Draft and refine business content with Microsoft Copilot

Scenario

In this exercise, you use Microsoft Copilot to draft a client case study from a blank document, strengthen it with research from the Researcher agent, turn it into a presentation, and send a status update by email. You practice moving a piece of content from a rough idea to something you'd feel comfortable sharing with a client or leadership team.

By the end of this exercise, you'll be able to:

  • Use Copilot in Word to draft and refine content from a blank document.
  • Use the Researcher agent to gather and incorporate outside research.
  • Use Copilot in PowerPoint to turn a document into a presentation.
  • Use Copilot in Outlook to draft and get coaching on a status update email.

This exercise should take approximately 20 minutes to complete.

Tip: This exercise is about getting comfortable using Copilot, not following steps exactly. If you have a real document, presentation, or email you'd rather work with, use that instead of the Northwind Traders example. You're also encouraged to modify the example prompts or try your own instead of typing them exactly as written.

Before you start

You need:

  • A Microsoft 365 account with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
  • Access to Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook, either on the web at https://www.office.com{:target="_blank"} (https://www.office.com) or through the desktop apps.
  • Access to Microsoft Copilot at https://copilot.cloud.microsoft{:target="_blank"} (https://copilot.cloud.microsoft).

Task 1: Draft content in Word

You're a marketing coordinator, and your manager asked you to write a short case study about a fictional customer's success with your company's product. You don't have a template, so you'll start from a blank document and let Copilot help you build the structure.

  1. Open Word and create a new blank document.

  2. Select the Copilot icon to open the Copilot pane.

  3. Above the message box, select the mode dropdown and choose Allow editing so Copilot can apply changes directly to your document, instead of Chat only mode, which only responds in chat.

  4. Enter the following prompt:

    Draft a customer case study for a fictional retail company called Northwind Traders that improved inventory forecasting after adopting our AI-powered analytics platform. Include an introduction, a challenge section, a solution section, and a results section.

  5. Review the draft that Copilot generates.

  6. Select a paragraph you'd like to improve, then ask Copilot to refine it. For example:

    Make this paragraph more concise—aim for two sentences.

  7. Ask Copilot to adjust the tone for your audience:

    Rewrite this paragraph in a more confident, client-facing tone.

Tip: If a response feels too generic, add more detail to your prompt, such as the customer's industry, size, or specific pain points.

  1. Once you're happy with the draft, save the document as Northwind Case Study.

Task 2: Add research with the Researcher agent

Your manager also wants a sentence or two about broader industry trends to strengthen the case study's credibility. Rather than searching manually, you'll use the Researcher agent to gather and summarize current information from the web.

  1. Open Microsoft Copilot at https://copilot.cloud.microsoft{:target="_blank"} (https://copilot.cloud.microsoft).

  2. Select Researcher from the agent list.

  3. Enter the following prompt:

    Research current trends in AI-powered inventory forecasting for retail companies. Summarize the top three trends with supporting statistics.

Note: The Researcher agent may ask a clarifying question before it starts, such as which industry or region to focus on. Answer the questions to help it narrow the scope of its research.

  1. Review the structured report the Researcher agent returns, including any citations.

  2. Ask a follow-up question to narrow the scope:

    Focus on trends that reduce stockouts and overstock costs.

  3. Ask the agent to prepare the output for your document:

    Summarize this into two sentences I can add to a customer case study.

  4. Copy the summary and paste it into the Results section of your Word document, then ask Copilot in Word to blend it in smoothly:

    Integrate this research summary into the results section so it flows naturally with the rest of the paragraph.

Task 3: Turn the case study into a presentation

Leadership wants a short slide deck version of the case study for an upcoming meeting. Instead of rebuilding the content from scratch, you'll use Copilot in PowerPoint to generate slides from your Word document.

  1. Open PowerPoint and create a new blank presentation.

  2. Select the Copilot icon to open the Copilot pane.

  3. Reference your Word document in a prompt by typing a forward slash (/) followed by the file name:

    Create a presentation from /Northwind Case Study with slides for Introduction, Challenge, Solution, and Results.

Note: Copilot may ask a clarifying question before it builds the presentation, such as how many slides you want or how it should look and feel. Answer the questions to help it build a presentation that fits your needs.

  1. Review the generated slides.

  2. Refine the content with a follow-up prompt:

    Make the bullet points shorter and more action-oriented.

  3. Select a slide, then ask Copilot to generate a supporting image:

    Create an image representing a retailer using AI-powered analytics to manage inventory.

  4. Review the image options and refine if needed.

  5. Save the presentation as Northwind Case Study - Overview.

Task 4: Share a status update in Outlook

Your case study and presentation are ready. Now you need to let your manager know the work is complete.

  1. Open Outlook and create a new email message.

  2. Attach the Northwind Case Study Word document and the Northwind Case Study - Overview presentation to the message.

  3. Select the Copilot icon to open the Copilot pane.

  4. Enter the following prompt:

    Draft an email to my manager letting them know the Northwind Traders case study and presentation are complete and ready for review. Keep the tone professional and concise.

  5. Review the draft and make any edits needed.

  6. Highlight the email draft, select the Copilot icon that appears, and select Get Coaching from the Copilot options to review suggestions on tone and clarity.

  7. Apply any suggestions that improve the message, then address the email to yourself so you can review the final result.

  8. Select Send.

Summary

In this exercise, you used Copilot across Word, the Researcher agent, PowerPoint, and Outlook to take a piece of content from a blank page to a client-ready case study, a presentation, and a status update, all without switching away from your everyday Microsoft 365 apps. You practiced drafting from scratch, refining tone and clarity, incorporating outside research, converting content between apps, and getting coaching on your writing before sending it.