Summary  
This chapter demonstrates an iterative prompt-refinement technique—starting with a vague request, then adding context and format constraints, and finally asking for prioritized actions—to elicit specific, actionable responses from a language model.

General domain of usage  
Educational tutoring

Same idea as last chapter, but live — a back-and-forth instead of one rewrite.



## Step 1 — Start Vague, On Purpose**

Send this, swapping in your own skill:

> <b>How do I get better at [your skill]?

You'll get a generic list — practice more, watch some tutorials, take a course. Technically true, not useful. Claude doesn't know what you're actually stuck on.



## Step 2 — Refine

Send a follow-up in the same conversation:

> <b>More context: I'm learning [skill], and I'm specifically stuck on [the gap from your diagnostic]. I've only got about 15 minutes a day to practice. Give me 3 specific things to try this week, each as one line: what to try, why, how I'd know it worked.

The answer gets concrete and testable, something you could actually act on this week.



## Step 3 — Push Further

> <b>Now rank those 3 by lowest-effort-highest-impact. Tell me which one to try first.

Notice you didn't repeat your context — Claude carries it from earlier in the conversation.



> ## Task
> Run all three steps on your own skill. Then repeat the pattern once more on something else you're stuck on: one vague ask, one refined ask with context/format/constraint, one push to narrow it down to a single next action.


Get hands-on experience with building a personal AI learning system using Claude, from mapping your skill gaps and writing structured prompts to building agents that read your notes and scores and recommend what to study next.

Discover how to set up a personal learning workspace, define a specific skill map for what you want to learn, and run a quick diagnostic to see exactly where you're starting from.

Explore the essentials of writing structured prompts with context, instruction, format, and constraint, then practice the same skill through quizzes, explain-it-back exercises, and real-world scenarios.

Get hands-on experience with Claude tools like notion page and spreadsheet analyze, then build single- and multi-tool agents that read your notes and scores to recommend what to study next.