This course provides a comprehensive introduction to Microsoft 365 Copilot prompting, teaching participants how to effectively communicate with AI to maximize productivity across the Microsoft suite. Learners begin by understanding what Copilot is and setting realistic expectations, then master the four pillars of effective prompts—goal, context, source, and expectations. The course covers application-specific capabilities in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, before advancing to sophisticated techniques like iterative and chain prompting. Through extensive hands-on demonstrations ranging from responding to upset customers to generating formulas and summarizing meetings, participants gain practical experience troubleshooting common issues and applying best practices in real-world scenarios.
Overview
Skills Learned
After completing this online training course, students will be able to:
Craft effective prompts using the four pillars framework (goal, context, source, expectations)
Distinguish between strong and weak prompts
Leverage Copilot capabilities specific to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams
Apply iterative and chain prompting techniques
Incorporate multiple data sources into prompts
Troubleshoot common prompting issues and information access problems
Anyone using Microsoft 365 and its programs, that would like to know how to better prompt Copilot.
None
01. What is Microsoft 365 Copilot
- Introduction to Copilot Prompting
02. The Four Pillars of Effective Prompts
- Understanding Goal, Context, Source, and Expectations
- Strong vs. Weak Prompts
03. Prompting by Application
- Capabilities of Word
- Capabilities of Excel
- Capabilities of PowerPoint
- Capabilities of Outlook
- Capabilities of Teams
04. Advanced Prompting Techniques
- Iterative Prompting
- Chain Prompting
- Formatting Requests and Adding Examples
- Using Multiple Sources
05. Common Pitfalls and Troubleshooting
- Common Prompting Issues
- Information Access
- Rebuilding Prompts
06. Hands on and Best Practice
- Demo: Responding to an Upset Customer in Outlook
- Demo: Rewriting for an Executive Audience in Word
- Demo: Extracting Insights from Sales Data in Excel
- Demo: Generating slides from a Document in PowerPoint
- Demo: Summarizing Meetings in Teams
- Demo: Turning Long Emails into Tasks in Outlook
- Demo: Creating a Project Charter Draft in Word
- Demo: Generating an Overtime Formula in Excel
- Demo: Improving Slide Quality in PowerPoint
- Demo: Preparing a Kickoff Meeting Agenda in Teams
- Best Practices and Tips
SKILLS LEARNED
Skills Learned
After completing this online training course, students will be able to:
Craft effective prompts using the four pillars framework (goal, context, source, expectations)
Distinguish between strong and weak prompts
Leverage Copilot capabilities specific to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams
Apply iterative and chain prompting techniques
Incorporate multiple data sources into prompts
Troubleshoot common prompting issues and information access problems
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Anyone using Microsoft 365 and its programs, that would like to know how to better prompt Copilot.
PREREQUISITES
None
COURSE OUTLINE
01. What is Microsoft 365 Copilot
- Introduction to Copilot Prompting
02. The Four Pillars of Effective Prompts
- Understanding Goal, Context, Source, and Expectations
- Strong vs. Weak Prompts
03. Prompting by Application
- Capabilities of Word
- Capabilities of Excel
- Capabilities of PowerPoint
- Capabilities of Outlook
- Capabilities of Teams
04. Advanced Prompting Techniques
- Iterative Prompting
- Chain Prompting
- Formatting Requests and Adding Examples
- Using Multiple Sources
05. Common Pitfalls and Troubleshooting
- Common Prompting Issues
- Information Access
- Rebuilding Prompts
06. Hands on and Best Practice
- Demo: Responding to an Upset Customer in Outlook
- Demo: Rewriting for an Executive Audience in Word
- Demo: Extracting Insights from Sales Data in Excel
- Demo: Generating slides from a Document in PowerPoint
- Demo: Summarizing Meetings in Teams
- Demo: Turning Long Emails into Tasks in Outlook
- Demo: Creating a Project Charter Draft in Word
- Demo: Generating an Overtime Formula in Excel
- Demo: Improving Slide Quality in PowerPoint
- Demo: Preparing a Kickoff Meeting Agenda in Teams
- Best Practices and Tips
