diff --git a/packages/angular/cli/src/commands/run/cli.ts b/packages/angular/cli/src/commands/run/cli.ts
index 46d0b9268929..de7c185e9f3d 100644
--- a/packages/angular/cli/src/commands/run/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/angular/cli/src/commands/run/cli.ts
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ export class RunCommandModule
 
     const localYargs: Argv<RunCommandArgs> = argv
       .positional('target', {
-        describe: 'The Architect target to run.',
+        describe:
+          'The Architect target to run provided in the the following format `project:target[:configuration]`.',
         type: 'string',
         demandOption: true,
         // Show only in when using --help and auto completion because otherwise comma seperated configuration values will be invalid.
diff --git a/packages/angular/cli/src/commands/run/long-description.md b/packages/angular/cli/src/commands/run/long-description.md
index 65a307fcd771..e74f8756679d 100644
--- a/packages/angular/cli/src/commands/run/long-description.md
+++ b/packages/angular/cli/src/commands/run/long-description.md
@@ -1,16 +1,10 @@
 Architect is the tool that the CLI uses to perform complex tasks such as compilation, according to provided configurations.
 The CLI commands run Architect targets such as `build`, `serve`, `test`, and `lint`.
-Each named target has a default configuration, specified by an "options" object,
-and an optional set of named alternate configurations in the "configurations" object.
+Each named target has a default configuration, specified by an `options` object,
+and an optional set of named alternate configurations in the `configurations` object.
 
-For example, the "serve" target for a newly generated app has a predefined
-alternate configuration named "production".
+For example, the `serve` target for a newly generated app has a predefined
+alternate configuration named `production`.
 
-You can define new targets and their configuration options in the "architect" section
-of the `angular.json` file.
-If you do so, you can run them from the command line using the `ng run` command.
-Execute the command using the following format.
-
-```
-ng run project:target[:configuration]
-```
+You can define new targets and their configuration options in the `architect` section
+of the `angular.json` file which you can run them from the command line using the `ng run` command.