Five prompts to get started with Claude without treating it like Google

The first frustration with an AI assistant usually comes from using it like a search engine. A short question, a short answer, little context, and the feeling that "this wasn't so impressive after all."

Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or any similar model works better when you treat it as a collaborator who needs context, a goal, and constraints.

1. Summarize a meeting

Here are my notes from a meeting: [paste the notes].
I need an executive summary in five points, next steps with owners,
and the decisions made. If anything is unclear, flag it as an open question.

2. Draft a difficult email

I need to write an email to [recipient] about [topic].
Goal: [what I want to achieve].
Tone: professional, clear, and respectful.
Write three versions: one brief, one more diplomatic, and one more direct.

3. Prepare a presentation

I'm going to present [topic] to [audience] in [time available].
Build a structure with an opening, three main ideas, an example, and a close.
Point out what information I'm missing to make the presentation strong.

4. Review your own text

Review this text.
Point out confusing sentences, redundancies, leaps in logic, and points that weaken
the argument. Don't rewrite it yet: first explain what you would improve.
[paste the text]

5. Think through alternatives

Here is my problem: [description].
Give me three possible approaches. For each one: advantages, risks, conditions
required, and a low-risk first step.

The common pattern

All five prompts have something in common: they don't ask for magic. They define context, goal, format, and the criteria for review.

That is the most important lesson. AI gets better when the conversation gets better.