Copilot in PowerPoint: Creating Presentations

Overview

Building a presentation from a blank deck is one of the most time-consuming tasks in government work. Between formatting slides, writing content, adding speaker notes, and ensuring consistency, a single briefing can take hours. Copilot in PowerPoint changes this by generating working drafts from prompts, documents, or templates in seconds.

This video walks you through four approaches to creating presentations with Copilot so you can spend less time building slides and more time refining your message.

What You’ll Learn

• From a Prompt: How to create presentations by describing what you need
• From Documents: How to turn existing Word docs, PDFs, and files into slide decks
• With Templates: How to use organization templates for brand consistency
• Iteration: How to refine and polish Copilot-generated presentations

Script

Hook: Stop building slides from scratch

Building a presentation from a blank deck takes hours. You start with a title slide, add content one bullet at a time, adjust layouts, and hope the formatting holds together. For government professionals creating briefings, program updates, and compliance reports, this process repeats every week.

Copilot in PowerPoint can give you a working draft in seconds. Not a perfect final product, but a solid starting point that gets you 70 percent of the way there.

In the next eight minutes, you’ll learn four ways to create presentations with Copilot in PowerPoint: from prompts, from existing documents, using organization templates, and through iteration to get exactly what you need.

Creating a presentation from a prompt

Open PowerPoint and you’ll see the Copilot option right away. Select “Create a presentation about…” and type your prompt. Copilot generates slides with content, layouts, and speaker notes based on what you describe.

The key to good results is writing effective prompts. Be specific about your topic, your audience, and the length you need.

Here’s a basic prompt: “Create a presentation about FedRAMP.” That works, but you’ll get generic results. Now compare it with this: “Create a 10-slide presentation on FedRAMP compliance requirements for our IT leadership team.” That’s much better. Copilot now knows the scope, the audience, and the depth you need.

You can go even further. Add tone and structure guidance: “Use a professional tone with an executive summary slide first, followed by current compliance status, gap analysis, and recommended next steps.” The more specific your prompt, the closer the output matches what you actually need.

When Copilot generates the presentation, you’ll get a title slide, content slides organized by your topic, and a closing slide. Each slide includes speaker notes so a presenter can deliver the content without additional preparation. Copilot also suggests images from the stock library to add visual interest.

Here’s a government example. Try this prompt: “Create a briefing on zero trust architecture implementation progress for agency leadership. Include an executive summary, current milestones, upcoming phases, and resource requirements.” You’ll get a structured briefing ready for review and refinement.

Building a presentation from existing documents

Sometimes you don’t need to create from scratch—you already have the content in a document. Copilot can turn existing files into presentations using the “Create a presentation from file” option.

Supported file types include Word documents, PDFs, and existing PowerPoint files. To reference a file, use the file picker in the Copilot prompt box or paste a SharePoint or OneDrive link directly. The file must be accessible within your tenant—Copilot cannot access files stored locally on your machine or outside your organization.

For best results, pay attention to how your source document is structured. Use clear headings, because Copilot maps document headings to slide titles. Shorter documents under 20 pages work best. Documents with structured content—headings, bullet points, numbered lists—produce significantly better presentations than walls of paragraph text.

Here’s a government example. You have a five-page policy memo on updated telework procedures. Instead of manually building slides, point Copilot to the memo and ask it to create a leadership briefing. Copilot extracts the key points, organizes them into slides, and generates speaker notes that reference the source material.

One important note: always review the generated presentation for accuracy. Copilot may summarize or rephrase content from your document, and you need to verify that the meaning is preserved, especially for compliance-sensitive language.

Using organization templates with Copilot

Templates matter in government. Brand consistency, agency-specific formatting, required logos, and compliance-driven layouts are all part of the expectation for professional government presentations.

Copilot works with your organization’s templates. Start from your agency’s template—if it’s stored in SharePoint and configured by your IT admin, it will appear in your PowerPoint template gallery. When you use Copilot to create a presentation from that template, it respects the template’s theme, colors, and layouts. Your generated slides will carry your organization’s branding automatically.

Setting up templates for Copilot requires some admin work. Templates need to be properly configured and deployed in your tenant. Work with your IT admin to ensure that agency-approved templates are available in the PowerPoint template gallery for all users.

There is one limitation to be aware of. Copilot may not perfectly apply all custom layouts, especially complex ones with specific placeholder positions or non-standard design elements. You may need to adjust formatting after generation. Think of Copilot as handling the content and basic layout, while you handle the final design polish.

Iterating on Copilot-created presentations

Your first Copilot-generated draft is a starting point, not the final product. The real power comes from iterating—using Copilot to refine, add, and reorganize until the presentation meets your needs.

Use Copilot to make targeted changes. Try prompts like “Add a slide about budget implications” to expand your deck. Ask “Make this slide more concise” when there’s too much text. Request “Add speaker notes to all slides” if you need presenter support. Say “Reorganize to put the recommendations first” to change the flow.

You can also edit individual slides with Copilot. Select a specific slide and ask Copilot to modify just that one. Add data points, examples, or supporting details to strengthen a particular section.

The most effective workflow combines manual editing with Copilot assistance. Edit slides directly when you need precise control over wording or layout. Use Copilot for bulk changes and content generation. This hybrid approach gives you speed and precision.

Here’s a practical government workflow. Start with a prompt for a program status update—Copilot generates the initial deck. Then add slides from a quarterly report document to bring in the data. Refine the language for your specific audience, whether that’s technical staff or agency leadership. Finally, add agency branding and formatting manually for the finishing touches.

A few tips for the best results. Review all generated content for accuracy—Copilot can produce plausible-sounding content that isn’t quite right. Verify any statistics or claims Copilot includes in the slides. And ensure that compliance-sensitive language is correct before you present.

Close: Your presentation workflow

Let’s recap the four approaches to creating presentations with Copilot. Start with prompts when you’re building something new. Use existing documents when the content already exists. Apply organization templates for brand consistency. And iterate to refine and polish until it’s exactly right.

Try creating your next presentation with Copilot. Start with a detailed prompt and see how far it takes you. You’ll spend your time refining instead of building from scratch.

Sources & References

• Create a new presentation with Copilot in PowerPoint — Official guide for creating presentations from prompts including interface walkthrough and examples
• Create a presentation from a file with Copilot in PowerPoint — Guide for creating presentations from existing files including supported types and best practices
• Microsoft 365 Copilot overview — Overview of Copilot capabilities across applications including PowerPoint
• Microsoft Copilot adoption resources — Adoption resources and best practices for organizations