Twelve copy-paste Claude Cowork prompts for producing Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF — briefs, decks, trackers, summaries. Each specifies output format precisely.
TL;DR. Twelve copy-paste prompts for the artifacts most mid-market roles ship — briefs, decks, trackers, summaries. Each one specifies output format precisely. Word-count constraints are the highest-leverage piece of any generation prompt. "Make it short" is meaningless; "≤200 words" is a contract Cowork keeps.
Read /inbox/[notes-file].
Produce /output/exec-brief-[topic].docx.
Length: 1 page (~250 words).
Structure: 1) Headline (one sentence), 2) Three numbers that matter,
3) Recommendation, 4) One open question.
Tone: matter-of-fact, no marketing language. British English.
Read every file in /inbox/sources/.
Produce /output/memo-[topic].docx covering:
- Executive summary (200 words)
- Background (300 words)
- Findings (one paragraph per finding, with cited sources)
- Recommendation
- Risks and unknowns
Cite every claim. Mark inferred claims as such.
Read /inbox/data.csv.
Produce /output/tracker-[topic].xlsx with:
- Sheet 1: raw data, frozen header row
- Sheet 2: summary by [dimension] — formulas referencing sheet 1,
never paste-values
- Sheet 3: chart referencing sheet 2 totals
No merged cells. No hard-coded numbers in summary or chart sheets.
Read /inbox/brief.docx and /inbox/template.pptx.
Produce /output/deck-[topic].pptx, max 10 slides.
Each slide: ≤25 words on the slide; expand in speaker notes.
Use the template's master slides. No custom backgrounds.
Include a closing slide with the one decision needed.
Read /inbox/source-message.md.
Produce three variants in /output/variants.md:
1) For an executive (4 sentences, decision-oriented)
2) For an operator (concrete, action-list)
3) For a customer (warm, jargon-free)
Same facts, different audience. Mark each variant with the audience tag.
Read /inbox/options/[option-N].md (one file per option).
Produce /output/comparison.xlsx with:
- Row per option, columns: dimension-1..N, score (0-3 per dimension), total
- Last column: one-sentence rationale
Dimensions defined in /CLAUDE.md/comparison-dimensions.
Highlight the top score per dimension in a separate sheet.
Read /inbox/[long-doc].docx.
Produce /output/faq-[topic].md with 10–15 Q&A pairs.
Each Q starts with one of: "What", "Why", "How", "When", "Who".
Each A is ≤80 words and includes a section/page reference back to the source.
Read /inbox/this-week-progress.md and /archive/last-update.docx.
Produce /output/status-[YYYY-MM-DD].docx:
- Top of mind (3 bullets, max 12 words each)
- Done this week
- Next week
- Risks
- Decisions needed
Tone matches /archive/last-update.docx.
Read /inbox/internal-changelog.md and /inbox/style-guide.md.
Produce /output/release-note-[YYYY-MM].docx:
- Headline (≤8 words)
- 3 features with one-paragraph each (benefit-led, not feature-led)
- One known issue acknowledgment
- Plain English; no jargon
Read /inbox/template.docx and /inbox/data.md.
Fill the template. Preserve formatting exactly.
For any placeholder Cowork cannot fill from /inbox/data.md,
replace with [TBD-CONFIRM].
Output to /output/[name]-filled.docx.
Read /inbox/[long-doc].docx.
Produce /output/print-summary.pdf:
- A4 portrait
- ≤500 words
- Three sections, headed
- Print-readable typography (no tiny tables)
Read /inbox/[doc].docx.
Translate to [language], preserving headings, tables, and footnotes.
Save to /output/[doc]-[language].docx.
Flag any term Cowork is not confident about as `[CONFIRM-translation]`.
Word-count constraints are the highest-leverage piece of a generation prompt. "Make it short" is meaningless; "≤200 words" is a contract Cowork keeps. Once a team internalises this, every output gets shorter and tighter without anyone editing the prompt — they edit the count.
Book a 30-minute call. We'll ask where you are, what your team needs, and which systems Cowork should touch.