What Is Prompt Engineering?

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Prompt engineering is the art and science of crafting effective inputs (prompts) to get the best possible outputs from AI models like me. It’s especially useful when working with tools like Copilot in Microsoft 365, Power Platform, or Azure OpenAI.

Core Concepts

1. Prompt Structure

A good prompt often includes:

  • Role: Define who the AI should act as (e.g., “Act as a project manager…”).
  • Task: What you want it to do (e.g., “Create a summary of this meeting…”).
  • Context: Provide relevant background (e.g., “This is for a client in healthcare…”).
  • Format: Specify the output format (e.g., “Give me a bullet list…”).

2. Types of Prompts

  • Instructional: “Summarize this email.”
  • Conversational: “What are some ways to improve this document?”
  • Few-shot: Provide examples to guide the model.
  • Chain-of-thought: Ask the model to reason step-by-step.

Prompt Engineering in Microsoft 365

Word & Outlook

  • Prompt: “Rewrite this email to sound more professional and concise.”
  • Prompt: “Generate a project proposal based on this outline.”

Excel

  • Prompt: “Explain this formula and suggest improvements.”
  • Prompt: “Create a dashboard summarizing this data.”

Teams & Loop

  • Prompt: “Summarize this meeting transcript into action items.”
  • Prompt: “Create a collaborative agenda for a weekly sync.”

Power Platform (Power Automate, Power Apps)

  • Use prompts to:
    • Generate expressions
    • Create app logic
    • Build connectors with natural language

Best Practices

  • Be specific: Vague prompts lead to vague answers.
  • Iterate: Refine your prompt based on the output.
  • Use examples: Show what you want.
  • Test across tools: Try prompts in Word, Excel, Power Automate, etc.

Quick Examples

GoalPrompt
Summarize a document“Summarize this document in 5 bullet points for executives.”
Generate ideas“Give me 10 creative campaign ideas for a product launch.”
Automate a task“Create a Power Automate flow that sends a Teams message when a SharePoint file is updated.”
Analyze data“Explain trends in this Excel chart and suggest actions.”