# Project Instructions Builder — Session 3 prompt

A meta-prompt for Session 3 of *Claude at Excellera*. Paste it into a fresh Claude chat, answer the questions, and it returns a clean set of **Project Instructions** ready to copy into the Instructions panel of a new Claude Project, plus a checklist of **Knowledge files** to attach to it.

Designed for the majority of the cohort: the twelve in Comms doing daily rassegne stampa, the seven in Public Affairs running daily monitoring, and the nine seniors producing bespoke deliverables (Q&A documents, comms plans, speeches, briefings, pitch documents). It is bilingual-aware, so anyone can answer in Italian if they prefer.

## How to use it

1. Open a new chat in Claude. **Do not** create the Project yet.
2. Paste the prompt below into the chat and send it.
3. Claude greets you and asks the first question. Answer it. Wait for the next one. Six to eight questions, one at a time.
4. Claude returns two things: a **Project Instructions** block, and a **Suggested Knowledge files** checklist.
5. Now create the Project in Claude. Paste the Instructions into the Instructions panel. Upload the knowledge files you have on hand. The ones you do not have, create them, or borrow from a colleague.
6. Run one real task through the Project. Read what came back. Notice what is missing. Fix the Instructions or swap a file. Run it again.

The point is not to get a perfect Project on the first pass. The point is to get past the blank panel.

## The prompt

```
You are helping me set up a Claude Project for a task I do regularly. I work
at one of the Excellera Advisory Group firms — public affairs, communications,
reputation intelligence, or strategic advisory. My day job is heavy on
recurring deliverables: rassegne stampa, parliamentary or regulatory
monitoring, stakeholder briefings, press releases, Q&A documents, comms
plans, pitch documents, Italian-to-English memos, and similar work.

Your job is to interview me about ONE task I do regularly, then write a clean
set of Project Instructions I can paste directly into the Instructions panel
of a new Claude Project. Treat those Instructions like a brief for a new
colleague on day one: what the project is for, who reads the output, the
format, the rules, and the tone. Five to ten lines, not five hundred.
Specific over abstract.

How to interview me:
1. Ask one question at a time. Do not dump a list.
2. Start with the task itself, then work outward to audience, format, rules,
   tone, and knowledge.
3. If my answer is vague, ask a sharper follow-up with a concrete example.
   For instance, if I say "flag-worthy," ask whether I mean an explicit
   mention of the client, any mention of their sector, or something else.
   Do not accept "you know, the usual" as an answer.
4. I work primarily in Italian. I can answer you in either language — tell me
   to use whichever is easier. Write the final Instructions in the language
   I want the deliverable in.
5. After roughly six to eight questions, stop interviewing and produce the
   deliverable.
6. Do not ask me for sensitive client names or confidential data. If I need
   to refer to a client, I will use a placeholder like "Client X."

Cover these areas, in roughly this order — adapt to my answers, don't read it
as a script:

- The task in one line. (e.g. "daily press review for Client X," "weekly
  parliamentary monitoring email," "Italian-to-English regulatory memo,"
  "Q&A document for a CEO interview")
- The input. Where it comes from, what it looks like in raw form, roughly
  how much there is of it.
- The output. Who reads it, when, what they do with it next.
- The format. Structure, sections, length. Ask me to describe one I wrote
  recently. If I have a typical structure in mind, get it out of my head
  and into words.
- The non-negotiables. Things that must always be true: always cite the
  source, always flag mentions of the CEO, never use the word "innovativo,"
  always in English, always under one page, etc.
- The tone and register. Formal Italian press style? Plain-English client
  memo? Internal shorthand? Ask for a phrase I would and wouldn't write.
- Anything client- or firm-specific worth knowing. House terms,
  abbreviations, sector quirks, named people, internal jargon.
- Knowledge files. What three to five files would help most? A style guide,
  last month's deliverables, the client glossary, two or three strong past
  examples. Tight beats large — a folder dump is worse than nothing.

When you have enough, produce TWO things, clearly labelled:

**1. Project Instructions** — a clean block I can copy directly into the
Instructions panel of a new Claude Project. Address Claude in the second
person. Keep it to five to ten lines covering purpose, audience, format,
rules, and tone. Write it in the language I want the deliverable in.

**2. Suggested Knowledge files** — a short checklist of three to five files
I should attach to the Project, named specifically (not "style guide" but
"Client X house style guide, current version"; not "examples" but "Last
five rassegne stampa for Client X"). For each, note whether I likely have
it on hand, need to create it, or need to ask a colleague.

After the deliverable, remind me of the next step: run one real task through
the Project and come back to refine the Instructions or swap the files based
on what came out wrong.

Now greet me in English, tell me I can answer in either language, and ask
the first question.
```

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*Prepared by Evgeniya Svintsova, Activate Intelligence. Session 3, Claude at Excellera.*