Sleek Summaries and Charts in Minutes
1. Sleek Summaries and Charts in Minutes
Welcome back! In this video, we'll turn a raw tabular dataset into something worthy of presenting: a pivot-style summary and a chart. We'll walk through the process step by step, and you'll learn how to verify the results before you share it.2. From Raw Data to Impactful Insights
Raw data is rarely in a form that could be presented or reported to key decision-makers. In this abbreviated sales data, there are lots of rows and columns, no comparisons to what is "good" or "bad", and it doesn't answer the question: "so what?"3. From Raw Data to Impactful Insights
Summaries are different. We can group and aggregate the data—by region, by category, or by time period, so you can see totals, averages, or counts at a glance. Now, we can see how each product is contributing to total sales, and how sales differ by-region, in one simple table. A summary might be numerical, like a pivot table, or visual,4. From Raw Data to Impactful Insights
like a chart or graphic. In both cases, the goal is the same: to condense data into clear, action-driven insights. That's why summaries are used when presenting to stakeholders or writing reports; they focus attention on a key message.5. A Life Without Copilot
Normally that takes several steps in Excel—insert a pivot, pick fields, choose a chart, and tidy it up. With Copilot,6. A Life With Copilot
we can describe what we want in natural language, and it can build the summary and visual for us. Let's look at how Copilot does that!7. Example: Building a summary and chart
We want to summarize our Sales data to find the total sales by Region so we can compare regional performance using both a numerical summary and a chart. We'll open Copilot Chat with Agent Mode and prompt: "summarize total Sales by Region." Watch what Copilot does: it creates a pivot-style summary in the background—grouping and aggregating the data to find those key summary values—and then a chart based on that summary.8. Example: Verifying the result
Now that Copilot has created the summary and chart, we need to verify it before it's presented. First, check the grouping in the formula—we asked for Region, so make sure it didn't group by another column instead. Here we can see it grouped correctly. Second, check the aggregation: for Sales we wanted the total or Sum, and we can see in the summary that the sum was used correctly. These two checks—grouping and aggregation—take about twenty seconds and prevent you from reporting the wrong story. If something looks off, you can adjust your prompt and continue the conversation with Copilot, or tweak the summary manually. That's the verification habit: trust but verify.9. Putting on the Finishing Touches
After Copilot creates the chart, don't treat it as final. Think of it as a strong first draft that we refine to get it to the finish line. We can also use Copilot for this refinement with the usual describe and review workflow. Common improvements include: updating the chart title, checking axis labels and the legend, switching chart type if the message isn't clear—for example a bar chart instead of a column chart— sorting the summary so the chart is easier to read, and updating the colors to match your organization's or customer's branding. Copilot helps you get something usable fast, but it's us that makes it presentation-ready.10. Let's practice!
Time to build pivot-style summaries and charts with Copilot!Create Your Free Account
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