Prompting in Word and PowerPoint

1. Prompting in Word and PowerPoint

In this video you'll use your prompting skills inside Word and PowerPoint, to draft, summarize and format content.

2. Word and PowerPoint

Word is perfect for drafting and summarizing written content. PowerPoint is your go-to for turning ideas into structured visuals. Copilot works differently for each app, so knowing how to tailor prompts for each app will save you time and frustration.

3. What's different in Word

Everything you learned about prompting still applies, so we won't rebuild GCSE from scratch. What's worth knowing is what changes once the prompt happens inside Word. The biggest difference is where the answer lands. Copilot drafts straight into your document, so there's no chat window to copy out of. And when you use Rewrite on a selection it changes just that paragraph, leaving your headings and styles exactly as they were. So, one GCSE-shaped prompt: draft a short EcoGreen launch newsletter from the project notes, covering milestones, deadlines and a team spotlight, in a friendly tone with clear headings.

4. Copilot drafts from your source

In just a few seconds, Copilot turns that one prompt into a complete first draft. It pulls the facts straight from your source document and formats them with clear headings and short sections, exactly as you asked.

5. Refine one step at a time

If the draft isn't quite there, refine it. Refining inside Word is not the same as refining in a chat: Copilot edits the document in place, so your headings, styles and structure stay exactly as they are and only the words you targeted move. Ask for a motivating headline and an upbeat tone, and that's all that changes.

6. PowerPoint: describe the deck you want

Now let's switch to PowerPoint. Instead of starting from a blank deck, describe what you want in a single prompt: create a presentation about the EcoGreen launch, covering our sustainability goals, the product benefits, and the team rollout plan.

7. Copilot builds the whole deck

From that single prompt, Copilot builds an entire draft deck: a title slide, an agenda, and a slide for each section, all in one consistent, polished design. You get a full storyline to work from instead of a blank canvas. This is the afternoon you'd otherwise spend copying headings out of the report, pasting them onto slides and nudging text boxes into line. None of that was the actual work. The actual work is deciding what the deck should argue, and that's what you're left with.

8. Copilot may ask before it builds

One thing you may see before any slides appear: Copilot asks you a question back. Here it wants to know the visual direction, and rather than making you guess the right vocabulary it offers four options, each described. It's worth answering. Choosing here takes a few seconds, where regenerating a deck whose whole look is wrong takes a lot longer. And if you don't mind either way, Skip hands the decision back to Copilot.

9. Refine: add a testimonials slide

Refining in PowerPoint has its own shape: you aim at a single slide rather than the whole deck. Ask Copilot to add a slide with three customer testimonials and it inserts just that one, matching the template and styling already in place. Everything else in the deck is left alone.

10. Key takeaways

So let's summarize some best practices for prompting with Copilot across Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Always set a clear goal that fits each app's strengths, and reference specific files or sections as your Source so Copilot knows exactly where to look. Refine outputs in small, focused steps rather than trying to fix everything at once, and save the prompts that work, because you'll reuse them on similar projects. And apply the GCSE framework to each new slide, section, or document. It keeps your prompting structured and consistent, no matter how complex the task becomes.

11. Let's practice!

Now you'll get hands-on practice with real Word and PowerPoint files using Copilot's in-app features. Good luck!

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