diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug-report.md b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug-report.md
index 3e8346e97..5dbbf05aa 100644
--- a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug-report.md
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug-report.md
@@ -4,13 +4,11 @@ about: 'Create a bug report to help us improve'
 labels: 'bug'
 ---
 
-Type here...
+Thanks for taking the time to report a bug!
 
----
-
-Please follow these steps to make it more efficient to solve your issue:
+Please read the guidelines below to make it more efficient to solve your bug, and then delete this message before submitting the issue.
 
-- [ ] Since Altair is a Python wrapper around the Vega-Lite visualization grammar, [most bugs should be reported directly to Vega-Lite](https://github.com/vega/vega-lite/issues). You can click the Action Button of your Altair chart and "Open in Vega Editor" to create a reproducible Vega-Lite example and see if you get the same error in the Vega Editor.
-- [ ] Search for duplicate issues.
-- [ ] Use the latest version of Altair.
-- [ ] Describe how to reproduce the bug and include the full code and data to reproduce it, ideally using a sample data set from `vega_datasets`.
+- Since Altair is a Python wrapper around the Vega-Lite visualization grammar, [most bugs should be reported directly to Vega-Lite](https://github.com/vega/vega-lite/issues). You can click the Action Button of your Altair chart and "Open in Vega Editor" to create a reproducible Vega-Lite example and see if you get the same error in the Vega Editor.
+- Search for duplicate issues.
+- Use the latest version of Altair.
+- Describe how to reproduce the bug and include the full code and data to reproduce it, ideally using a sample data set from `vega_datasets`.
diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature-request.md b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature-request.md
index 25bd1215e..12b3e00a2 100644
--- a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature-request.md
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature-request.md
@@ -4,12 +4,10 @@ about: 'Suggest a new idea or feature'
 labels: 'enhancement'
 ---
 
-Type here...
+Thanks for taking the time to suggest a new feature!
 
----
-
-Please follow these steps to make it more efficient to respond to your feature request.
+Please read the guidelines below to make it more efficient to respond to your feature request, and then delete this message before submitting the issue.
 
-- [ ] Since Altair is a Python wrapper around the Vega-Lite visualization grammar, [most feature requests should be reported directly to Vega-Lite](https://github.com/vega/vega-lite/issues). You can click the Action Button of your Altair chart and "Open in Vega Editor" to create a reproducible Vega-Lite example.
-- [ ] Search for duplicate issues.
-- [ ] Describe the feature's goal, motivating use cases, and its expected behavior.
+- Since Altair is a Python wrapper around the Vega-Lite visualization grammar, [most feature requests should be reported directly to Vega-Lite](https://github.com/vega/vega-lite/issues). You can click the Action Button of your Altair chart and "Open in Vega Editor" to create a reproducible Vega-Lite example.
+- Search for duplicate issues.
+- Describe the feature's goal, motivating use cases, and its expected behavior.