32 Claude Prompt Shortcuts You Should Try Today

I stumbled across a post that made me stop scrolling immediately. This LinkedIn creator shared 32 prompt shortcuts that you can drop right at the beginning of any Claude prompt to completely change the output you get back. Not vague “prompt engineering” advice. Actual, copy-paste-ready prefixes that reshape how the AI thinks and responds.

The idea is dead simple: add one of these shortcut commands at the very start of your prompt, followed by your actual request. Think of them as quick mode switches for Claude. The original poster tested these over months and compiled them into a single reference list.

I was genuinely surprised by how many of these I’d never thought to try. Here’s the full breakdown, organized by what they actually do for you.

🧠 Simplify and Summarize

1. /ELI5 explains your topic as if you’re talking to a five-year-old. Perfect when you need to understand something new or explain it to a non-technical audience.
2. /TLDL compresses an extremely long text into just a few lines. Feed it a 10-page document, get the core points in seconds.
3. /BRIEFLY forces a very short answer. No fluff, no preamble, just the answer you need.
4. /EXEC SUMMARY delivers a quick executive-style summary. Great for reports, research papers, or meeting notes you need to skim fast.

🔧 Structure and Format

1. /STEP-BY-STEP lays out the reasoning in a clear, sequential flow. Ideal for tutorials, how-tos, and troubleshooting guides.
2. /CHECKLIST turns any response into a checklist format. Use it for project planning, travel prep, or launch readiness.
3. /FORMAT AS enforces a specific output format like a table, JSON, CSV, or bullet list. You control exactly how the data looks.
4. /SCHEMA generates a structured outline or data model. Handy for planning databases, APIs, or content architecture.
5. /BEGIN WITH / END WITH forces the response to start or end with a specific phrase or structure. Useful for templated outputs.
6. /ROLE: TASK: FORMAT: explicitly defines all three dimensions at once: who the AI acts as, what it does, and how the output is structured.

🎭 Voice, Tone, and Audience

1. /ACT AS makes Claude speak from a specific role: lawyer, chef, fitness coach, CFO, whatever you need.
2. /TONE changes the tone of the response. Formal, funny, dramatic, empathetic, you name it.
3. /AUDIENCE adapts the response to a chosen audience. Executives get different language than developers or teenagers.
4. /JARGON switches to technical vocabulary. When you actually want the industry-specific terms, not the dumbed-down version.
5. /DEV MODE simulates a raw, technical developer style. Straight to the code, no hand-holding.
6. /PM MODE gives you a project-management perspective. Timelines, dependencies, risks, deliverables.
7. /REWRITE AS: takes existing text and rephrases it in whatever style you request. Academic, casual, persuasive, you pick.

📊 Analysis and Comparison

1. /SWOT produces a full strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis. Drop in a business idea and get instant strategic thinking.
2. /COMPARE puts two or more things side by side. Products, strategies, frameworks, programming languages, anything.
3. /MULTI-PERSPECTIVE shows several points of view on the same topic. Fantastic for decision-making when you want to see all angles.
4. /PARALLEL LENSES examines a problem from several angles simultaneously. Similar to multi-perspective but designed for deeper parallel analysis.
5. /METRICS MODE expresses answers with concrete measures and indicators. Numbers instead of vague statements.

🧪 Deep Thinking and Reasoning

1. /DELIBERATE THINKING forces slower, more thoughtful reasoning. The AI takes its time instead of rushing to an answer.
2. /CHAIN OF THOUGHT shows all intermediate reasoning steps. You see exactly how the AI got from question to answer.
3. /FIRST PRINCIPLES rebuilds the answer from fundamental basics. Strips away assumptions and starts from ground truth.
4. /CONTEXT STACK keeps multiple layers of context in memory. Useful for complex, multi-part conversations where context matters.

✅ Quality Control and Self-Check

1. /REFLECTIVE MODE prompts the AI to reflect on its own answer after generating it. A built-in second opinion.
2. /SYSTEMATIC BIAS CHECK asks Claude to identify potential biases in its response. Essential for sensitive or high-stakes topics.
3. /NO AUTOPILOT forbids superficial, surface-level responses. Forces the AI to actually engage with the complexity of your question.
4. /EVAL-SELF asks for a critical self-evaluation of the response. The AI grades its own work and flags weaknesses.
5. /PITFALLS identifies possible traps, errors, and common mistakes related to the topic. Like having a built-in devil’s advocate.
6. /GUARDRAIL sets strict boundaries the response must not cross. Define what’s off-limits before the AI starts generating.

💡 How to Actually Use These

The trick is combining them. You’re not limited to one shortcut per prompt. Stack two or three together for seriously tailored outputs. For example:

• /ACT AS a senior data analyst /FORMAT AS table /METRICS MODE: “Compare Q1 vs Q2 performance”
• /ELI5 /STEP-BY-STEP: “How does blockchain consensus work?”
• /FIRST PRINCIPLES /NO AUTOPILOT /CHAIN OF THOUGHT: “Should we build or buy our CRM solution?”

Start with one or two that match your most common tasks. The analysis shortcuts (/SWOT, /COMPARE, /FIRST PRINCIPLES) are especially powerful for business decisions. The quality control ones (/EVAL-SELF, /PITFALLS, /SYSTEMATIC BIAS CHECK) are worth adding to any high-stakes prompt.

The real value here isn’t memorizing all 32. It’s picking the five or six that match your daily workflow and making them second nature. Once you start prefixing your prompts like this, you’ll wonder how you ever used AI without them.

For the full original post with additional context, check out the source on LinkedIn.