Tag: presentation tools

PowerPoint Copilot is the most overhyped and underutilised tool in Microsoft 365.

Overhyped because Microsoft’s marketing suggests it will create brilliant presentations from a single prompt. It won’t. Underutilised because most people give up after the first disappointing result, missing the things PowerPoint Copilot actually does brilliantly.

I’ve tested PowerPoint Copilot on over 100 real client presentations — board decks, investor pitches, QBRs, budget requests. Not demo presentations with perfect data. Real presentations with messy content and tight deadlines.

Here’s an honest assessment of what PowerPoint Copilot does well, what it does poorly, and how to use it effectively in your workflow.

What PowerPoint Copilot Does Brilliantly

Let’s start with the good news. There are specific tasks where PowerPoint Copilot genuinely saves hours of work.

PowerPoint Copilot Strength #1: Summarising Long Documents

Feed PowerPoint Copilot a 30-page Word document and ask it to create a presentation summary. This is where the tool shines. It will extract key points, organise them logically, and create a first draft in under a minute.

Is the draft perfect? No. But it’s a solid starting point that would have taken you an hour to create manually. PowerPoint Copilot handles the extraction; you handle the refinement.

Best prompt for this: “Create a 10-slide presentation summarising this document. Focus on [specific topic]. The audience is [role] who need to [decision/action].”

PowerPoint Copilot Strength #2: Generating First Drafts From Bullet Points

When you have rough notes or bullet points but no structure, PowerPoint Copilot can organise them into a coherent presentation draft. It’s particularly good at identifying logical groupings and suggesting a narrative flow.

I’ve used PowerPoint Copilot to turn a client’s 50-bullet brainstorm into an 8-slide deck structure in minutes. The content needed editing, but the organisation was solid.

Best prompt for this: “Organise these bullet points into a presentation for [audience]. Group related points together. Suggest a logical flow from problem to solution to recommendation.”

PowerPoint Copilot Strength #3: Rewriting and Polishing Text

Have a slide that’s too wordy? PowerPoint Copilot excels at condensing. Ask it to make bullet points more concise, and it will cut the fluff while keeping the meaning.

This is where I use PowerPoint Copilot most frequently. I draft content quickly without worrying about wordsmithing, then ask PowerPoint Copilot to tighten everything up. It’s like having an editor who works in seconds.

Best prompt for this: “Rewrite these bullet points to be more concise. Maximum 10 words per bullet. Keep the key message but remove filler words.”

PowerPoint Copilot Strength #4: Generating Speaker Notes

Need speaker notes but don’t have time to write them? PowerPoint Copilot can generate talking points for each slide based on the content. The notes aren’t perfect scripts, but they’re excellent memory joggers.

This PowerPoint Copilot feature saves significant time for presentations where you need notes but don’t want to spend hours writing them.

Best prompt for this: “Generate speaker notes for this slide. Include the key points to mention, relevant context, and a transition to the next slide. Keep it conversational, not scripted.”

What PowerPoint Copilot Does Poorly

Now the bad news. There are tasks where PowerPoint Copilot will waste your time or produce output that needs complete replacement.

PowerPoint Copilot Weakness #1: Creating Presentations From Scratch

“Create a presentation about Q3 results” will produce generic garbage. PowerPoint Copilot doesn’t know your company, your data, your audience, or your message. It will generate placeholder content that looks professional but says nothing.

Don’t use PowerPoint Copilot to create presentations from nothing. Use it to enhance, organise, or refine content you’ve already developed.

PowerPoint Copilot Weakness #2: Design and Visual Layout

PowerPoint Copilot can apply templates and suggest layouts, but it doesn’t have design taste. It will create slides that are technically correct but visually mediocre.

For executive presentations where visual impact matters, you’ll need to handle design yourself or work with a designer. PowerPoint Copilot is a writing tool, not a design tool.

PowerPoint Copilot Weakness #3: Data Visualisation

Ask PowerPoint Copilot to create charts from data, and you’ll get basic charts with default formatting. It doesn’t understand which chart type best communicates your message or how to highlight the key insight.

Build your charts manually or in Excel, then import them. PowerPoint Copilot can help you write the chart titles and callouts, but don’t trust it with visualisation choices.

PowerPoint Copilot Weakness #4: Industry-Specific Content

PowerPoint Copilot doesn’t know your industry’s terminology, benchmarks, or conventions. Ask it to create a biotech investor pitch or an investment banking deal memo, and it will produce generic business content that misses the mark.

You need to provide the industry context in your prompts, or PowerPoint Copilot will default to generic corporate language.

