Prompt Essentials: Use Natural Language
Answer
Prompt Essentials: Use Natural Language
Learn the basics. Ask better questions. Get better answers.
🗣️ Why Natural Language?
- It’s intuitive: Speak plainly—Copilot understands conversation, not code.
- Better intent capture: Clear wording helps Copilot infer goal, audience, and constraints.
- Faster outcomes: Fewer clarifying turns to reach a usable answer.
✍️ How to Write Natural Prompts
- Say the task: explain, compare, summarize, draft, outline.
- Add context: audience, purpose, length, tone, format.
- Set constraints: deadline, word count, citation style, level.
- Exclude: “no fluff,” “bullet points only,” “APA 7th.”
- Invite help: “If unclear, ask follow-ups.”
🧪 Examples
Weak
“Porter forces.”
Better
Explain Porter’s Five Forces for a first-year business class, bullet points, <120 words, using Nike as the quick example.
Weak
“Fix this.”
Better
Revise the paragraph for clarity and concision at a professional tone. Keep my voice. Bold edits.
Weak
“Research sources.”
Better
List 5 peer-reviewed articles (past 5 years) on behavioral pricing; include APA citations plus 1-sentence findings.
✅ Quick Checklist
- Task in everyday language
- Audience + purpose named
- Format & constraints included
- Tone/voice specified
- Disallowed content noted
- Invite clarifying questions
⚠️ Pitfalls to Avoid
- Keyword soup: Dumping terms without sentences hides your real goal.
- Over-engineering: Pseudo “prompt syntax” can confuse the model—plain English wins.
- Missing context: Not saying who/why/format leads to generic results.
♿ Accessibility & Inclusion
- Prefer plain language and short sentences.
- Add alt text when requesting images/charts.
- Ask for screen-reader-friendly output (headings, lists, table headers).
Attribution: Author: Copilot · Design/Format: ChatGPT