I Taught Claude How to Coach Me (And You Can Too)

By ClauDeLay

Will Larson’s An Elegant Puzzle has a chapter on presenting to leadership that changed how I think about structured communication. A 7-step framework for making recommendations that actually land. Clear, repeatable, effective.

Problem is, frameworks you don’t use are just bookmarks. So I did what any self-respecting terminal dweller would do: I turned it into an AI skill.

Two files. Ten minutes of setup. Now every time I need to present a recommendation, my AI coach walks me through the framework — adapted to the people I’m presenting to, the context of my organization, and the communication patterns I’m working to improve. Works with Claude, Gemini, or ChatGPT.

Here’s the recipe. Now make it yours.

Choose your path: Same skill files, different installation.

▶ Claude Code (terminal) — skip to quick-start
▶ Claude.ai Projects (browser) — skip to quick-start
▶ Gemini or ChatGPT (Gems/GPTs) — skip to quick-start

Or scroll down for the full story first.

$ cat README.md

Why Build a Skill for This?

You’ve read a great book. Highlighted the key passages. Maybe even took notes. Then two weeks later, you’re drafting a presentation and none of it makes it into your actual work.

That’s the gap between knowing a framework and using it. AI can close that gap — but only if you give it something structured to work with.

An AI skill is just a markdown file that teaches your AI assistant a specific methodology. Upload it to Claude Projects, paste it into a Gemini Gem, attach it to a ChatGPT GPT — the platform doesn’t matter. The AI references it automatically whenever you ask for help in that domain. No plugins, no API calls — just files the AI reads.

“Make this sound more polished” is a vague prompt. It produces vague results. But “Coach me through Larson’s 7-step framework, adapted for a finance-focused audience who needs ROI in the first paragraph” — that produces something you can actually use.

The trick is encoding that specificity once, so you never have to spell it out again. That’s what a skill does.

$ cat larson_framework.md

The Framework: 7 Steps in 5 Minutes

This comes from An Elegant Puzzle by Will Larson, Section 3.13 — “Presenting to Senior Leadership.” It’s a structured approach to making recommendations that respect your audience’s time while demonstrating that you’ve done the work.

Total runtime: ~5 minutes. Everything beyond that goes in a supporting appendix your audience can read on their own time.

$ tree ~/.claude/skills/

The Architecture: Two Files, Infinite Leverage

Here’s where it gets interesting for Claude users. The skill is two files:

communication-skill/
├── SKILL.md              # The public framework (shareable, portable)
└── private-context.md    # Your private layer (audience, org, patterns)

SKILL.md contains the Larson framework, common anti-patterns, audience adaptation guidelines, language patterns, and a document structure template. It’s generic enough that anyone can use it. I’m giving you this file at the end of this article.

private-context.md is where the magic happens. It contains:

• Audience preferences — how the people you present to prefer to receive information
• Organizational context — industry, size, priorities, and constraints worth noting
• Feedback you’ve received — what’s worked, what hasn’t, guidance from mentors
• Your own examples — how your communication has evolved over time
• Pre-tuned openers — opening sentences you’ve found effective for different audiences

The private context never gets shared. It’s yours. But it’s what turns a generic framework into a personalized communication coach that knows your workplace as well as you do.

$ ./setup.sh –verbose

Taking It Further: Full Setup Walkthroughs

The quick-start boxes above cover the basics. If you want the full step-by-step with explanations, expand the walkthrough for your platform.

## Skills

### Structured Communication
When I ask for help with presentations, briefs, or
recommendations, reference these files:
- SKILL.md (Larson 7-step framework and anti-patterns)
- private-context.md (my audience preferences and context)

I need to recommend a vendor switch to our finance lead.
Help me structure the recommendation using the Larson
communication framework.

You are a communication coach. When I share a draft or
ask for help, reference SKILL.md and my private context
to provide specific, actionable coaching.

