Copilot Essentials – Unlocking Productivity with Microsoft 365 Copilot

2 x 2.5 hour sessions (3 hours recommended)

Summary:

This hands-on course provides a complete introduction to Microsoft 365 Copilot, covering generative AI foundations, prompting techniques, and key productivity use cases across Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Teams.

Course Breakdown:

Foundations

• From AI to Generative AI: LLMs, hallucinations, and model types
• Leading chatbots: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok, DeepSeek, Mistral
• How chatbots learn
• Chatbots vs Microsoft 365 Copilot
• Microsoft Copilot integrated into Microsoft 365
• The 3 Levels of AI Tools
• EU-approved AI tools
• Microsoft Graph: the power behind Copilot Work

Governance & Staff Guidelines

• Staff guidelines for Microsoft 365 Copilot “Work”
• Copilot and data collection: privacy and security reminder
• Staff guidelines for third-party generative AI applications and Copilot Web

Prompting

• Prompting strategies and practical examples
• Tips for prompting: what a prompt is, context, role and backstory
• Top 10 tips for writing powerful prompts
• Copilot in Edge: toggling between Work and Web

Copilot Across Microsoft 365

• Word: creating and refining documents
• Word: available in the document and in the chat pane
• PowerPoint: designing presentations, including Narrative Builder
• Outlook: writing clear, professional emails
• Outlook: drafting, summarising and follow-ups
• Excel: automating tasks and working with data
• Teams: AI-generated meeting summaries, during and after the meeting
• Copilot in Business Chat, including Pages
• Copilot in OneDrive
• Copilot in SharePoint

Templates & Practical Application

• Summarising long documents, and why sources are key
• Flow engineering: creating templates for your prompts
• Template: meeting minutes
• Template: event report
• Best practices for rollout and user adoption
• Practice sheets and try-it-yourself use cases throughout

Outcome:

Participants will leave with both the underlying understanding of generative AI and the practical ability to use Microsoft 365 Copilot across their daily applications. They will know which of the three levels of AI tool applies to the data in front of them, be able to write and structure a strong prompt, and have reusable templates for recurring work such as meeting minutes and event reports.