Stop Claude Markdown Output by Removing It From Prompts

Negative constraints like "Do not use markdown" often underperform because Claude's response style is influenced by the formatting style used in your prompt. To obtain plain prose paragraphs, remove markdown from your prompt and frame the formatting instruction positively inside descriptive XML tags.

You are an executive ghostwriter. Summarize the quarterly earnings call transcript below for a shareholder letter. Your response should be composed of smoothly flowing prose paragraphs. Write the prose sections of your response inside <smoothly_flowing_prose_paragraphs> tags.