Before any prompt, sort the task. Ask one question: "If a stranger did this part, would it still sound like me?"
The mistake is outsourcing the taste and keeping the chores. This flips it. You are not asking Claude to write your reel, you are asking it to hand you back your hours so you can spend them on the part that was always the point.
Quick honesty first, because a lot of reels get this wrong. Claude.ai does not transcribe audio files you upload. Its supported uploads are documents and images, not audio (Anthropic's file upload docs). So you get the transcript for free one of two ways, then paste the text in.
Then paste the raw, messy transcript in with this:
Here is a raw, unedited voice memo where I was thinking out loud about a content idea. It is messy on purpose. Do NOT write anything polished. Instead: 1. Pull out the 3 sharpest, most distinct threads or angles hiding in here. 2. For each one, give it a one-line name and explain in a sentence why it could be interesting to my audience. 3. Flag which thread is the most contrarian or least obvious. Do not merge them into one safe idea. Keep them separate and a little spiky. [paste your transcript here]
Then you do the human part: pick the one thread only you would chase. Claude widened the options, you make the call.
This is the difference between getting inspired and getting cloned. You want the underlying structure of what works, not someone else's words to copy. Paste the text of around 10 posts you have saved and run this:
Below is the text from 10 posts I saved because something about them worked. Analyze them for PATTERNS, not content. I do not want you to rewrite or summarize any single post. Tell me: 1. The hook structures that repeat (how they open). 2. The emotional angle they share (fear, curiosity, relief, status, etc). 3. The content shape (list, story, contrarian take, tutorial). 4. What they have in common that I could reuse WITHOUT copying anyone's actual words. Give me the reusable skeleton. I will write the words myself. [paste the 10 posts here]
You still write the sentences that sound like you. Claude just showed you the frame that keeps working, so your taste has better bones to sit on.
This is the safest handoff of all, because by now the point of view is already yours. Once your idea and your rough words exist, Claude does the logistics: the outline, the shot list, the repurposing plan. Paste your finished notes or rough script and run this:
Here are my finished notes for a piece of content. The idea and the voice are already mine and locked. I only need the logistics built around them. Give me: 1. A clean outline in the order it should be delivered. 2. A shot list for filming it as a short-form reel (what to say to camera vs what to show on screen). 3. A repurposing plan: how to adapt this exact piece for a LinkedIn post, an X or Threads post, and a YouTube Shorts title, without changing my core message. Keep my wording and my angle intact. You are handling structure and distribution, not rewriting my point of view. [paste your notes here]
The outline, the shot list, the platform plan. That is plumbing. Never the point of view.
If you do this weekly, do not re-explain your style every time. A Claude Project is a saved workspace with its own knowledge base and custom instructions that Claude uses as context in every chat inside it (Anthropic Projects docs).