Always:
- Check for weak or indirect language patterns
- Ensure structure follows the 7-step Larson framework
- Adapt to the audience I'm presenting to
- Call out anti-patterns with specific fixes
- Suggest clearer, more direct alternatives

I need to present a budget request for a new hire.
Help me structure it using the framework.

You are a communication coach. When helping with presentations
or recommendations, reference the Larson framework and private
context below to provide specific, actionable coaching.

I need to recommend a vendor switch to our CFO.
Help me structure it using the framework.

You are a communication coach. Reference the uploaded
SKILL.md framework and private-context.md files when
helping users structure presentations or recommendations.

Always:
- Check for weak or indirect language patterns
- Ensure structure follows the 7-step Larson framework
- Adapt to the specific audience noted in private context
- Call out anti-patterns with specific fixes

I need to present a budget request for a new hire.
Help me structure it using the framework.

$ vi private-context.md

Making It Personal

The private context file is what separates “generic AI writing assistant” from “a coach that knows my world.” Here’s how to build one that actually works.

Everyone processes information differently. Your finance lead wants ROI in the first sentence. Your technical lead wants architecture implications. Your ops lead wants to know how it affects the team. These aren’t personality profiles — they’re your notes to yourself about how to be a better communicator for each audience.

Start With Three Questions Per Person

For each person you regularly present to, answer these:

1. What do they need to hear in the first 30 seconds to stay engaged? This becomes your “Lead with…” guidance.
2. What framing doesn’t land? Cost-heavy when they want strategy? Jargon-heavy when they want impact? This becomes your “Avoid…” guidance.
3. How do they prefer to make decisions? Data-driven? Consensus-building? Quick and decisive? This shapes how you structure your evidence.

Note Your Own Weak Spots

We all have communication patterns that dilute our message. Note yours so Claude can flag them:

Include a Before/After Example

Write out a real example of how you used to frame something vs. how you’d frame it now. This is the most useful training data for Claude — it shows the specific patterns you are working to change.

$ cat /var/log/mistakes.log

Lessons Learned

The private context file took three iterations. First version was too detailed — I was overthinking it. Second version was too sparse to be useful. Third version hit the sweet spot: communication preferences, framing guidance, and 1–2 example openers per person. That’s the template I gave you.

Start with 2–3 people, not everyone. You don’t need every person profiled on day one. Start with the people you present to most often. Add more as you need them. An incomplete private context file is infinitely more useful than no private context file.

AI catches patterns you’ll miss in your own writing. I ran an old presentation through the skill. It flagged weak language I’d completely glossed over — hedging phrases, buried recommendations, vague asks. Having a framework-aware reviewer that never gets tired of checking the same patterns is genuinely useful.

The framework applies way beyond formal presentations. Emails. Slack messages. Budget proposals. Project kickoff documents. Any time you’re making a case for something, the Larson structure helps you get to the point faster and more clearly.

Update your private context after every big interaction. Did a particular framing land well? Add it. Did something fall flat? Note it. The skill gets better as your context file gets richer. Think of it as a recipe you’re constantly refining.

$ man ai-skills

The Bigger Pattern: Skills Beyond Communication

The two-file pattern — public framework + private context — works for any domain expertise you want to encode into your AI assistant:

The pattern is always the same: encode the universal methodology in SKILL.md, encode your specific situation in private-context.md. Your AI handles the synthesis. You get domain-specific coaching that actually knows your world.

$ wget –recursive ./resources/

Downloads

Both files are sanitized and ready to use. No credentials, no company-specific details — just the framework and the template.

$ exit

Make It Yours

The best frameworks are the ones you actually use. Not the ones you highlighted in a book six months ago. Building a skill file takes ten minutes and turns your AI into a coach that holds you to a standard every time you write.

Grab the files. Spend ten minutes on your private context. Try it on your next recommendation and see what it catches.

And if structured communication isn’t your starting point — pick a different framework. The two-file pattern works for anything worth doing consistently. The skill is just the delivery mechanism. The expertise is yours.