Set it up once.
Stop re-explaining yourself. Twenty minutes of setup means every future chat starts already knowing your business. This is the highest-leverage lesson in the series.
Lesson 03 of 07 · ~12 min · FreeEvery new chat starts from zero
Claude doesn't carry memory from one chat into the next by default. Ask it to write something on Monday and again on Thursday, and Thursday's Claude has never heard of you. If you've used AI even a little, you've felt this: typing the same background, the same tone notes, the same "we're a small business that..." over and over.
The fix isn't typing faster. It's telling Claude once, in the right place, so every chat after that starts warmed up. The whole setup takes about twenty minutes and you only do it once.
Three places to put things
Everything you could tell Claude lives in one of three layers. Get the first two right and your actual prompts get short.
The actual clicks
Reading about settings without knowing where they live is useless, so here are the exact paths. Interfaces move; if a label has changed, look for its nearest cousin.
- In Claude, click your initials in the bottom-left corner, then Settings.
- Under Profile, find the instructions box (it asks what preferences Claude should consider in responses).
- Paste the starter template below, adjust the brackets, save. Done: it now loads into every new chat, on any plan, including free.
- In the left sidebar, click Projects, then New project.
- Name it after the brand or topic (not "Test 1", you'll thank yourself later).
- Click Set project instructions and paste the project template below.
- In the knowledge panel on the right, click + and upload your three documents (next section tells you which three).
- Free plans include five projects, so there's nothing to buy to try this.
Where does it go?
Tap each item to check your instinct.
Your first Project, in 20 minutes
Pick a subject, load three documents, paste two templates. That's the whole job.
- Own business: use it. Voice notes, audience notes, one example of your best work.
- Employed by someone else: build it on public materials only (the website's About page, a public post you admire) until you've checked your workplace AI policy for anything internal.
- Neither, or just practising: build "You, professionally". Load your LinkedIn About, your CV, and one piece of work you're proud of. It becomes the most reusable Project you'll ever own: cover letters, bios, performance reviews, LinkedIn posts, all pre-briefed.
Starter project instructions
Adapt the brackets, paste into the Project's instructions.
This project is for [business or person], a [what it is] serving [who]. Voice: [three honest words]. Australian spelling. No hype, no exclamation marks. Banned words: [your list]. Always match the tone of the examples in project knowledge over any description of tone. When drafting, ask clarifying questions if the brief is incomplete rather than guessing.
The gap-finder
Run once your Project is set up. It tells you what to add next.
Based on everything in this project, what context are you still missing that would make your output noticeably better? List the top five gaps in order of impact.
Stale knowledge.
A Project loaded with last year's positioning confidently produces last year's answers. It's only as good as what's in it. Diarise a quarterly clean-out: ten minutes, swap what's changed, delete what's dead.
Three questions, then the good bit
No marks, no sign-up, just a check the lesson stuck. Tap your answer.
“Always use Australian spelling” belongs in:
A Project is best described as:
A Project loaded with last year's positioning will:
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