Design captivating presentations with Microsoft 365 Copilot in PowerPoint

  • 3 minutes

Microsoft 365 Copilot in PowerPoint acts as your presentation assistant, turning your concepts into impactful slides. With Copilot, you can effortlessly convert written documents into presentation decks, complete with speaker notes and references. When you start a new presentation, all you need to do is provide either an outline or a prompt. You then let Copilot do the heavy lifting. Beyond creation, it also offers tools to streamline long presentations and uses intuitive commands to refine layouts, adjust text formatting, and synchronize animations.

Create a new presentation

Copilot in PowerPoint transforms the way you craft your slides. When you launch a blank PowerPoint document, it stands ready to shape your ideas into a structured presentation, initiating the creation process based on your directives and incorporating a tailored narrative to craft a compelling story. Copilot bridges the gap between idea and visual representation with ease, amplifying your key messages to resonate with your audience.

To get started:

  1. Open the Copilot pane within PowerPoint. The Copilot pane displays starter prompts related to creating a presentation, including: Create a presentation from {file}, and Create a presentation about {topic}. In this example, select Create a presentation about {topic}.

    Screenshot of the chat pane within Copilot in PowerPoint.

  2. In the Copilot window that appears, "Create a presentation about" is displayed in the prompt. Select into the prompt field and notice that your cursor is positioned after this text. Enter text that describes the topic of your presentation. In this example, we entered the following text: {Create a presentation about} outdoor activities. Include sections on Hiking, Camping, Water Sports, and Biking. Then select the Send arrow.

    Screenshot of the Add a topic window that's used to add a new topic to a PowerPoint presentation.

  3. Copilot in PowerPoint uses this information to generate a list of presentation topics. It doesn't generate the slides until you select the Generate slides button. Instead, it presents the topics first so that you can modify them, if necessary, before creating the slides.

    Screenshot of the list of topics generated by Copilot in PowerPoint.

    • You can rearrange the order of the topics if you wish. Within each topic group is the main topic title and a list of subtopics. If you hover inside the topic area, a Reorder Topic icon appears to the left of the topic. Continue to hold down this icon and then drag and drop the entire topic section up or down in the list to move it to a different place in the presentation.
    • If you wish to remove a topic from the presentation, hover over the topic and then select the trash can (Delete) icon that appears.
    • To add a new topic, locate where you want to add it and then hover your mouse over the topic that proceeds that spot. Select the plus sign (Add new topic) icon that appears at the bottom of that topic. For example, if you have five topics but you want to add a new topic after the second one, then hover over the second topic and select the Add new topic icon. In doing so, a new prompt field appears after the second topic. The new prompt field enables you to describe the topic you want to add to the presentation. "Add a topic about" is displayed in the prompt. Select into the prompt field and notice how your cursor is positioned after this text. Enter the text for the topic and then select the Send arrow. Copilot generates this new topic and places it in the location that you chose in the presentation list (in this example, after the second topic).

  4. When you finalize the list of topics, select the Generate slides button.

  5. Once Copilot finishes generating the slide presentation, it displays the slides in Slide Sorter view. In the PowerPoint ribbon, select View. In the View ribbon, in the Presentation Views group, note the Slide Sorter option is selected. Select Normal to view the slides in the traditional order.

    Screenshot of the final list of slides in Normal view that Copilot in PowerPoint generated.

Transform written documents into presentations

Copilot in PowerPoint simplifies the transformation of existing files, streamlining the conversion of your documents into vivid visual presentations effortlessly. With this capability, you can easily transform a Word document into a structured PowerPoint presentation, ensuring your content gets the visual representation it deserves. This process not only streamlines your workflow but also brings a new dimension to your written content.

Adjust layouts, reformat text, and time animations

Copilot in PowerPoint offers a dynamic way to enhance your presentations. Imagine you're building a slide deck titled 'Welcome to Outdoor Activities,' and you want to introduce a segment on fishing. Ask Copilot to "Add a slide about fishing" and it immediately crafts a slide to fit your theme. Moreover, if your presentation on camping adventures feels incomplete, a quick request like "Add an image of a lakeside campfire" can infuse it with vibrancy. The versatility of Copilot isn't limited to slide creation; it extends to optimizing layouts, refining text, and perfectly timing animations. Take advantage of the starter prompts and then dive in with your own prompts and let Copilot transform your vision into a compelling presentation.