Crafting Effective Prompts
The quality of Copilot's output depends on the quality of your input. Learn the framework for writing prompts that get great results — every time.
What makes a prompt effective?
Think of prompting like ordering food at a restaurant.
”I want food” gets you something — but probably not what you wanted. “I’d like a grilled chicken salad with Caesar dressing on the side, no croutons” gets you exactly what you need.
Copilot is the same. The more specific your request, the better the result. A good prompt has four ingredients:
- Goal — what do you want? (Summarise, draft, analyse, compare)
- Context — what’s the situation? (For a client meeting, for internal review)
- Source — where should Copilot look? (This email thread, the Q3 report)
- Expectations — what should the output look like? (5 bullet points, under 200 words, professional tone)
The four-part prompt framework
1. Goal — start with a clear verb
Tell Copilot what ACTION to take:
| Weak Prompt | Strong Prompt |
|---|---|
| ”Tell me about Q3" | "Summarise the key achievements from Q3" |
| "The marketing plan" | "Draft a marketing plan for our product launch" |
| "Expenses" | "Analyse the expense trends for the past 6 months” |
2. Context — explain the situation
Give Copilot background so it understands WHY:
| Without Context | With Context |
|---|---|
| ”Write an email about the project delay" | "Write an email to the client explaining a 2-week project delay. The tone should be apologetic but reassuring — we have a recovery plan" |
| "Summarise this meeting" | "Summarise this meeting for team members who weren’t present. Focus on decisions made and action items assigned” |
3. Source — point to specific data
Tell Copilot WHERE to look:
- “Based on the Q3 sales report in SharePoint…”
- “Using the email thread from Sarah about Project Phoenix…”
- “From yesterday’s Teams meeting on the product launch…“
4. Expectations — describe the output
Tell Copilot WHAT the result should look like:
- “…in 5 bullet points, under 200 words”
- “…as a formal email in a professional tone”
- “…in a table with columns for product, revenue, and growth percentage”
Real-world: Ava's prompt evolution
Attempt 1 (vague): “Write something about our social media performance” Result: Generic, unfocused paragraph
Attempt 2 (better): “Summarise our social media performance for Q3” Result: Decent summary but too long and not actionable
Attempt 3 (excellent): “Summarise BrightLoop’s social media performance for Q3 based on the analytics report in our Marketing SharePoint site. Present as 5 bullet points: top-performing platform, engagement rate change, best-performing post, follower growth, and one recommendation for Q4. Keep it under 150 words for Leah’s weekly team email.” Result: Exactly what Ava needed — specific, formatted, and ready to share.
The lesson: Ava went from 5 words to 45 words. The extra 40 words saved 30 minutes of editing.
Iterative prompting — the conversation approach
You don’t have to get the perfect prompt on your first try. Prompting is a conversation:
- Start with your best prompt → get a response
- Refine: “Make this more concise” or “Add a section about budget”
- Redirect: “Actually, focus on Q4 projections instead of Q3 results”
- Format: “Turn this into a table” or “Add bullet points instead of paragraphs”
Key concept: Each follow-up prompt in the same conversation builds on what came before. Copilot remembers the context within a conversation, so you don’t need to repeat everything.
Common prompt patterns
| Pattern | When to Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Summarise | Long content you need condensed | ”Summarise this 30-email thread in 5 bullet points” |
| Draft | Creating new content | ”Draft a proposal for the new training programme” |
| Analyse | Understanding data or trends | ”Analyse sales by region and highlight underperformers” |
| Compare | Evaluating options | ”Compare Q2 vs Q3 marketing spend and identify the biggest changes” |
| Rewrite | Improving existing content | ”Rewrite this paragraph in a more professional tone” |
| Extract | Pulling specific info from content | ”Extract all action items from this meeting transcript” |
🎬 Video walkthrough
🎬 Video coming soon
Crafting Effective Prompts — AB-730 Module 7
Crafting Effective Prompts — AB-730 Module 7
~10 minFlashcards
Knowledge Check
Jordan at Peak Solutions wants Copilot to help prepare for a client call. Which prompt is MOST effective?
Marcus asked Copilot to 'summarise the warehouse performance report.' The response was too long and included irrelevant sections. What should Marcus do NEXT?
Which element of the prompt framework is MISSING? 'Draft an email to the client about the project timeline. Use a professional tone and keep it under 200 words.'
Next up: You’ve got the prompting framework. Now learn how to supercharge your prompts by referencing the right files, people, and data sources.