Host Pack · Morning 3

Tea & Tech — Morning 3 Host Pack

Title for the poster: Tea & Tech — Morning 3: Writing the Things You’ve Been Putting Off Standing tagline: Pop in if you don’t want to wait til the weekend. Length: 90 minutes.

Assumes Mornings 1 and 2 are familiar. Where the mechanic is the same, follow those packs.

What this morning is for

By the end of 90 minutes, every person in the room can:

Dictate a rough draft of a message — even a grumpy one — and have Claude tidy it into something they’re happy to send.
Iterate on it — “shorter”, “less formal”, “warmer”, “more direct” — until it sounds like them.
Read it back carefully before sending. Names, dates, amounts.
Use Claude as a draft partner, not a ghostwriter. They are still the author.

Why this morning matters

Most people in the room have at least one message they’ve been meaning to write for weeks. A complaint they don’t know how to start politely. A condolence note they keep putting off. A thank-you they feel awkward about. A reply to the bank that they don’t trust themselves to word right.

The morning’s success is measured in those messages getting written and sent.

Timing

Time	What happens
0:00	Tea, scones, newcomers caught up
0:15	Welcome and the frame
0:20	The grumpy email made polite — worked example
0:35	Iterating — shorter, warmer, less formal
0:50	The message you’ve been putting off (one-to-one)
1:15	Filling a form together — worked example
1:25	Wrap and read-back drill
1:30	Lingering

The script

0:15 — Welcome (5 mins)

“Welcome back. Today is the morning we get the things off your chest that have been sitting there. The complaint to the ESB you haven’t sent. The thank-you to the neighbour who minded the cat. The condolence card to the woman from down the road. The letter back to the bank.

The trick today is simple: you talk, Claude writes, you fix it until it sounds like you. You’re still the author. Claude is the friend who’s good at words, sitting beside you with a pen.”

0:20 — The grumpy email made polite (15 mins)

A worked example. The host has one ready, dictated live.

“Right. I’ve been overcharged on my electricity bill for the last three months and nobody’s ringing me back. I’m raging. Watch what I do.”

Press the microphone. Speak naturally — properly grumpy.

“I’m absolutely sick of this. I’ve rung your customer service three times this month and every single time I’m left on hold for forty minutes and then nobody can help me. My bill is wrong, it’s been wrong since February, and I want it sorted before I move to another supplier. Tell me you’re going to fix this.”

Then ask Claude:

“Can you turn that into a polite but firm complaint email I can send to ESB customer service?”

Read Claude’s answer aloud. Compare it to the rant.

“See what happened. The frustration is still in there. The facts are still in there — three calls, since February, considering switching. But it’s an email I’d actually be willing to send under my own name. That’s the trick.

And — important — I’m still the one who decides whether to send it. I read it back. If a sentence doesn’t sound like me, I change it or I ask Claude to change it.”

0:35 — Iterating (15 mins)

“Now the bit that turns this from a party trick into a proper skill. You don’t have to take the first answer. Watch.”

Same rant, same email — but now ask Claude in turn:

“Make it shorter.”
“Make it warmer — less stiff.”
“Make it more direct.”
“Take the bit out about switching supplier — I don’t want to threaten them yet.”

Each time, read the new version aloud.

“Four little instructions, four different emails, all from the same rant. You pick the one that sounds like you. Or you mix and match — ‘use the warm opening from the second one and the firm ending from the first.’ Claude’ll do that too.”

Then practise together with a friendlier example: “Write a short thank-you to my neighbour Margaret who minded the cat last weekend.” Iterate it: shorter, warmer, mention the cat by name, mention you’ll bring her some scones.

0:50 — The message you’ve been putting off (25 mins)

The heart of the morning.

“Right. Have a think — what’s the message you’ve been meaning to write? It can be small. It can be hard. It can be one you don’t know how to start.

Press the microphone. Tell Claude what the message is for, who it’s to, and what you want it to say in your own words — even if those words are messy. Then make it sound like you.

Your rover is here if you get stuck.”

Rovers circulate. This is the segment that matters most. Don’t lecture from the front.

What to watch for:

Condolence notes. These are often the message someone has been putting off for months. Sit with them gently. Don’t rush. Don’t read it aloud unless they offer.
Difficult family messages. Estranged sibling, awkward grandchild, falling-out with a neighbour. Same — quietly, at the side, no audience.
Anyone trying to dictate something they shouldn’t send when angry. A blistering letter to a son-in-law, a furious reply to a relative. Don’t refuse — it can be very useful to write the angry version and then ask Claude for the calmer one. But: suggest they sleep on it before sending. Make a habit of it: “Write it today. Sit on it. Send it tomorrow.”
Anyone about to send something with a wrong name, wrong date, wrong amount. That’s what the read-back drill at the end is for, but flag it now too.

1:15 — Filling a form together (10 mins)

A lighter segment to bring the energy back up after the one-to-ones.

“One last thing. Forms. The MyGovID renewal, the medical card form, Fair Deal. The kind of form where you read a question three times and still don’t know what they want.

The trick: photograph the question, or read it aloud, and ask Claude ‘what is this question actually asking me?’ Then you write your own answer in your own words.”

Worked example: a real form question that’s needlessly bureaucratic. Read it. Ask Claude. Compare the plain English to the original.

“Important. Claude doesn’t fill the form for you. You fill it. Claude tells you what the question means.”

1:25 — Wrap and read-back drill (5 mins)

“Before we go — the read-back drill. Every time you’re about to send a message Claude helped you write, before you press send, look at:

The names. Right person? Right spelling?

The dates. Right day? Right month?

The amounts. Right number? Right euros?

Claude is brilliant at sounding like you. It is not always brilliant at the small details. The read-back is your job, not Claude’s.

Cheat sheet on the back page as always. Same time next [week/fortnight].”

1:30 — Lingering

Some of the messages people drafted today won’t get sent in the room. They’ll get sent on the bus home, or on the kitchen table that evening. The lingering segment is where people quietly ask the host “do you think this is alright to send?” — say yes when it is, and offer one small change when it isn’t.

Booklet for Morning 3

Cover — Morning 3: Writing the Things You’ve Been Putting Off
The trick — talk, Claude writes, you fix it
Four ways to iterate — shorter, warmer, less formal, more direct
A worked example — the ESB rant, then the polite version
A worked example — the thank-you to Margaret
Forms — Claude explains, you write
The read-back drill — names, dates, amounts
Back cover / cheat sheet

Risks & what to do

Risk	What to do
Learner sends a message they’ll regret	“Write it today. Sit on it. Send it tomorrow.” Make it a habit.
Learner becomes upset writing a sensitive note	Sit with them. Tea. No pressure to finish today.
Claude writes something that doesn’t sound like them	Coach the iteration. “Tell it ‘less stiff’, or ‘use the word X.’”
Wrong name / date / amount slips through	Read-back drill. Drill it every morning, not just the wrap.
Form question Claude misexplains	“Confirm with Citizens Information if it’s a form that matters.”