ROPER GULF REGIONAL COUNCIL · SESSION 4 · EXCEL WITH COPILOT
Be a Champion Prompt Critic
Eleven everyday Excel questions from around the region are about to be sent to Copilot. Every one of them has a problem. Your job: call it out before the send button gets pressed.
Shout your answers; the sharpest critics carry the round. Space advances.
HOLD IT RIGHT THERE
Your turn, Prompt Critics
Answers in the chat
Job done
ESTIMATED TIME SAVED
0 minutes
ROUNDS
Jump to any round, in any order
The time-saved tally keeps counting whichever order you play.
TAKE THIS WITH YOU
The Prompt Critic's Checklist
Describe your sheet. Copilot cannot see your screen; say which columns, which rows and what you want, like a phone call to someone who cannot see it.
Name the real problem. "Clean up my spreadsheet" gets a guess; "four spellings of Done in the Status column" gets a fix.
Say what you want to keep. Delete is forever; a filter hides the rest and gives it back. Ask for the undo as part of the question.
Supply the facts, especially dates. Copilot fills every gap with something plausible; our financial year starts 1 July, and it will not ask.
Describe the symptom, not the mood. The exact formula, what it shows, and the tell you noticed; vent to a colleague instead.
Data stays out of the chat. Copilot can teach you the method without the names and numbers; describe the columns, never paste the list.
Ask to be taught. A bare formula just tempts; ask for the steps and the reasoning so the understanding stays with you.
Test before it counts. Confident does not mean correct; run every suggested formula on rows where you already know the right answer.
Copilot suggests, you decide. Read the whole reply; ranges, cells and claims all get a human once-over before they touch your sheet.
Total estimated time saved by today's critics: 0 minutes.
Time savings are for celebration purposes only and would not survive an audit.