Claude vs ChatGPT: how I set up both
I moved my thinking out of ChatGPT.
I still open ChatGPT every day. It drafts my first pass on a caption, cleans up meeting notes, and gives me twenty hooks when I only need one good one. But when I'm working on a client strategy, an email I've rewritten three times, or a positioning doc that will carry my name into a room I'm not in, I open Claude. On that kind of work I want a tool that tells me when my thinking is soft, and that's what Claude does for me.
Here's how I set up both. These are the settings I changed on day one, the limits I hold myself to, and the exact prompts I use. Each prompt has a copy button. Change what's in the brackets and make it yours.
Use the fast tool for fast work. Use the thoughtful tool for the work with your name on it.
Before you open either one
Pull up three to five things you've written and felt proud of. A LinkedIn post that landed, an email that got the yes, a proposal. Claude learns how you sound from these, and you'll need them in a few minutes.
Then decide what never goes into an AI tool. I wrote my list down so I wouldn't negotiate with myself on a busy day: client names next to their numbers, compensation, contracts, and anyone's email, phone or home address.
How I set up Claude
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1. Turn off training first
Go to Settings › Privacy and switch off Help improve Claude. When it's on, your new chats can be kept for model training for up to five years. When it's off, chats you delete are gone from Anthropic's systems within 30 days. This takes a minute, and I do it before I type anything.
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2. Teach it how you sound
The first drafts I got from Claude were good, and they sounded like a polished stranger. This prompt fixed that. Paste in your samples and read the profile it writes back. The part where it tells you what's weak in your writing is the most useful part.
Prompt · Voice profile · ClaudeI'm going to paste 3 to 5 pieces of my own writing below. Study them and write a voice profile I can reuse. Cover: 1. Sentence length and rhythm, with examples quoted from my text 2. Words and phrases I use often, and words I never use 3. How I open and how I close 4. How my tone changes between client emails and LinkedIn 5. Five rules another writer would need to follow to sound like me Then write a 120-word LinkedIn post on [TOPIC] using the profile, so I can check it. Don't flatter the samples. If something in my writing is weak or repetitive, tell me. My writing: [PASTE YOUR SAMPLES]
When you like what comes back, save it as a Style so every chat starts in your voice. Open the Use style menu under the chat box, choose Create & edit styles › Create custom style, add your samples, and save.
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3. Give each client or offer its own Project
A Project keeps instructions and files together, so you stop re-explaining your business at the start of every chat. I add the offer page, my notes on who the client is, and the posts that performed. Then I paste this into the Project instructions, because I don't need a tool that agrees with me. I have enough people doing that.
Prompt · The partner who pushes back · ClaudeYou are my strategy partner for [BUSINESS OR OFFER]. I'm [YOUR ROLE] and I sell [OFFER] to [WHO BUYS IT]. How to work with me: - Before you agree with a plan, give me the strongest reason it could fail. - If I'm asking the wrong question, say so and give me the better one. - Ask me for missing numbers. Don't guess them. - When you give options, recommend one and tell me why. - Use the files in this project before general advice. - Keep answers short. When you draft anything I'll send, write it in my voice.
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4. Bring it the email you keep putting off
This is where Claude earns its spot in my stack. Before it writes a word, it has to tell me what the other person is worried about. Half the time that answer changes what I was about to say.
Prompt · The hard email · ClaudeI need to send a difficult email. The situation: [WHAT HAPPENED, WHO IT'S TO, WHAT THE RELATIONSHIP IS WORTH TO ME]. What I want to happen after they read it: [OUTCOME]. Before you draft: 1. Tell me what the other person is most likely worried about. 2. Tell me what I should leave out. Then write two versions, one direct and one warmer, under 150 words each. No apologies I didn't ask for.
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5. Keep its access small
The Claude desktop app can open folders on your computer and connect to Gmail, Google Drive and other apps. I made one folder just for Claude and put only non-personal material in it. It doesn't get my Documents folder, and it never sees anything with a contract or a client's personal details inside.
How I set up ChatGPT
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1. Same rule, turn off training
Go to Settings › Data controls and switch off Improve the model for everyone.
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2. Tell it how you like to work
Out of the box, ChatGPT gives long answers and agrees with almost everything. I paste this into Settings › Personalization › Custom instructions and it applies to every new chat.
Prompt · Fast-mode instructions · ChatGPTAbout me: I'm [YOUR ROLE] and I work with [YOUR AUDIENCE]. I use you for fast work: first drafts, idea lists, summaries and rewrites. How to respond: - Lead with the answer. Details only if I ask. - When I ask for ideas, give me at least 10, numbered. - No intro and no recap at the end. - If you're not sure about a fact, say so instead of filling the gap. - When I share a plan, give me one reason it might not work before you help me with it.
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3. Look at what it remembers about you
Open Settings › Personalization › Manage memories and read the list. Mine had details from client work I had forgotten I ever typed, and Memory carries those into every new chat. I deleted anything tied to a specific client. For anything sensitive now, I start a Temporary Chat, which isn't saved to my history and doesn't touch Memory.
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4. Let it do the volume
When a post does well, I don't want to start from zero on the next one. I hand ChatGPT the post and ask for options. Most of what comes back I won't use, and that's fine, because I only need two or three good ones.
Prompt · One post, many formats · ChatGPTHere's a LinkedIn post that did well for me: [PASTE POST] Turn it into: - 10 alternative hooks, under 12 words each - A 5-slide carousel outline - A 60-second video script - 3 subject lines for my newsletter Keep my wording where you can. Don't add claims or numbers that aren't in the post.
The limits I keep in both
- Before I paste anything, I swap names, emails and figures for placeholders like [CLIENT A] and [AMOUNT]. The draft comes out just as good.
- Contracts, payroll and anything under NDA stay out completely.
- If a draft has a number, a name, a date or a legal point in it, I check it myself before it goes anywhere.
I also add this to my instructions in both tools. It catches me on the days I move too fast. It's a backup, though. The real habit is cleaning the text before you paste it.
Add this to your instructions for every chat in this project: Before you answer, check what I pasted. If it includes a person's full name together with their email, phone number, salary, health details, home address or contract terms, stop. Tell me what you found and ask me to replace it with placeholders like [CLIENT A] before we continue.
What I still watch for
- Both tools will state something wrong with complete confidence. I treat every number and every source as unchecked until I've checked it.
- Turning off training only applies from that day forward. Whatever you shared before stays where it is.
- Claude hits its usage limit sooner when I work with long documents and large files, especially on the free plan, so I save the big sessions for when I actually need them.
- ChatGPT likes to agree with me. When it says yes too fast, I ask it to argue the other side.
- My voice profile gets me a strong first draft, and I still edit every line before it goes out. People can tell when nobody did.
If you only do this much this week
- Today: turn off training in both tools. It takes two minutes.
- Today: run the voice profile prompt in Claude and save it as a Style.
- This week: set up one Claude Project for your main offer with the pushback instructions.
- This week: add the custom instructions to ChatGPT and clean out what it remembers.
- Your next hard email: draft it in Claude with the prompt above, then edit it yourself before you hit send.
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