The PowerPoint Copilot Workflow That Actually Works

Based on 100+ presentations, here’s how to integrate PowerPoint Copilot effectively:

PowerPoint Copilot Workflow Step 1: Start With Structure, Not Copilot

Before opening PowerPoint Copilot, know your message. What’s your recommendation? What does your audience need to decide? What are the 3-5 key points?

PowerPoint Copilot is an accelerator, not a strategist. If you don’t know your message, PowerPoint Copilot will give you generic filler.

PowerPoint Copilot Workflow Step 2: Use Copilot for First Drafts

Once you have structure, use PowerPoint Copilot to generate content quickly. Feed it your bullet points and ask for organised slides. Don’t expect perfection — expect a starting point.

This is where PowerPoint Copilot saves the most time: the blank-page-to-first-draft phase that usually takes hours.

PowerPoint Copilot Workflow Step 3: Refine Manually

Go through each PowerPoint Copilot output and edit. Strengthen headlines, cut unnecessary words, ensure the “so what” is clear. This is where your expertise matters.

The combination of PowerPoint Copilot speed and human judgment produces better results than either alone.

PowerPoint Copilot Workflow Step 4: Use Copilot for Polish

After manual refinement, use PowerPoint Copilot again for final polish. Ask it to make bullets more concise, generate speaker notes, or check for consistency across slides.

This second-pass use of PowerPoint Copilot catches things you might miss and adds final professional polish.

PowerPoint Copilot Prompts That Get Results

The difference between useful and useless PowerPoint Copilot output is the prompt. Here are patterns that work:

Bad PowerPoint Copilot prompt: “Create a presentation about our marketing results.”

Good PowerPoint Copilot prompt: “Create a 5-slide presentation for our CMO about Q3 marketing results. She needs to decide whether to increase Q4 budget. Include: headline results, channel performance comparison, ROI analysis, recommendation. Tone: confident, data-driven, concise.”

The difference? The good prompt tells PowerPoint Copilot the audience, the decision, the structure, and the tone. It can’t give generic output because you’ve specified exactly what you need.

PowerPoint Copilot Prompt Template

Use this structure for any PowerPoint Copilot prompt:

This template consistently produces better PowerPoint Copilot output than vague requests.

PowerPoint Copilot vs. ChatGPT vs. Claude for Presentations

Should you use PowerPoint Copilot, or another AI tool? Here’s my take after extensive testing:

Use PowerPoint Copilot when:

• You’re working inside PowerPoint and want seamless integration
• You’re summarising Word documents into presentations
• You need quick edits to existing slides

Use ChatGPT or Claude when:

• You need more sophisticated reasoning about structure and messaging
• You’re developing strategy before building slides
• You want longer, more nuanced responses

I often use ChatGPT or Claude for strategy and structure, then PowerPoint Copilot for execution. They complement each other.

FAQs About PowerPoint Copilot

Is PowerPoint Copilot worth the cost?

If you create presentations frequently (weekly or more), yes. The time savings on first drafts and polishing pays for the subscription quickly. If you present monthly or less, the value is marginal.

Does PowerPoint Copilot work offline?

No. PowerPoint Copilot requires an internet connection to process requests. This can be an issue in secure environments or when travelling.

Can PowerPoint Copilot access my company data?

PowerPoint Copilot can access documents you explicitly share with it or that are stored in your Microsoft 365 environment. It can summarise SharePoint documents, emails, and other M365 content if you have appropriate permissions.

How do I get better at using PowerPoint Copilot?

Practice with specific prompts. The more detail you provide in your prompts, the better PowerPoint Copilot output becomes. Start with the prompt template above and refine based on results.

The Honest PowerPoint Copilot Verdict

PowerPoint Copilot is a productivity tool, not a magic solution. It won’t turn bad ideas into good presentations or replace strategic thinking. But it will significantly speed up the mechanical work of building presentations.

Use PowerPoint Copilot for:

• Summarising documents into presentations
• Organising bullet points into slides
• Rewriting and condensing text
• Generating speaker notes

Don’t use PowerPoint Copilot for:

• Creating presentations from scratch
• Design and visual layout
• Data visualisation choices
• Industry-specific content without guidance

With the right prompts and realistic expectations, PowerPoint Copilot is a valuable tool. Without them, it’s an expensive disappointment.

---

Related: How to Create Executive Presentations That Get Approved in 2025 — the complete guide covering all 10 executive presentation types with AI prompts that work with PowerPoint Copilot, ChatGPT, and Claude.