The best approach is to give Claude your topic, the specific concept participants just learned, and the outcome you want from the discussion — it generates three to five prompts in under a minute, tiered by depth so you can match the prompt to how much time you have.
Why Small Group Discussions Need Better Prompts
Small group breakout discussions are one of the most powerful formats in virtual teaching — and one of the most frequently wasted. The difference between a breakout that produces rich conversation and one where three people stare at each other in awkward silence for four minutes is almost always the quality of the prompt. A prompt that is too broad (“discuss what you learned”) gives people nothing to push against. A prompt that is too narrow (“answer these three questions in order”) turns conversation into a task. The sweet spot is a prompt that is specific enough to orient the group but open enough to let different people bring their own angle.
How to Generate Them Well
Give Claude the context it needs: “I just finished teaching [concept] to a group of [audience]. They are going into 8-minute breakout rooms. Write three discussion prompts at different depths: one entry-level for people who are still processing, one application-level for people who are ready to connect it to their business, and one challenge-level for people who already have experience with this. Each prompt should be one sentence.” This tiered approach is useful because you can read the room and pick the level that fits — or give different groups different prompts based on their experience level.