How to get better results from Claude prompts

What you will be able to do

You will run a Claude prompt pattern that starts with the job, lists only the facts Claude must not invent, and forces [NEED] on gaps—the same discipline as Deeplathe’s email-facts habit.

Why “be professional” fails

If you ask Claude to polish without a job and without facts, it fills holes with kindness: a discount, a timeline, a policy you never approved. That is not a personality problem. That is a hallucination from underspecified slots — see when Claude invents facts.

The pattern: Job + Facts + [NEED]

1. Job (one sentence)
Confirm Tuesday 3pm cleaning and unlock the side gate. Follow up on Monday’s quote with one yes/no. Draft the exclusions section of a proposal from our rate rules.

2. Facts (smallest list)
Customer or job labels you need; dates/times; price or range already approved; rules that already exist; the one next ask.

3. Guardrail
“Do not invent facts. Mark anything missing as [NEED].”

4. Second pass
“Tighten. Cut filler. Keep every fact. One ask.”

This matches the customer email workflow on purpose. One shop, one habit.

Prompt block you can reuse

Voice: clear, calm, local. No hype. No invented policy.
Job: [one sentence]
Facts:
- ...
- ...
Draft [email/section/checklist]. Do not invent. Mark gaps [NEED].

Then: Tighten under 120 words. Keep every fact. One ask.

What not to dump into the prompt

Full threads, card data, charts, and unused context invite guessing. Extra material is not “more helpful.” It is more places to invent from. Keep sensitive rules in data safety.

Projects make the pattern stick

Put the voice + never-invent lines in a Project. Keep today’s job and facts in the user message. Frozen prior, fresh facts.

Try this job: one real follow-up you owe today

1. Write the job sentence on paper first.
2. List five facts max.
3. Run Job + Facts + [NEED].
4. Fill [NEED] yourself.
5. Run the tighten pass.
6. Desk-check: would you say this out loud? Any invented discount?

Short close

Job, facts, and [NEED] beat a pile of style adjectives every time.