Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions like Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 can be a game-changer for business professionals. Not only do these solutions save you time, but they also provide a creative boost when you need inspiration during the writing process. For instance, marketers can use Copilot to streamline market research and create consistent marketing materials. Writers can benefit from Copilot by generating outlines, summaries, and content suggestions, as well as simplifying formatting and editing tasks. Additionally, you can easily convert a Word document into a PowerPoint presentation with Copilot, complete with suggested design templates, images, and speaker notes.

In a recent study of Copilot users, 85% said they could create a decent first draft faster; 72% said Copilot helped them generate ideas while writing; and 68% said it helped them jump-start the writing process1.

1What Can Copilot’s Earliest Users Teach Us About Generative AI at Work?

If your job requires you to create content and you’re uncertain about how to begin using AI, this blog post is for you. It covers considerations and best practices when using Copilot to create or update content in Word and PowerPoint, as well as guidance around ensuring generative AI (GenAI) solutions are available to your organization in a secure manner.

Set Clear Content Objectives

While Copilot can help you quickly create drafts, it does not negate the need for understanding and identifying basic content requirements at the outset, such as:

  • Who is your target audience?
  • What do you want to achieve with your content?
  • What type of output do you want?
  • How formal or conversational do you want the content?
  • Do you have existing files you want to pull from?

Furthermore, it’s essential to review the content for accuracy and consistency, ensuring it aligns with your company’s preferred voice and tone.

Use Prompts for Copilot Requests

Like any GenAI solution, getting started with Copilot can feel a bit unfamiliar at first. Think of it as a blank canvas waiting for your direction. No special training is needed; simply use prompts to ask Copilot what you need. For instance, you can ask Copilot to help you create an outline, refine draft content, or create a presentation from a PDF file.

Writing and refining prompts

With defined parameters, you can provide Copilot with specific prompts that include helpful details. A good rule of thumb when creating prompts is to follow this framework and use plain and clear language:

  • Goal: what do you want Copilot to create?
  • Context: why do you need it, who is involved, and what is it about?
  • Source: are there information sources (such as an abstract, summary, or outline) that Copilot can use?
  • Expectations: how should Copilot respond to meet your expectations?

While a prompt like, “Summarize this document” may eventually get you to your desired output, it will take longer and require more refining.

However, this prompt, “Create a one-paragraph summary of this document for me to present to leadership about our plans to use Copilot for content creation. Focus on best practices and considerations and include a call to action.” will generate a more tailored output.

If you’re aiming for more precise results, keep refining your prompts by adding more details or context. When you want Copilot to focus on specific content, put that text in quotation marks so it won’t review the entire content. Make sure your prompts are clear and use correct punctuation, grammar, and capitalization for the best results. Sometimes breaking down complex requests into smaller, focused prompts can help Copilot deliver more accurate output.

Once you’ve set the content objectives mentioned previously and applied this framework, you’ll be well on your way to creating Copilot prompts that produce quality content results and get you closer to your goal. The more specific and thoughtful you are when writing a prompt, the better your results will be.

Ensuring content integrity

Think of Copilot as your virtual assistant. It’s like having a coworker help you create content for a project. You would collaborate to refine each draft until you achieved the desired outcome. That’s how Copilot works—iterating and improving with each pass to help you reach your ideal result. 

Review, review, review. While Copilot can enhance content quality, ensure consistency, and assist with copyediting, you still need to make sure the content is contextually appropriate, makes sense, and is accurate. 

Even though content generated by Copilot, or any other GenAI tool, can be a huge time-saver, it shouldn’t be trusted without a thorough review. Here are some best practices when working with output from GenAI solutions such as Copilot:

  • Always verify the data and output
  • Ensure confidentiality and privacy
  • Handle sensitive business information securely
  • Balance AI with human creativity

Ensure Relevancy and Protect Sensitive Content

Implementing Copilot or any other AI solution without careful consideration of security and compliance requirements can expose organizations to unnecessary risks. Without thoughtful consideration, users might:

  • Leak sensitive data inadvertently to AI applications
  • Access sensitive data via AI applications that they are unauthorized to view or edit
  • Use AI applications that generate unethical or high-risk content

Copilot integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 and its security and compliance features, including:

  • Access controls
  • Data protection policies
  • Labels and classification
  • Privacy controls

Ensuring these features are implemented will help provide a secure and compliant environment for users to work with generative AI tools. Learn more about how to securely implement Microsoft Copilot.

Harness the Power of Copilot

Microsoft Copilot in Microsoft 365 is a valuable, time-saving tool. By following these best practices and experimenting with prompts, you’ll quickly learn how to effectively use Copilot for your content creation needs.

30% of Copilot users were faster at writing documents and creating presentations. And 22% of users said they save more than 30 minutes a day. 1

1 What Can Copilot’s Earliest Users Teach Us About Generative AI at Work?

If you’re curious or uncertain about using AI to enhance your productivity, give Copilot a try, and don’t hesitate to experiment.

If you need help identifying groups within your organization that could benefit from Copilot, our team of consultants is ready to support your goals. We can assist with rolling out a pilot program, measuring its business value, and developing a comprehensive implementation plan that includes data security and protection strategies.

Additional Resources

You can find lots of content online about using Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365, but here are some resources to help get you started.

Getting Started

Organizational Adoption

Licensing

1What Can Copilot’s Earliest Users Teach Us About Generative AI at Work?