How to write a good prompt?

When creating queries to Microsoft Copilot, it’s important to be concise and clear. There are rules on how to write a quality prompt, and if you follow them, the likelihood of getting the desired response in fewer steps increases. However, keep in mind that artificial intelligence is not omnipotent or intelligent, but that it is a complex software that has access to a huge knowledge base, and it is up to you to extract the desired information.

How to write a good prompt? Let’s ask Microsoft Copilot!

The basic rules for writing a quality prompt:

Be clear and precise

Instead of: “Write something about marketing”.

Better: “Write a short text about the benefits of digital marketing for small businesses.”

Define the context.

Add information that helps to understand the task: objective, audience, tone, format, etc.

Example: “Write an email in a formal tone thanking the client for the successful cooperation”.

Uses specific requirements

Instead: “Make a presentation”.

Better: “Make a PowerPoint presentation of 5 slides on sustainable development, with titles and short descriptions”.

Set limits if they are important

Example: “Write a text of up to 150 words, in an informative tone, without using technical terms.”

Ask additional questions if you want more information.

Example: “What are the pros and cons of working from home from an employer’s perspective?”

Let’s try to use these rules to get the information we want. Let’s write a prompt:

What is the weight of a 100 kg person on different planets in the solar system?

That’s a pretty good prompt. How to make it better? We could have written:

Show the weight of a person of 100 kg on all the planets of the solar system in the form of a table, with an explanation of why the weight differs.

or

Calculate how much a 100-pound person would weigh on each planet in the solar system, using local gravity, and explain the difference between mass and weight.

Exercise will make you better. Continue to communicate with Microsoft Copilot and ask it every time if there is anything you could have done better!