Copilot Chat (Basic) — Trainer Playbook

This is a beginner-friendly, hands-on session introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat (Basic) to people who may have never used an AI chat tool at work. Attendees do not need a Copilot license to use the product after the session.

Learning objectives

• Explain what Copilot Chat is and how it differs from public AI tools.
• Access Copilot Chat in the browser, in Microsoft 365 apps, and on mobile.
• Write effective prompts using Goal, Context, Source, Expectations.
• Use Copilot Chat across 18+ common scenarios: research, drafting, summarizing, visualizing, and creating.

Audience

• Knowledge workers new to AI chat tools.
• Mixed-role groups (sales, ops, marketing, finance, HR).
• No Copilot license required to follow along.

You don’t need to run all 19 demos — pick the subset that best matches the room. Demos 1, 5, 10, and 11 are the most universally useful starters.

• Use a separate Edge browser profile — not your daily profile.
• Sign in with a test tenant account (e.g., a CDX tenant) that does NOT have a Copilot license assigned.
• Do not use your production Microsoft account. Internal-first features and UI may differ from what customers see.
• Avoid accounts linked to an agent billing plan — extra UI elements may appear and confuse attendees.

Upload these sample files to the test account’s OneDrive so they’re available during demos:

• Holiday Staffing Strategy.docx
• Loyalty Program Meeting Transcript.docx
• Quarterly Store Performance.xlsx
• Retail Storefront.png

• Open Settings (top-right ⋯) → Personalization.
• Clear any Custom Instructions left over from a previous session.
• Optionally clear Copilot Memory so the audience sees a clean starting state.

• Confirm the green shield ✅ appears next to “New chat” — Enterprise Data Protection.
• Run one prompt and one file upload end-to-end before the room arrives.
• If you plan to demo image generation (Demo 16), make sure you haven’t already used today’s free image generation.
• Project a high-contrast theme — the chat is busy with citations and toolbars.
• Bump the browser zoom to 125–150% before screen sharing.

• Slides 1–3 — Open warm. Acknowledge that AI feels overwhelming — this session is the opposite. By the end they’ll have used Copilot Chat themselves.
• Slide 4 — Learning outcomes. Set the expectation that this is hands-on.
• Slides 6–7 — Value proposition. Anchor 30 minutes saved per day. Stress Enterprise Data Protection — this is the at-work version, not a public chatbot.
• Slide 8 — Audience engagement. Optional: ask the room how they think it could help. Builds engagement before you show the product.
• Slides 10–12 — Where to use it. Browser, M365 apps, mobile. Point out the green shield and what it means.
• Slide 13 — Interface tour. Skip Notebooks — that’s license-only. Highlight the prompt box, suggested prompts, chat history, and the ⋯ menu.
• Slides 14–15 — Models & Memory. Briefly explain GPT-5.X and Copilot Memory. Don’t get stuck in model details — the audience cares about outcomes, not models.
• Slide 16 — Outlook. Mention Copilot in Outlook for licensed users. Skim past for unlicensed audiences (and see Demo 19 for the non-licensed Outlook story).
• Slide 17 — App agents. Word/Excel/PowerPoint agents are licensed capabilities, but it’s good to know they exist.
• Slide 18 — Demo gate. Switch to the browser.

• Slides 20–24 — The art of prompting. Spend real time here. Run the vague-vs-detailed comparison live if you can.
• Slides 25–29 — Features to know. File upload, data visualization, image generation, Prompt Gallery, Copilot Pages.
• Slides 31–32 — Demo block. Pick demos that match the audience’s roles.
• Slide 34 — Wrap-up. Prompt Gallery and community resources. Encourage daily use.

• Goal — what do you want Copilot to do?
• Context — why do you need it, and who is involved?
• Source — which information should Copilot use?
• Expectations — what should the answer look or sound like?

When to use: Anytime you need a quick explanation, definition, or summary. Files needed: None.

Trainer tip: Try the same question without the word limit and the analogy to see how much your wording shapes the answer.

When to use: Staying current with what’s happening in your industry. Files needed: None.

Trainer tip: Switch “retail” to your industry — manufacturing, healthcare, financial services — and run it again.

When to use: When you need to brief yourself before a meeting or pitch. Files needed: None.

When to use: Starting your day or rebooting your focus mid-week. Files needed: None.

Trainer tip: Swap in your real job title for a personalized version.

When to use: Whenever you need 10 ideas in 60 seconds. Files needed: None.

When to use: Sending the same kind of internal update you write all the time. Files needed: None.

When to use: When you’ve drafted something fast and want it sharpened. Files needed: None.

When to use: Customer comms, multilingual teams, traveling teammates. Files needed: None.

When to use: Customer-facing teams, support, account managers. Files needed: None.

When to use: Anytime you have rough notes from a meeting you want to send out. Files needed: None.

When to use: Long memos, strategy docs, PDFs you don’t have time to read end to end. File needed: Holiday Staffing Strategy.docx.

When to use: Post-meeting recap when you have a transcript but no time to write the email. File needed: Loyalty Program Meeting Transcript.docx.

When to use: Quick exploratory look at sales, performance, or any tabular data. File needed: Quarterly Store Performance.xlsx.

When to use: You want a quick visual but you don’t have the data yet. Files needed: None.

When to use: Store visit reports, marketing reviews, accessibility descriptions. File needed: Retail Storefront.png.

When to use: Quick training visuals, social posts, presentation cover slides. Files needed: None.

Trainer tip: Got the result? Try asking Copilot to “make a second version with a different background” — but remember the daily limit.

When to use: Once. After this, every future response is more relevant. Files needed: None.

Trainer tip: Want to review or clear what Copilot remembers? Click the ⋯ menu (top-right of Copilot Chat) → Personalization → Copilot Memory.

When to use: Kicking off a team meeting, brainstorming an offsite, or just for fun. Files needed: None.

When to use: Wrapping a meeting follow-up email and want a tone-check before you hit send. Where to run: Outlook (web, new Outlook on Windows / Mac, or mobile).

• Recap the four prompting ingredients (Goal, Context, Source, Expectations).
• Point to the Prompt Gallery and the LinkedIn community.
• Share the Student Companion Guide and demo files with attendees.
• Encourage them to try Copilot Chat today — once before they go to sleep.
• Collect feedback via the QR code on the closing slide.

• m365copilot.com — Copilot Chat on the web (sign in with work account).
• Settings → Personalization — manage saved memories, custom instructions, and chat history.
• Prompt Gallery — under “See more” suggestions in Copilot Chat. Hundreds of ready-to-use prompts.
• Microsoft 365 Copilot community on LinkedIn — tips, news, and conversations with other users.