I ask ChatGPT a simple question. It sends back five paragraphs, three bullet lists and a cheerful recap of everything it just said. Then I scroll around looking for the one sentence I actually needed. Sound familiar?
That’s why this post made me stop scrolling. An AI professional shared a tiny prompt hack that makes Claude or ChatGPT write short, clean answers on demand. The author puts it like this: “Now that AI can write any length, brevity is a luxury. People want short text.” I think that’s spot on. Long answers used to signal effort. Now they cost nothing to make, so short and clear is the part that’s worth something.
The method is simple, and it works in both tools. Here’s how to set it up, one step at a time.
1. Copy the Prompt
This is the full prompt the creator shared. It’s only two sentences:
“Write in ASD-STE100. Be so brief every word you write costs you $1,000.”
Each sentence has its own job.
- “Write in ASD-STE100”: ASD-STE100 is Simplified Technical English, a writing standard from the aerospace industry. It was built so maintenance manuals can’t be misread. Its rules include a limited, approved vocabulary, one meaning per word, short sentences, active voice and one instruction per sentence. AI models already know this standard, so naming it gives them a whole rulebook in four words.
- “Every word costs you $1,000”: This gives the model a reason to cut. It stops treating words as free and starts treating them as expensive. Filler intros, polite throat-clearing and repeated summaries are the first things to go.
Put together, you get answers that are clear and short. The standard handles clarity. The price tag handles length.
2. Put It at the Start of Your Prompt
According to the original poster, you place the line at the very beginning of your message. After that, you write your request as you normally would.
Why at the start? The model reads your instructions in order. If the style rule comes first, it shapes everything that follows. If you add it at the end, the model may already be leaning toward its usual long-winded mode.
The author also shared their favorite prompting format to use right after the brevity line:
“I want [goal] so that [success]. My situation is [context]. Ask me questions until you have enough context to start.”
I really like this combo. The template makes sure the AI understands your goal and context before it writes anything. The brevity rule makes sure the questions and the final answer stay tight. Here’s a filled-in example:
“Write in ASD-STE100. Be so brief every word you write costs you $1,000. I want a plan to clean up my email inbox so that I spend less than 15 minutes a day on email. My situation is I get about 200 emails a day, mostly newsletters and team updates. Ask me questions until you have enough context to start.”
Instead of a long essay on inbox productivity, you’ll get a few short, direct questions. Then you’ll get a clean plan you can act on right away.
3. Make It Permanent With Custom Instructions
Pasting the line into every chat gets old fast. The fix is custom instructions. The creator describes them as instructions that apply to all your chats. Set them once, and every new conversation follows the rule.
Here’s where to find them in each tool:
- Claude: Go to Settings > Account > Instructions for Claude, then paste in the prompt.
- ChatGPT: Go to Settings > Personalization > Custom Instructions, then paste in the prompt.
Once it’s saved, you don’t need to think about it again. Every answer comes out lean by default.
4. Test It and Adjust the Dial
This part is my own advice for getting the most out of the author’s hack. Run a quick test before you fully commit. Ask the same question twice, once with the prompt and once without, and compare the answers side by side. I’d bet the short version answers your question just as well, in a fraction of the space.
A few tips worth knowing:
- Turn the dial down when needed: If answers feel too clipped, change “$1,000” to “$100.” You’ll still get tight writing, with a bit more breathing room.
- Override it on purpose: When you want long content, like a blog draft or a detailed report, just say so in that chat. Something like “Ignore the brevity rule for this one” usually does the trick.
- Stack it with format requests: Ask for “a 5-item checklist” or “a two-sentence summary.” The brevity rule plus a clear format gives very predictable results.
- Watch creative tasks: Stories, social captions and brand copy can feel flat under technical writing rules. Switch the rule off for those.
Where This Shines
Short answers aren’t just nicer to read. They save real time, especially for everyday tasks like these:
- Quick research: Get the key facts without a lecture.
- Step-by-step instructions: STE was built for procedures, so how-to answers come out especially clean.
- Email and Slack drafts: Shorter messages get read and answered faster.
- Summaries: Meeting notes and long documents shrink down to what matters.
- Reading on mobile: Less scrolling, less squinting.
The bigger lesson here is that AI tools follow your constraints really well when you name them clearly. Pointing to a known standard and giving the model a reason to be brief works much better than a vague “keep it short.”
I love hacks like this because they take ten seconds to set up and pay off in every chat after that. Check out the full LinkedIn post to see the original tip from the creator, and try the prompt in your next conversation!