Turning data into insights with Copilot

1. Turning data into insights with Copilot

Welcome back. In this video, you'll use the GCSE framework in Excel to summarize data, analyze trends, and create visuals like charts and tables.

2. Why Excel and Visual Reasoning?

Numbers alone can be hard to interpret. That's where Excel stands out. Copilot doesn't just summarize data; it can also calculate and visualize it for you. In Excel, Copilot can create charts, highlight trends, and even run calculations directly from your data; all without you needing to write a single formula.

3. Why Excel and Visual Reasoning?

Think of it like having an analyst sitting beside you, turning raw numbers into insights you can act on.

4. GCSE in Excel

Let's walk through an example in Excel. Imagine you're analyzing Q1 sales data. Your Goal: identify the top 5 products by revenue. The Context: This dataset includes both online and in-store channels. Your Source: the sales sheet provided. And the Expectation: present the results in a table showing the product name, revenue, and percentage of total sales. Here's an important tip, because Excel data is structured in rows and columns, you'll get the best results if you reference specific fields clearly in your prompt. For example, say "use the Revenue column" or "break down by Channel column".

5. Refining for visuals

Once Copilot has created your table, you can take the next step and refine it into a chart. For example, you might say: "Create a bar chart showing product names on the x-axis and revenue on the y-axis". Here's the key point: refinement in Excel works just like it does in Word and PowerPoint. You improve outputs step by step. In Excel, you refine the way data is displayed, from table to chart, from chart to summary. Each step adds clarity, and you stay in control of how the data story is told.

6. Visual reasoning beyond Excel

The same visual reasoning approach works across other apps, too. For example, in Word, you can ask Copilot to turn a block of text into a table. In PowerPoint, you can prompt it to add a chart slide based on the numbers you provide.

7. Visual reasoning beyond Excel

The key difference is in the input: Word and PowerPoint only accept text-based instructions. That means you'll need to describe the data or numbers you want to visualize - unlike in Excel, where you can point Copilot directly to a table or range.

8. Best practices in Excel with Copilot

So let's quickly summarize some best practices for prompting in Excel. Always use precise column names when referring to data; this helps Copilot know exactly where to look. Clearly specify chart types and axis labels in your Expectation, so the output matches what you need. Refine outputs step by step to highlight exactly what matters to your audience.

9. Let's practice!

Now it's your turn to practice. In the exercises, you'll use Excel with Copilot to move from a table to a chart, and then into a clear summary. This step-by-step refinement will help you see how Copilot can turn raw data into insights you can act on.

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