Integrating Source Files and Data
1. Integrating Source Files and Data
Welcome back!2. The Presentation Piece of the Puzzle
Presentations are rarely created from scratch. More often than not, the information already exists somewhere — in a Word document, a PDF report, or an Excel spreadsheet. Your job is to distill that content into something visual and impactful. The challenge?3. The Presentation Piece of the Puzzle
Manually copying and reformatting content is tedious and error-prone.4. The Presentation Piece of the Puzzle
That's where Copilot shines — it can read your source files and transform them into structured slides, helping you tell a unified story without the copy-paste headache.5. A Unified Story
You're building a business performance deck for BrightWave Energy's EcoCharge EV Battery rollout, and you've got information scattered across multiple files:6. A Unified Story
a Word report covering market highlights,7. A Unified Story
an Excel sheet with regional sales data,8. A Unified Story
and a PDF summary from your sustainability team. In the old world, you'd be switching between apps, copying paragraphs, reformatting tables, and probably losing track of what you've already added. But with Copilot, you can bring all of these sources together right inside PowerPoint.9. Start with a Source File
We click the Copilot icon and select "Create a presentation with file." We attach our PDF file and give Copilot clear instructions: "Use this document to create a 6- to 9-slide update for senior management." This generated outline gives us a firm foundation to iterate and improve with more prompts.10. Adding Data from Excel
Presentations really come to life when you add data — numbers that back up your narrative and give your audience something concrete to remember. Within the same presentation, we can prompt Copilot: Add a section summarizing regional Q2 sales performance from the EcoCharge sales Excel sheet. Copilot reads the spreadsheet, identifies relevant columns like Region and Revenue, and automatically generates the slides. This often includes a "Summary Insights" slide, which Copilot adds to distill the data into key findings.11. Expanding Your Deck Mid-Flow
Now let's round out the deck with one more section — customer feedback trends. This is where presentations often fall short because the data lives in yet another system. We simply prompt: "Add a section summarizing customer feedback trends from our support survey." Copilot drafts new slides and seamlessly integrates them into your existing deck. The transitions feel natural, and the structure remains coherent.12. Data Storytelling with Copilot and Updating the Design
Once your data is on the slides, you can refine the visuals by choosing or updating the design — tidying up spacing, adjusting fonts, and aligning charts so everything looks polished. Meanwhile, Copilot can help you add context — labeling key takeaways, rewriting summaries beneath visuals, or suggesting captions that highlight what matters most.13. Best Practices for Data-Driven Decks
Here are a few best practices to keep in mind when creating presentations from reference files.14. Best Practices for Data-Driven Decks
First, always confirm data accuracy before presenting. Copilot is powerful, but it can misread columns or pull outdated figures — a quick sanity check saves embarrassment later.15. Best Practices for Data-Driven Decks
Second, add captions or annotations for transparency. If a chart comes from an external source, say so. Your audience will trust you more.16. Best Practices for Data-Driven Decks
Third, focus your slides on insights, not raw data. Nobody wants to stare at a spreadsheet — tell them what it means. And finally, when in doubt, combine Copilot's structure with your own expertise. Let AI do the heavy lifting, but your judgment shapes the final story.17. Let's practice!
In the next lesson, we'll use Copilot's Chat app to extract strategic insights from presentations. See you there!Create Your Free Account
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