Prompt Chain: Build a Complete New Tour Stop in Under 30 Minutes

What This Builds

A repeatable multi-step prompt workflow (a "prompt chain") that takes a raw historical subject and produces four ready-to-use outputs in one session: a researched talking point summary, a 3-minute scripted tour stop, an age-appropriate version for school groups, and an Instagram caption with hook. What used to take 3-4 hours of research and writing now takes 30 minutes.

This is the system professional guides use to rapidly expand their tour offerings, add seasonal content, or respond to local events ("there was news coverage about this building — I need a new stop by Friday").

Prerequisites

• Claude account (free or {{tool:Claude.plan}}) — Claude Pro for Projects integration (see Level 3 guide)
• Comfortable having multi-turn conversations with Claude
• A source for historical research (Wikipedia, local historical society website, a library book)

The Concept

A prompt chain is a sequence of prompts where each output feeds into the next — like an assembly line. Instead of one big prompt that tries to do everything at once (which produces mediocre results), you run 4 focused prompts in sequence:

1. Gather — Claude finds the most interesting angles
2. Script — Claude writes the tour stop based on what you approved in step 1
3. Adapt — Claude creates a school-appropriate version from the approved script
4. Amplify — Claude creates social media content from the approved script

Each step is a short conversation. You review and approve (or redirect) before moving to the next. The chain produces outputs tuned to four different audiences from a single research session.

Build It Step by Step

Part 1: Set up your research source

Find at least one reliable source about the historical subject you're adding. Options:

• 3-5 Wikipedia paragraphs (paste the text directly)
• A local historical society article (paste the URL or text)
• Notes from a history book (type or paste your notes)

Having a source prevents Claude from hallucinating and keeps your tour accurate.

Part 2: Run Prompt 1 — Research synthesis

Open Claude (new conversation, or inside your Claude Project if you've set one up). Paste this prompt, filling in the brackets:

I'm a professional tour guide in [city] building a new stop about [subject] for my [tour type] tour. My guests are [describe: adults/families/general tourists] who want [engaging stories/historical depth/dramatic narratives — be specific].

Here's my research source:
[paste Wikipedia text or article excerpt]

From this source, identify:
1. The 3 most surprising or counter-intuitive facts
2. The 1 most human or emotionally resonant moment
3. Any detail that contradicts what most tourists would assume
4. A suggested "hook" — the most attention-grabbing opening line

Keep responses brief — I'm looking for raw story material, not a finished script.

Review the output. Pick the angle you want to use. Tell Claude: "Let's use angle #2 as the main story. The hook should be [choose from the suggestions or write your own]."

Part 3: Run Prompt 2 — Full tour stop script

In the same conversation, paste this:

Now write a 3-minute scripted tour stop (approximately 350 words) for my [tour type] tour. Use the angle and hook we agreed on.

Requirements:
- Opens with the hook
- Tells the story with a clear beginning, development, and reveal/punchline
- Includes at least one sensory detail (what does this place look, sound, or feel like?)
- Ends with a line that invites reflection or transitions naturally to the next stop
- Spoken language, not written — conversational, not academic
- Match this style: [paste 2-3 sentences from your existing tour script as a style example]

Review and edit the output. This is your first draft — change anything that doesn't sound like you. Tell Claude which parts work and which to revise. Iterate until the script feels natural.

Part 4: Run Prompt 3 — School group adaptation

Still in the same conversation:

Take the approved script and create a version for a [grade level, e.g. 4th-5th grade] school group.

Requirements:
- Same historical facts, simplified vocabulary
- Replace any dark/violent/adult content with age-appropriate framing
- Add one question you can ask the students during the stop
- End with a "Did you know?" fact kids can take home and tell their parents
- Keep it to 200 words (school tours move faster)

Save this version separately — it's your school tour script for this stop.

Part 5: Run Prompt 4 — Social media content

Still in the same conversation:

From the main tour stop script, create:
1. An Instagram caption (3-4 sentences, strong hook in the first line, no "I" as the first word) with 6 hashtags
2. A TikTok hook line (under 10 words — the first thing I'd say to camera to stop the scroll)
3. A Facebook post version (slightly longer, 5-6 sentences, more educational tone, call to book the tour at the end)

Immediately save all three to a "Content Queue" document. Post one per week as you build your content library.

Real Example: Tour Guide Workflow

Scenario: A local news story about the discovery of a historic shipwreck near the harbor creates a tourism moment. A guide running waterfront tours wants to add a new stop about it by the weekend.

Monday morning (30 minutes):

• Prompt 1: Paste 4 paragraphs from the news article + historical society background. Claude identifies 3 compelling angles — the guide chooses the human story: the captain's last recorded decision.
• Prompt 2: Claude writes a 340-word script with the captain as the emotional center. Guide edits 3 sentences to match her voice. Done.
• Prompt 3: School version — same story, simpler vocabulary, plus "What would you have done in this captain's position?"
• Prompt 4: 3 social media pieces. Instagram caption: "What's 40 feet underwater in [harbor] — and why this captain's last decision still matters today."

Result: New tour stop scripted, school version ready, and a week of social media content — from a Monday morning 30-minute session.

What to Do When It Breaks

• Prompt 2 produces generic-sounding script → You need a better style example. Paste 5-6 sentences from your best existing tour stop and say "match this voice exactly"
• Claude hallucinates details not in the source → Add to your prompt: "Only use information from the source I provided. If you're uncertain about any detail, flag it explicitly rather than inferring."
• School version is still too complex → Specify the grade level more precisely: "This needs to be understandable to a 9-year-old who reads at grade level — use no words they wouldn't encounter in a 4th-grade classroom"
• Social media content sounds corporate → Add: "Write this as a real person talking, not a brand posting. No marketing language."

Variations

• Simpler version: Skip Prompts 3 and 4 — run only the research synthesis and script prompts for a 2-step chain
• Extended version: Add a Prompt 5 for "Frequently asked questions at this stop" — generate 8 questions guests commonly ask and your answers, so you're prepared for everything

What to Do Next

• This week: Run the full chain for one historical subject you've wanted to add to your tour. Time how long it takes.
• This month: Use the chain to build 3-4 new stops or seasonal variations
• Advanced: Combine with your Custom GPT (see Level 4 guide) — run the chain inside your City Expert GPT so it already knows your city context and tour style without you restating it

Advanced guide for tour guide professionals. This chain works with Claude free or Pro — the Projects feature (Pro) lets you skip context-setting by saving your city and style information once.