If you save 10 prompts in your life, make it these. Each one is built to get senior-level work back in seconds. Copy, paste, watch what happens.
Most people prompt Claude like they’re texting a friend. Each of these gives Claude a role, a process, an output format and guardrails, so you get back the kind of work a senior person would hand you.
The Power Move
Save each one as its own Claude Project. Make the Project, click Set project instructions, paste the prompt and save. Then every chat in it just needs your input. Each Project also keeps its own memory as you use it. The Free plan caps you at five Projects, so start with the 3 at the bottom of this page. For the strategic ones (Pressure Test, Steelman, Future Post-Mortem, Pick One), use your most capable model, like Opus 5.5 on a paid plan.
The 10 Prompts
01
Pressure Test
Use it before any big decision. Claude plays the co-founder who tells you the truth, starting with the assumptions most likely to sink you.
Pressure Test
You are the most honest senior strategist I know, and you've seen hundreds of ideas like this one fail. Read the idea below.
1. Identify the 3 weakest assumptions it rests on. For each, say why it's weak and how I could test it cheaply this week.
2. Name the strongest hidden risk, the one I'm least likely to see coming.
3. Name the one thing that, if it goes wrong, makes everything else irrelevant.
4. Tell me what would have to be true for this to work, and how confident you are (high, moderate, low) that it is.
Don't soften the feedback. I'd rather hear it now than from a customer. If you need more context to judge something, ask me before guessing.
Here's the idea:
[paste your idea, plan or decision]
Pro tip: Run this BEFORE you write the proposal, not after. Five minutes here saves you from defending a flawed idea in a meeting.
02
5th Grade Translator
For any tech-heavy doc or presentation. It strips the jargon and keeps the substance, so executives, customers and anyone outside your bubble actually get it.
5th Grade Translator
Rewrite the text below at a 5th-grade reading level WITHOUT dumbing down the substance.
Rules:
- Replace every technical term with a plain-English equivalent or a quick analogy.
- Keep all the original arguments, examples, numbers and conclusions. Don't drop anything important.
- Keep sentences to about 12 words on average. If an idea is genuinely complex, use 2 or 3 short sentences instead of one long one.
- Don't add facts that weren't in the original.
Output:
1. The rewrite.
2. A table of every term you simplified: original term, what you replaced it with. That way I can decide which to keep.
Here's the text:
[paste the text]
Pro tip: Run your own writing through this once a month. The terms it simplifies are the ones you overuse out of habit.
03
Sound Like Me
The difference between AI slop and you. Claude studies your real writing, then writes the new piece in your voice.
Sound Like Me
Below is something I wrote, followed by something I need to write.
Step 1: Study my writing. Notice my sentence length and rhythm, the words I use and avoid, how I open, how I close, and any quirks (lowercase, fragments, emoji, punctuation habits).
Step 2: Write the new piece in that exact voice. Don't average it out. Lean into the things that make me sound like me. Don't invent facts, stories or numbers I didn't give you; put [brackets] where you need something from me.
Step 3: After the draft, list the 3 voice patterns you copied so I can refine them next time.
Here's my existing writing:
[paste 1 or 2 samples]
Here's what I need to write:
[describe the new piece, who it's for and how long]
Pro tip: Put this in a Project and add 5 to 7 of your best samples as Project files. Every chat in that Project starts out knowing your voice.
04
Steelman The Opposition
Use it before any pitch. It builds the strongest case AGAINST you so you can patch the holes before a critic finds them.
Steelman The Opposition
I'm about to share my position on [topic].
Your job: build the strongest possible case AGAINST me. Not the weak version, the version a sharp, informed critic would actually argue. Use real evidence where you have it (and tell me what you'd need to verify), plausible counter-scenarios, and the assumptions I'm probably making without realizing it.
Then, separately:
1. Rank the counter-arguments from strongest to weakest, so I know where my position holds up and where it doesn't.
2. For the top 2, tell me what I'd need to show to answer them.
End with the one question my position can't answer yet.
Here's my position:
[paste your position and why you hold it]
Pro tip: Use it on big career moves too, like going solo or asking for a raise. The question it can’t answer for you is usually the one your gut already knew.
05
Action Item Extractor
After any meeting or long thread. It pulls every action item, including the implied ones, with owner, deadline and priority, then drafts the follow-up.
Action Item Extractor
Read the meeting notes or transcript below.
Extract every action item, including the ones that were implied but never said out loud ("I'll look into it," "we should probably...").
