Class Agenda
Duration: 60 minutes | Format: Live via Zoom | Audience: Educators, coaches, consultants, and 45+ solopreneurs
| Time | Block | What Happens | Facilitation Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0:00–0:03 | Welcome & Check-in | One-word chat waterfall: “Type one word that describes how you feel about AI right now — don’t hit enter until I say GO.” | Builds energy, surfaces fear/excitement mix |
| 0:03–0:08 | Context Setting | Why skills matter NOW: AI assistants are only as useful as their instructions. Skills turn Claude from a generic chatbot into YOUR specialist. Analogy: “A skill is like a recipe card you hand to a talented chef.” | Set the frame — this is about control, not complexity |
| 0:08–0:12 | What IS a Skill? | Walk through the anatomy: a folder with a SKILL.md file. Show the two parts — YAML frontmatter (the label) and markdown instructions (the recipe). Show a real example on screen. | Keep it visual — show the file structure side-by-side with what Claude does |
| 0:12–0:25 | Live Demo: Build a Skill From Scratch | Screen share: create a simple “meeting-notes” skill step by step. Create the folder, write the SKILL.md, test it. Students watch, then we’ll do it together. | Narrate every click. Pause after each section to check chat for confusion |
| 0:25–0:30 | Quick Q&A Checkpoint | “What questions do you have so far? Drop them in chat.” Address top 2–3 questions. | Prevents confusion from compounding |
| 0:30–0:45 | Guided Practice: Build YOUR First Skill | Students create their own skill using the Fill-in-the-Framework activity. Provide a template with blanks. They pick their use case and fill it in. | Breakout rooms optional — works solo too. Walk the room virtually. |
| 0:45–0:52 | Hot Seat: Skill Review | 2 volunteers share their skill on screen. Group gives feedback using “One thing I love, one thing I’d change.” | Pre-identify volunteers during breakout if possible |
| 0:52–0:57 | Common Mistakes & Pro Tips | Cover the top 3 mistakes: vague descriptions, missing examples, trying to do too much in one skill. “Focused beats massive.” | This builds trust — you’re saving them hours of trial and error |
| 0:57–1:00 | Next Steps & Close | 3 action items: (1) Finish your skill by Friday, (2) Test it 3 times with different prompts, (3) Share your result in the community space. | End with energy — “You just built your first AI tool.” |
Interactive Activities
Activity 1: Fill-in-the-Framework — Build Your SKILL.md (15 min)
Type: Fill-in-the-Framework | Duration: 15 minutes
Setup: Students need a text editor open (VS Code, Notepad, or Google Docs). Share the template on screen AND in chat so they can copy/paste.
Template provided to students:
---
name: [your-skill-name-here]
description: >
Use this skill when [describe the trigger].
For example: [give one example of what the user might say].
version: 0.1.0
---
# [Your Skill Name]
## What This Skill Does
[One sentence: what does Claude do when this skill runs?]
## Who It's For
[Your audience — who benefits from this output?]
## Steps
1. [First thing Claude should do]
2. [Second thing Claude should do]
3. [Third thing Claude should do]
## Output Format
[Describe what the final result looks like]
## Example
[Show Claude what a GOOD output looks like for a sample input]
Instructions:
- Pick ONE task you repeat often (writing emails, creating agendas, summarizing notes, generating social posts — anything)
- Fill in every bracket in the template with your specific details
- Read it out loud to yourself — would a smart assistant understand what to do?
- If you finish early, add a second example to the Example section
Debrief: “Read your description line out loud. Would someone who knows NOTHING about your business understand when to use this skill?”
Activity 2: Hot Seat — Skill Review (10 min)
Type: Hot Seat | Duration: 10 minutes (5 minutes per volunteer)
Setup: Ask for 2 volunteers (or pre-identify during Activity 1). Volunteers share their screen showing their completed SKILL.md.
Instructions:
- Volunteer shares their screen with their SKILL.md open
- They read their skill name and description out loud (30 seconds)
- Group gives feedback: “One thing I love about this skill…” and “One thing I’d tweak or add…”
- Instructor adds a pro tip specific to their skill
- Repeat with second volunteer
Facilitation tips: Start with praise — beginners need encouragement. Focus feedback on the description (is it clear?) and the steps (are they specific enough?). Watch for skills that try to do too much — gently redirect toward “focused beats massive.”
Debrief: “What did you notice about the skills that felt clearest? What made them work?”
Activity 3: Speed Setup — Test Your Skill (8 min)
Type: Speed Setup | Duration: 8 minutes
Setup: Students need access to Claude (Claude.ai, Claude Code, or Cowork). Display the 3-step test process on screen.
Instructions:
- Save your SKILL.md file into the correct folder:
- Claude Code:
.claude/skills/your-skill-name/SKILL.md - Claude.ai: Upload as a ZIP via Settings
- Cowork: Save to your skills folder
- Claude Code:
- Open a new conversation with Claude
- Test your skill by typing a prompt that SHOULD trigger it
- Did it work? If yes — thumbs up in chat. If not — type what went wrong.
Timer: Set a visible 5-minute countdown for the testing phase.
Debrief: “Thumbs up if it worked on the first try. For those who hit a snag — what happened? Let’s troubleshoot the top issues together.”
Resources
Required Before Class
- Claude Account (Free or Paid) — claude.ai — You need an active Claude account to test your skill. Free works, but Pro/Max gives you code execution which makes skill testing smoother.
