Drafting Research Executive Summaries with Claude

Before you start, collect:

• The research question (what did the client want to know?)
• The top 5–8 findings from your crosstabs (not all of them — just the most important)
• Any specific business decision this research informs
• The audience for the report (CMO? Brand manager? C-suite?)

You don't need to write anything yet — just have these ready.

Open Claude at claude.ai and start with a prompt that gives it everything it needs to write a good draft. The quality of your input determines the quality of the output.

Template:

You're helping me draft an executive summary for a market research report.

Client context: [1-2 sentences about who the client is and their business situation]
Research question: [what we set out to answer]
Audience: [who will read this — their role, what they care about]
Business decision being informed: [what the client will do with this research]

Top findings (key data points):
- [Finding 1 with the key numbers]
- [Finding 2 with the key numbers]
- [Finding 3 with the key numbers]
[continue for 5-8 findings]

Please draft a 3-4 page executive summary with:
- An opening that states the "so what" upfront
- 3 main insight sections, each with a bold headline and 2-3 paragraphs
- A closing recommendation section
- Insight-forward framing (tell them what it means, not just what it shows)

What you should see: Claude drafts a structured executive summary. The first version will have the right structure but may need tuning on emphasis or specificity.

Review in this order:

1. Structure: Does the narrative flow? Is the most important finding first?
2. Accuracy: Do the numbers match your actual data? Fix any that don't.
3. Framing: Are insights stated as implications, not just observations?

Don't rewrite it manually — give Claude specific revision instructions:

• "Move the awareness finding to the opening — that's the headline story"
• "The recommendation section is too vague — be more specific about what the brand should do about the conversion gap among 35-54 year olds"
• "Shorten the methodology reference — clients don't need that level of detail in the exec summary"

What you should see: Claude revises inline. Keep iterating — usually 2–3 rounds produces something you can finalize.

Once the draft is solid, copy it into your report document. Clean up any phrasing that doesn't match your firm's voice, verify all numbers, and add chart references ("see Exhibit 3").