In this blog post, we’ll delve into the art of prompting and how to achieve the best possible responses from Copilot.
What is a prompt?
A prompt is essentially a question or set of instructions you give to Copilot, such as asking it to create, summarise, edit, or transform content. Think of prompting as having a conversation, using plain and clear language and providing context as you would with a human. Simply put, a prompt is how you ask Copilot to do something for you. Being clear and concise when entering your prompt is crucial, as it helps unlock Copilot’s full potential. If you don’t get the desired result with the first prompt, you can keep the conversation going, just like you would when communicating with a human. Following up on your prompts helps you collaborate with Copilot to gain more useful, tailored responses. However, aiming to include what you need in the first prompt will help Copilot provide you with the required response. We will explore a few examples in this post.
Here’s a brief two minute video that explains what a prompt is. I recommend watching it before proceeding.
It’s important to remember that when you enter a prompt, the more specific and detailed your instructions are, the better Copilot can customise its response to meet your desired outcome.
Let’s use a couple of examples to illustrate this. Imagine you walk into a restaurant and simply ask the waiter for food. The waiter would likely ask for more details, such as what type of food you want and whether you prefer to dine in or take away. Similarly, if you ask a builder to construct a house, they would need more information, like the type of house and the number of rooms you want. When working with AI, we need to adopt a similar approach. The quality of Copilot’s response depends on the details you provide. If your instructions are vague, the response will be limited, and you’ll need to provide additional prompts to get the information you need. It’s ok to continue having a conversation with Copilot but it’s possible to limit that conversation with less prompts.
Creating effective prompts when working with Copilot will improve over time. However, at a minimum, aim to have a clear goal in mind when crafting your prompt. If Copilot’s initial response isn’t exactly what you need, you can always refine it by providing additional information through follow-up prompts. For instance, you might get the right information but find the response too lengthy. In that case, you can ask Copilot to shorten it. Think of it as an ongoing conversation with a human. The key is to be clear and concise from the start, and then build on that if necessary.
To receive the best response from Copilot the first time, think about including the following four parts in to your prompt if possible or at a minimum, a goal and context.
Goal
What is it that you want Copilot to do for you, summarise an email, generate a document, creating a bullet point list and so on. Provide it with specific instructions of what you require from Copilot)
Context
Why do you require the information? what is it you’re going to do with the information? for example, is the information needed for an upcoming presentation for school children.
Expectations
What type of tone do you wish for Copilot to respond. Should the response be in a simple and friendly manner so school children can understand it. Should the response be a couple of paragraphs or a page of text.
Source
Do you need Copilot to refer to a particular document, from a website or from an email conversation between you and a colleague where the email includes a list of topics which need to be discussed in the presentation.
It’s not always important to include all four parts into a prompt, a couple if parts may be sufficient, but including the four parts into your prompt provides a more specific set of instructions to Copilot and a good response.
Let’s go through a few examples,
Example 1 – Copilot Prompt
I input the prompt below at copilot.microsoft.com
“Write about water”
Copilot provides a response about water, but I could rephrase the prompt so it is more specific.
Let me try again, but this time I’ll provide a clear goal and make it specific.
Goal: Please write a speech to prepare me
Context: for an event where I will be presenting a topic about the benefits of drinking water to children
Expectations: so make it sound casual and youthful.
Source: Refer to data from the following link Water, drinks and hydration – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Here is the prompt:
Please write a speech to prepare me for an event where I will be presenting a topic about the benefits of drinking water to children so make it sound casual and youthful. Refer to data from the following link Water, drinks and hydration – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
It’s not always important to all four parts into a prompt, if needed we can always input further prompts. For example, I could input a prompt without the source and let Copilot provide a response based on it’s own sources. Such as,
Please write a speech to prepare me for an event where I will be presenting a topic about the benefits of drinking water to children so make it sound casual and youthful. Refer to data from the following link Water, drinks and hydration – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
and here is the response from Copilot. Copilot has provided a response with a tone that can relate to children, such as the sentence below.
Hey everyone! I’m super excited to talk to you today about something really important – water! Yep, that simple drink we all know and love. But did you know that water is like a superhero for our bodies? Let me tell you why.
