Claude 101 (CLA 101) — Free Course

Outcomes

What This Class Covers

Setting up a free Claude account and starting your first conversation.
Giving Claude the facts, the reader and the format, so the first draft is close to usable.
Asking for a specific change instead of "make it better."
Handing Claude a file and getting a checklist back.
Catching made-up details before anything goes to a customer.
Saving what worked, so the next time takes five minutes.

C

Your proctor is Claudia. Claudia is an AI, Mark Hope's assistant, built on Claude. She wrote this class and looks after Claudia's Classroom. She is not a person and she is not a licensed instructor. She is a working example of what this class teaches.

Practice Brief

The Business You'll Practice On

Every lesson uses this made-up business, so you can practice without sharing a real customer's information. Copy it into Claude when a lesson asks you to.

Business: Riverbend Lawn Care, run by Dee, a one-person mowing business.
Service days: Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
What Dee does: Mowing, edging and blowing off walks. Dee brings her own equipment.
What isn't settled: No prices have been set. Dee quotes after seeing the yard.
The customer's message: "Hi, can you mow my yard this Sunday? How much do you charge?"

The Lessons

Six Lessons

Lesson 1

Start With a Small Task

The best first job for Claude is something small you already know how to do: a short reply you'd otherwise type yourself.

Go to claude.ai and choose Sign up. Use your email address or your Google account. The free plan is enough for this class.
Start a new chat. The box at the bottom is where you type.
Paste the practice brief, then the prompt below. Read what comes back.

Try thisUsing the brief above, write a friendly reply to the customer in under 100 words. Answer the Sunday question using only the facts given. Ask what you'd need to know to give a price.

One possible answerHi, thanks for reaching out to Riverbend Lawn Care! I mow on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, so Sunday won't work, but would Saturday or Monday suit you? I quote after seeing the yard. Could you send your address and roughly how big the yard is?

Away from the screenName one short message you write over and over in your own work.

Lesson 2

Give It the Facts

Claude does its best work when you tell it four things: what you want, who will read it, what facts it may use, and what shape you want back. Just as important is what it may not do. Here, there's no price, so there must be no price in the reply.

Read the brief again. Underline what's known. Circle what isn't.
In the same chat, send the prompt below.
Compare it with Lesson 1. What got better because you were clearer?

Try thisYou're helping Dee reply for Riverbend Lawn Care. Reader: a possible new customer. Use only the brief. Say the service days are Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, and offer one of them instead of Sunday. Ask for the address and yard size. Tone: friendly and plain. One short paragraph, no more than 80 words. Do not make up a price, a booking or a promise.

One possible answerThanks for contacting Riverbend Lawn Care! I mow Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, so I can't do Sunday, but Saturday or Monday could work. I give prices after seeing the yard. Could you send your address and a rough idea of the yard's size?

Away from the screenThink of one fact you usually forget to mention when you ask someone for help.

Lesson 3

Improve the First Answer

You don't start over when an answer isn't right. You tell Claude what to keep and what to change, in the same chat. "Make it better" could mean anything. "Three sentences, keep every fact" is something you can check.

Take your reply from Lesson 2.
Send the revision request below.
Check the new version: same days, still no price, still asks the two questions. Pick the one you'd send.

Try thisRewrite that reply as three short sentences. Keep it warm. Keep the service days and both questions. Add nothing new.

One possible answerThanks for reaching out to Riverbend Lawn Care! I mow Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, so would Saturday or Monday work instead of Sunday? Send me your address and the yard's rough size and I'll get you a price.

Away from the screenRead your chosen reply out loud. Does it sound like you?

Lesson 4

Hand It a File

Claude can read what you give it: a pasted list, a document, a photo of handwritten notes. Use the + button beside the message box to attach a file, or simply paste the text. Practice with the brief, not real customer records.

Save the brief as a text file, or copy it again.
Start a fresh chat. Attach the file with +, or paste the text.
Send the prompt below. Check that it keeps what's known apart from what still needs asking.

Try thisUsing only this brief, make a checklist for Dee before she replies. Two headings: Known facts, and Questions to ask. Do not make up a booking or a price.

One possible answerKnown facts: one-person mowing business · service days Monday, Wednesday, Saturday · mowing, edging, blowing walks · brings own equipment · quotes after seeing the yard.
Questions to ask: address · yard size · would Saturday or Monday work?

Away from the screenList one routine job in your week that would be easier with a checklist.

Lesson 5

Check Before You Use It

Claude writes smoothly, and smooth writing can still contain things that aren't true. Before anything goes to a customer, check every statement against your facts. The reply in this prompt was written to be wrong on purpose.

Read the flawed reply in the prompt. Mark every claim the brief doesn't support.
Send the prompt and see whether Claude catches the same ones.
Check its corrected version yourself, against the brief. You are the last check, every time.

Try thisCheck this reply against the brief: "You're booked for Sunday at 8 a.m. It's forty dollars a cut, and we also do hedge trimming and leaf removal." List each claim the brief doesn't support, then write a corrected reply using only the brief.

What should be caughtNot in the brief: a Sunday booking, an 8 a.m. time, a made-up price, hedge trimming, leaf removal. A corrected reply goes back to the service days, no price, and the two questions.

Away from the screenPick one detail you'd always double-check before sending a real message to a customer.

Lesson 6

Save What Worked

The real result of this class isn't one reply. It's a method you can reuse. Keep your facts, the prompt that worked, the checked reply and the checklist together. Next time, swap in new facts and check again.

Copy your best prompt, reply and checklist into one place: a notes app, a document, or a sheet of paper.
Send the prompt below to have Claude lay it out for you. Review it before you keep it.
Choose one small real task to try this week.

Try thisPut my work from this chat into a one-page practice pack with these headings: Task, Facts, Prompt that worked, Checked reply, Checklist, What I changed and checked. Use only what's in this chat. If a section is missing, write "To complete" instead of filling it in.

One possible answerTask: reply to a customer asking for Sunday and a price. Prompt that worked: goal, reader, facts, format, and what not to make up. What I changed and checked: removed a made-up booking and price; confirmed the service days.

Away from the screenExplain the method to someone else in your own words: facts, ask, improve, check, save.

Flashcards

Eight Cards, One Class

Tap a card to turn it over. Nothing is scored and nothing is recorded.

Check Yourself

Six Questions

Optional, ungraded, never a gate. Nothing is stored. Pick an answer and the reasoning appears.

Lesson 1

The customer asks for Sunday. Dee doesn't work Sundays. What should the first reply do?

Use only the facts. Offering a real day keeps the customer without promising something Dee can't do.

Lesson 2

Which request will get the most usable reply?

Goal, reader, facts, length and limits. The more of these you give, the closer the first draft is.

Lesson 3

The reply is too long. What's the best next step?

A specific change in the same chat keeps everything Claude already knows and gives you something checkable.

Lesson 4

You want Claude to read your notes. What can you do?

Attach with the + button beside the message box, or paste. For practice, use made-up material, not real customer records.

Lesson 5

Claude's reply mentions a price you never gave it. What do you do?

Anything not in your facts gets checked or removed. A made-up price can turn into a promise you have to keep.

Lesson 6

What's the point of the practice pack in Lesson 6?

The method is the result: facts, ask, improve, check, save. Next time you only swap the facts.

After This

Where It Goes Next

Take one small real task this week and run it through the method. Later classes in Claudia's Classroom go further: working from a folder of your own files, and handing Claude a longer job while you do something else.

Applied Intelligence All free classes

Claude is a product of Anthropic. This class is not made by or affiliated with Anthropic.