Most people dump a vague request and hope for the best. Flip it. Make Claude ask you the right questions first.
The Prompt
Before you do anything, interview me. Ask me the questions
you'd need answered to do this really well. Keep going until
you're confident you understand what I need. Then do it.Why it works
You don’t always know what context matters. Claude does. It’ll ask about edge cases, constraints, and preferences you wouldn’t have thought to mention. Two minutes of Q&A up front saves you three rounds of “no, that’s not what I meant.”
Variations
With a confidence threshold:
Ask me clarifying questions until you're 95% confident
you can do this well. Then go.Capped at a number:
Ask me up to 5 questions before starting. Make them count.For specific tasks:
I need to write a blog post. Before you draft anything,
interview me about the audience, tone, key points, and
what I want readers to do after reading it.