Additional wording has been used such as awesome and playground to catch the attention of the children.
It has also included in the prompt recommended amount of water as per NHS UK guidelines as per my request.
Furthermore, I can continue with the conversation and ask Copilot to adjust the response if needed.
If I am not happy with the response or Copilot provided me with incorrect information, I can use the thumbs up or thumbs down icon to feedback to Microsoft. It’s important to verify the information Copilot provides, as it may sometimes provide a convincing, yet incorrect response. Use the feedback options to report such responses to Microsoft.
Let’s try that prompt again, this time removing the NHS website as a source.
Please write a speech to prepare me for an event where I will be presenting a topic about the benefits of drinking water to children so make it sound casual and youthful. Refer to data from the following link Water, drinks and hydration – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Before I enter the above prompt without the last part. I click the option for a new chat so Copilot no longer uses the information I have already provided it in my recent conversation.
Prompt and response below.
This time Copilot has used generated me a different response without any reference to the NHS website. I could also reference an internal document if needed, but the point here is that depending on what you ask for is what you’ll receive from Copilot.
Example 2 – Copilot Prompt
Another prompt that I could input into Copilot could be,
Please write me a technical blog post article
Copilot responds requesting for more detail about what technical topic I would like Copilot to write a blog post about. Yes, we can provide that additional information, but if you focus on including that in the initial prompt, you may get what you need from the first prompt.
This prompt may work better. I have not used a source in this prompt, but I could ask Copilot to use a document or a website when putting together its response.
Please write me a blog article about the benefits of Microsoft 365 Copilot. The blog post must be 1,000 characters and simple to understand for someone who is new to the Copilot for 365.
Goal: Please write me a blog article
Context: about the benefits of Microsoft 365 Copilot
Expectations: The blog post must be 1,000 characters and simple to understand for someone who is new to the Copilot for 365.
Source:
Here is the response from Copilot. Much better, however I can always insert another prompt and ask Copilot to shorten or make the blog post longer.
Finally, lets ask Copilot to explain what a good prompt should include.
Create a bullet point list of what I should take into consideration with prompting with Copilot.
Goal: Please write me a blog article
Context: for an event where I will be presenting a topic about the benefits of drinking water to children
Expectations:
Source:
I could add additional prompts if the response required additional information, however, I feel the below response is what I need to summarise what to consider when prompting with Copilot.
Example 3 – Copilot Prompt
Give me 5 bullet points for me to use in a talk from the Copilot email discussion I had with my colleague Darren last week. The response should be easy to understand and keep it short.
Goal: Give me 5 bullet points
Context: for me to use in a talk to my colleagues
Source: from the Copilot email discussion I had with my colleague Darren last week
Expectations: The response should be easy to understand and keep it short
Example 4 – Copilot Prompt
I want a list of five games to play for a team get together at Las Vegas. Provide a list of ideas that are fun and family friendly and include any supplies that may be needed. Please take ideas from the Internet.
Goal: I want a list of five games to play
Context: for a team get together at Las Vegas
Expectations: Provide a list of ideas that are fun and family friendly and include any supplies that may be needed.
Source: Please take ideas from the Internet.
Example 5 – Copilot Prompt
Create me 5-8 bullet points to prepare me for a meeting with Client Contoso Ltd to discuss their new “Phase 10” brand campaign. Focus on email and teams messages since August. Please use simple language so I can get up to speed quickly for the meeting tomorrow.
Goal: Create me 5-8 bullet points
Context: to prepare me for a meeting with Client Contoso Ltd to discuss their new “Phase 10” brand campaign.
Source: Focus on email and teams messages since August.
Expectations: Please use simple language so I can get up to speed quickly for the meeting tomorrow.
And remember, keep the conversation going. Following up on your prompts help you collaborate with Copilot to gain more useful, tailored responses.
Looking for additional prompts?
Check out Copilot Lab, a free resource which provides hundreds of example prompts you could use.
I hope you found this post useful
In the next posts, I explore and demo Copilot in 365 apps such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook and Teams. Stay tuned for more prompting. If you’ve not already done so, please subscribe to stay informed of new posts.
