The InterrogationGet interviewed before you write

The situation

You need to write a job ad and the input box is empty. You only notice what belongs in it when someone asks.

The cut

After

Goal: Help me write [Text type, e.g. a quote, a job ad, an email to the team]. Do not write anything yet.

Context: The text is for [Recipient, e.g. customers, the team, applicants]. I am [Role] at [Company name].

Source: Only my answers. Mark anything I have not told you with [OPEN] in the text.

Expectations:
1. First ask me questions, exactly one per message. Wait for my answer each time.
2. Only ask what you really need for a good text, for example the occasion, what the recipient should do afterward, hard facts and tone.
3. When you know enough, after seven questions at the latest, summarize my answers in five bullet points and ask whether they are correct.
4. Only after my “Yes” do you write the text, in plain English and without filler phrases.

No add-on license, in Microsoft Copilot Chat. Without a copy button: select the text and copy it with Ctrl+C.

How to use it

1. Open Microsoft Copilot Chat with your work or school account.
2. Fill in text type and recipient, copy the prompt and send.
3. Answer each question briefly. If you do not know something, write “I don't know”.
4. Check the five bullet points before you write “Yes”.
5. In the finished text, clarify every point marked [OPEN].

How to spot a good answer

• Exactly one question per message.
• No more than seven questions, then five bullet points to confirm.
• No draft before your “Yes”.
• Gaps appear as [OPEN] in the text instead of being made up.

The check

For three texts with and three texts without the interrogation, count the revision rounds until the version is ready to send.

Limits

• The questions are only as good as your occasion. If you say “I don't know”, you get a marked gap instead of a guess.
• If the answer asks several questions at once, write “Only one question, please” and continue.
• Without an add-on license, Microsoft Copilot Chat does not know your emails and files, according to Microsoft. You bring in the facts yourself.

Sources

Microsoft Learn: Write an effective prompt (training unit), Microsoft Learn: Review prompting best practices (training unit), Microsoft Learn: What is Microsoft Copilot?. As of October 15, 2026.

Mark as practiced

Prefer to practice with guidance? Live course “Copilot Ninja in 4 Wochen” (in German) at the Power Platform Academy

Pass it on

Technique 1 from the PowerPlatformAcademy Dojo: The Interrogation. Instead of asking for a text right away, you get interviewed first, one question per message. Free to copy, with a source on Microsoft Learn.

https://copilot.ninja/en/techniken/erst-befragen-dann-schreiben/

Combo: No more chatbot tone