- Text Editor — VS Code (free) or any text editor you already have — You’ll write your SKILL.md file in a text editor.
- Read: “What Are Claude Skills?” (5 min) — Claude Help Center — Get the big picture before class so we can jump straight into building.
Used During Class
- SKILL.md Template — Shared in Zoom chat during class — The template you’ll fill in during the guided practice activity.
- Claude Skills Documentation — code.claude.com — The official reference for skill structure, storage locations, and advanced features.
- Anthropic Skills Repository (GitHub) — github.com/anthropics/skills — Real examples of production skills you can study.
Post-Class Deep Dives
- How to Create Custom Skills — Claude Help Center — Step-by-step walkthrough with screenshots.
- How to Create a Skill Through Conversation — Claude Help Center — Describe your process to Claude and have IT create the skill for you.
- Claude Skills Tutorial (DataCamp) — DataCamp — A thorough walkthrough with code examples for more complex skills.
- Custom Skills via Claude Code CLI (ChatPRD) — ChatPRD — For Claude Code users: workflow for generating and managing skills from the terminal.
Templates & Downloads
- Skill Starter Template — Provided in class materials (community space) — The blank SKILL.md template with comments explaining each section.
- Skill Quality Checklist — Provided in class materials (community space) — A 10-point checklist to run through before you consider a skill “done.”
- “My First 5 Skills” Brainstorm Sheet — Provided in class materials (community space) — A one-page exercise to identify your top 5 repetitive tasks that would benefit from a skill.
Use Cases
The Course Creator Who Writes the Same Emails Every Launch
Who: A course creator who runs 3 cohort launches per year, selling a $497 program on productivity for remote workers.
Situation: Every launch, she rewrites the same 7-email sequence from scratch. Each time it takes 2 full days. The emails are slightly different each round, but the structure is identical — pain point, story, offer, urgency, FAQ, last call, thank you.
How This Class Helps: She’ll build a “launch-email-sequence” skill that gives Claude her proven email structure, brand voice, and past examples. Next launch, she gives Claude the offer details and gets a draft sequence in minutes instead of days.
Example Action: After class, she creates a SKILL.md with her 7-email framework, pastes in her best-performing subject lines as examples, and tests it by generating a draft sequence for her next cohort.
The Retirement Coach Who Hates Writing Social Posts
Who: A 58-year-old retirement transition coach who works with clients 1:1 over Zoom. Not technical. Posts on LinkedIn once a week (when he remembers).
Situation: He knows he needs to post on LinkedIn to attract clients, but staring at a blank screen feels painful. He usually gives up or posts something generic that gets zero engagement.
How This Class Helps: He’ll build a “linkedin-post” skill that includes his voice (conversational, story-driven, aimed at 55+ professionals), his content themes, and a proven post structure. Now he just types “write a LinkedIn post about finding purpose after leaving corporate” and gets a draft that sounds like him.
Example Action: After class, he creates a SKILL.md with 3 example posts he’s written that performed well, his target audience description, and his preferred post format. Tests it by generating 3 posts for the week.
The Online Educator Building a Knowledge Base
Who: A former high school teacher who now runs an online tutoring community for parents helping their kids with math. She publishes 2–3 help articles per week.
Situation: Each article follows the same structure — concept explanation, worked examples, common mistakes, practice problems — but she writes each one from scratch. It takes 3 hours per article, and she’s burning out.
How This Class Helps: She’ll build a “math-help-article” skill that encodes her article template, her tone, and her formatting rules. Claude generates first drafts she can review and polish in 30 minutes instead of 3 hours.
Example Action: After class, she creates a SKILL.md with her article template structure, brand voice guidelines (“explain like you’re talking to a friend at a coffee shop”), and one complete example article. Tests it by generating an article on fractions.
The Consultant Who Needs Consistent Client Reports
Who: A solo marketing consultant (age 47) who serves 6 small business clients. Each month, she delivers a performance report to each client.
Situation: She pulls the data manually, then spends 4–5 hours formatting and writing narrative summaries for each report. The reports follow the same structure, but she personalizes the insights for each client.
How This Class Helps: She’ll build a “client-report” skill that includes her report template, her writing style, and instructions for how Claude should interpret common metrics. She still provides the data, but Claude handles the narrative.
Example Action: After class, she creates a SKILL.md with her report template, a sample completed report, and specific instructions like “Always lead the executive summary with the best-performing metric.” Tests it with last month’s data from one client.
The Community Builder Who Runs Weekly Discussions
Who: A solopreneur (age 52) who runs a paid membership community for women entrepreneurs. She posts a weekly discussion prompt every Monday to keep engagement high.
Situation: She spends 45 minutes every Sunday night crafting the perfect discussion prompt. Some weeks she nails it and gets 30+ responses. Other weeks it falls flat. She can’t figure out the pattern and wishes she had a system.
How This Class Helps: She’ll build a “weekly-discussion” skill that includes her 4 proven prompt formats, her community’s tone, and examples of her highest-engagement posts. Now she generates 4 prompts in 2 minutes, picks the best one, and tweaks it.
Example Action: After class, she creates a SKILL.md with her 4 prompt formats, 2 examples of high-engagement posts per format, and her community guidelines for tone. Tests it by generating next Monday’s prompt.
