Intro to Microsoft 365 Copilot

Class agenda

One hour, seven quick segments — each ends with a prompt you can try yourself.

1. 5 min
   Welcome & what Copilot is How Copilot works across Microsoft 365 and stays grounded in your own work data — securely.
2. 10 min
   Copilot Chat Catch up on work, find files, and draft updates from a single conversation.
3. 10 min
   Copilot in Word Draft, summarize, and rewrite documents in seconds.
4. 10 min
   Copilot in Outlook Summarize long threads and draft replies with the right tone.
5. 8 min
   Copilot in Teams Get meeting recaps and action items automatically.
6. 12 min
   Excel & PowerPoint Analyze data and turn ideas into a polished deck.
7. 5 min
   Prompting tips & wrap-up The prompt formula, refine-don't-restart, and Q&A.

Before you begin

No installation needed — just a couple of quick checks so the demos work smoothly.

Demo 1 — Copilot Chat

Your starting point for everyday work. Ask in plain language; Copilot pulls from your emails, chats, meetings, and files.

Summarize everything I worked on this week and group it by project. Highlight anything that still needs a reply.

Find the latest version of the Q3 planning document and give me the three key takeaways.

Draft a friendly status update I can post in Teams about the migration project, based on my recent files and chats.

✅ Expected result: a concise, grounded summary with links to the real items it referenced.

Demo 2 — Copilot in Word

Go from blank page to first draft, then refine. Open Copilot from the ribbon or press the Copilot icon in the margin.

Draft a one-page project brief for the website refresh aimed at executive stakeholders. Include goals, scope, and a timeline.

Summarize this document into five bullet points a busy manager can scan.

Rewrite this section to be more concise and confident, keeping the original meaning.

✅ Expected result: an editable draft you can accept, regenerate, or refine with a follow-up prompt.

Demo 3 — Copilot in Outlook

Tame the inbox: summarize long threads and draft replies in the right tone with Coaching.

Summarize this long email thread and list the open questions directed at me.

Draft a polite reply declining this meeting and proposing two alternative times next week.

Coach me on this draft: make it sound more professional and a little warmer.

✅ Expected result: a ready-to-edit reply plus feedback on tone, clarity, and sentiment.

Demo 4 — Copilot in Teams

Never take manual notes again. Recap meetings and surface what was assigned to you.

Recap this meeting: key decisions, action items with owners, and any unresolved questions.

What did I miss while I was away from this chat? Summarize the important points and anything that needs my input.

✅ Expected result: a structured recap with owners and due dates you can copy into a task or email.

Demo 5 — Excel & PowerPoint

Turn data into insight, and ideas into slides.

Analyze this table and tell me the top three trends. Then add a column that flags rows where revenue is below target.

Create a 6-slide deck introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot for a non-technical audience, with a title slide and speaker notes.

Make this slide less crowded — split it into two and keep the key message.

✅ Expected result: insights and a flag column in Excel; a first-draft deck you can refine in PowerPoint.

Prompting that works

A simple formula gets better results — and refining beats restarting.

Helpful links

Official resources to keep learning after class.

• Microsoft 365 Copilot The product home — features, plans, and what's new.
• Copilot help & learning (Microsoft Support) Step-by-step guidance for Copilot across the M365 apps.
• Microsoft Copilot adoption hub Scenarios, prompts, and rollout resources for teams.
• Microsoft Learn — Training Free, self-paced learning paths including Copilot fundamentals.
• Copilot Prompt Gallery A searchable library of effective prompts by role and app.