copy the line

Look at what changed. If it went too far, reply with “a bit less cheerful.” That's a perfectly good follow-up.

Most of what makes a request work is what you already know: who it's for and what good looks like. Say that, and you've done the hard part.