For each one, give me:
- Owner (or "unassigned" if unclear)
- Deadline (or "no date set")
- What specifically needs to happen, as a concrete next step, not "follow up"
- Priority from P0 to P3, based on how urgent it sounded in the conversation
Output a clean table sorted by deadline. Below it, list every item where the owner or deadline is missing, because those are the ones most likely to fall through. Don't invent owners or dates that weren't discussed.
Then draft a short follow-up message I can send to the group that recaps the decisions and the action items.
Here are the notes:
[paste the notes or transcript]
Pro tip: Paste in the transcript from whatever note-taker you already use. You get the action items and the recap message in one go.
06
Future Post-Mortem
Before any new project. Pretend it already failed, then work backward to the causes, the warning signs and the one metric to watch.
Future Post-Mortem
Imagine it's 6 months from now and the project below has failed.
Write the post-mortem from the future.
List the 5 most likely root causes of failure, ranked by probability. For each one:
- The early warning sign that would have shown up first
- What we could have done differently in the first 30 days
- Which person or team would have raised the flag first
Then give me:
1. A short "first 30 days" checklist that would prevent the top 3 causes.
2. The ONE metric to watch every week to catch failure early, and the number that should worry us.
Be specific to this project. Skip generic risks like "poor communication" unless you can say exactly how it would happen here.
Here's the project:
[paste the project goal, timeline, team and budget]
Pro tip: Read the post-mortem out loud at your kickoff meeting. The conversation it starts beats the next 5 status meetings.
07
Brutal Email Critique
Before you send anything important. Claude plays a busy recipient and reacts the way they would while reading, then rewrites it.
Brutal Email Critique
Read the email below.
Then play the recipient: a busy senior person who doesn't have time for fluff. [Optional: describe the real person, e.g. "a data-driven CFO who is skeptical of new vendors."] React to it the way they would silently while reading.
Point out:
- Where they'd start skimming
- Where they'd get annoyed
- Where they'd lose the thread
- What they'd think the actual ask is
- Whether they'd reply, and why or why not
Be blunt.
Then rewrite the email so they reach the actual ask in the first 2 sentences and feel respected, not pitched. Keep it under 150 words unless the content truly needs more, and keep every fact from my original.
Here's the email:
[paste your draft]
Pro tip: Describe the real person. "A data-driven CFO who’s skeptical of new vendors" gets sharper feedback than "a busy senior person."
08
Plan-First Execution
For any multi-step task. Claude writes the plan, lists its assumptions, and waits for your OK before doing anything you can’t undo.
Plan-First Execution
Before doing anything, write out a numbered plan: every step, what you'll do at each one, what you need from me before you start, and the risk at each step.
After the plan, list the assumptions you're making and ask me to confirm or correct them.
Then stop and wait for my approval. Don't start any step until I respond.
When I reply:
- Only do the steps I approve. Stay paused on the rest.
- Before anything you can't undo (deleting files, sending messages, spending money, publishing), stop and ask again.
- After each step, tell me what you did in one line and what's next.
Here's what I want done:
[describe the task]
Pro tip: Make this the first message any time Claude can edit files, send emails or use your connected apps. It turns Claude into a careful collaborator.
09
Pick One, Defend It
For any A/B/C decision. It compares your options, forces a real pick and shows you the risk hiding inside the winner.
Pick One, Defend It
Compare the options below across these dimensions: cost, speed to value, reversibility, downside risk, and second-order effects 12 months out. Show it as a table, scoring each option 1 to 5 on each dimension with a one-line reason.
Then PICK ONE. Don't give me "it depends." Don't give me a tie. Pick.
Defend the choice in 3 sentences.
Tell me what would have to change for you to switch your answer.
End with the one thing about your pick that's secretly the biggest risk, the part most people miss, and how to reduce it.
My context (budget, timeline, what matters most to me):
[paste]
Here are the options:
[paste option A, B and C]
Pro tip: If Claude’s pick feels wrong, that’s information. The discomfort tells you which factor matters most to you.
10
Zero-Fluff Summary
For any summary. It strips the preamble and the sign-off and gives you only what you asked for.
Zero-Fluff Summary
Summarize the text below in exactly 3 sentences.
No preamble. No "here is your summary." No "let me know if you need more." Output nothing except the 3 sentences.
Sentence 1: the central point.
Sentence 2: the most important nuance or counter-point.
Sentence 3: the implication, the "so what" for me as a [your role].
Use only what's in the text. Put each sentence on its own line.
Here's the text:
[paste the text]
Pro tip: The line that bans the intro and sign-off works on almost any prompt. Add it when you want shorter answers that eat less of your usage.
Start With 3
If you only set up 3 Projects, make them Pressure Test, Sound Like Me and Brutal Email Critique. Use them for a month and your work will look noticeably different.