Best Practices for Crafting the Best Copilot Prompts

Microsoft Copilot is your AI assistant on the web, on your phone, or even inside the Edge browser! Copilot can do wonders, but you need to know how to talk to it! In this video, part of my Pluralsight Course on Microsoft Copilot, you will learn the best practices in interacting with Copilot!

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Video Summary

Here are the key points from the video:

• Understanding Prompts: Prompts are instructions you give to Microsoft Copilot to perform tasks like answering questions, creating images, writing blog posts, or coding. The more detailed your prompt, the better the result.
• Ingredients of a Great Prompt: A great prompt includes four key ingredients: the goal (what you want), context (why you need it), source (where to get information), and expectations (specific requirements).
• Conversation Styles: Copilot offers three conversation styles—Creative (for imaginative responses), Precise (for concise and direct answers), and Balanced (a mix of both).
• Best Practices: Be clear and specific in your prompts, provide feedback, use correct grammar, and check for accuracy. Avoid vague language, inappropriate content, slang, and conflicting instructions.
• Ease of Use: You don’t need to be a prompt engineer to use Copilot effectively. Knowing best practices helps you get better results faster and interact more naturally with the tool.

For more information, read the transcript blog below, or watch the video above!

Video Transcript

Now that we know how to access Copilot, let’s learn how to interact with it. Microsoft Copilot has an “ask me anything” policy, where you simply tell it what you want it to do. This is where we use prompts. Prompts are how you ask Microsoft Copilot to do something for you, like answer a question, create an image or a blog post, or write code. Everything you tell Copilot to do is a prompt. Prompts are not only a Microsoft term; it’s a term used in all generative AI solutions. For example, ChatGPT also uses prompts. A prompt can be very simple, such as “write a blog post about sustainable practices in agriculture,” and then Copilot will do it. A prompt can also be very detailed. For example, for the same ask, you could tell Copilot to craft a 1,500-word blog post for a general audience interested in sustainability, focusing on the significance and benefits of sustainable agricultural practices like organic farming and agroforestry. Include real-world examples, innovative technologies, and insights from reputable sources. Conclude with a reflection on the importance of those practices and a call for collective efforts to embrace them. Now, you see the result will still be a blog post about sustainable practices in agriculture, but we really told Copilot what we really wanted in that blog post, so we will get a better result.

Microsoft offers us four prompt ingredients that we should try to use to get the best possible result. Let’s take a look at an example. Imagine we ask Copilot to generate a 1,000-word blog post about artificial intelligence and its impact on marketing. The target audience is SEO experts who want to update their skills. Focus on getting information from scholarly articles and use as many concrete and real-life examples as possible. Our first ingredient is the goal, which is to generate a 1,000-word blog post about artificial intelligence and its impact on marketing. So, what do we want back from Copilot as an answer? We have it clearly here. We then have the context: why do you need this information? In this case, I need it for SEO experts who want to upscale. Now Copilot knows that the target is SEO experts, not any kind of marketing, not a general audience; it’s people who are experts in SEO, and we know that their goal is upskilling. So now we gave Copilot more context into how to craft a better blog post for that audience. We then have the source, where I’m telling Copilot to focus on getting information from scholarly articles. If you do not specify the source, Copilot will get that information from all over the web, which can be fine for many use cases. But for my use case here, I don’t want to get any information from maybe a third-party vendor that has a tool about AI and marketing. I want Copilot to focus on scholarly articles only. Finally, we have the expectations: how should Copilot respond to best meet your expectations? Are there any specific things that you want to request from it that will make it perfect? Make sure to add them at the end. Here, for example, my expectation is that Copilot should use as many concrete and real-life examples as possible. Now, this example is a bit of a perfect prompt, but most of the time, you will be able to just use natural language to talk to Copilot like you are having a conversation with a human. But the more information you add to the prompt, the better results you will get. And I want to mention again that you do not need to always have all four ingredients, especially with Copilot for web. Most of my prompts will usually have those three ingredients: the goal, the context, and the expectations.

Microsoft Copilot has something that is pretty cool: we have three different conversation styles, and it’s important to understand when to use which one, as it can give you very different results. Our first option is to be more creative. You should use this conversation style when you want Copilot to give you elaborate and imaginative responses, and it will create a longer, more creative response. This style is great for writing short stories, coming up with fun pet names, and more. Our second option is to be more precise. You should use the precise conversation style if your preference is for concise and direct answers that deliver information in a straightforward manner. This is useful for math calculations, finding historical dates, and other straight-to-the-point answers that you’re wanting to get. Finally, we have the middle ground, which is the more balanced conversation style. This style offers a middle ground, a balance between the creative and precise conversation styles.

Before we finish off, I also wanted to share some best practices when talking to Copilot. First of all, be clear and specific. Provide specific instructions to Copilot, such as the topic, purpose, tone, and required length. Remember, it’s a conversational chatbot, so you can give feedback to Copilot based on the quality of its responses to help the AI learn and then generate a new version that matches your preferences. And you’re not paying for each interaction, so feel free to ask Copilot to reiterate one more time. Don’t hesitate to give examples and use clear and specific keywords or phrases when asking Copilot to write a piece of text for you. This helps it generate more relevant results. Even if artificial intelligence is smart, you need to write legibly. Try to use correct punctuation, capitalization, and grammar when writing prompts, as this will help the AI produce better quality text and responses. You should also provide Copilot with contextual details to help it generate more accurate, consistent responses. And finally, please don’t forget to check for accuracy. Copilot is awesome, but it’s not perfect, and occasionally Copilot may make mistakes. Always double-check Copilot’s responses for accuracy, grammar, and style, and watch out for irrelevant content.

Now, let’s talk about some things you should avoid doing. First of all, when prompting Copilot, avoid using vague language and be as clear as possible to get better quality responses. You should not request inappropriate or unethical content, and do not use slang, jargon, or informal language, as that can make Copilot give a low-quality response. Finally, do not give Copilot conflicting instructions or interrupt it or change the topic abruptly, as that again will give you lower quality responses. It’s always better to change the topic and create a brand new conversation if you want to change the subject. Lastly, I know I just shared a ton of information with you about prompting, and it can be very intimidating, but you do not need to become a prompt engineer to use Copilot. Copilot is made to be easy and natural to use, but knowing the best practices of prompting can help you get your expected results faster or at least know how to better interact with Microsoft Copilot.