Draft Professional Presentations from Scratch Using Copilot in PowerPoint

Open PowerPoint and start a new presentation

Open PowerPoint on your computer or go to powerpoint.office.com in your browser. Click New blank presentation to create a file with one blank slide. You’ll see a single slide with a title box that says “Click to add title.” If you don’t see this, look for a button like “+ New” or “Blank Presentation” in the top-left corner. You'll know it worked when you see a clean white slide with a blinking cursor in the title box.

Open the Copilot pane

With your blank presentation open, look at the Home tab on the ribbon at the top. On the right side of the ribbon, find and click the Copilot button (it looks like a spark icon with a chat bubble). A sidebar opens on the right side of the screen with a message like “Ask me anything about your presentation.” If you don’t see the Copilot button, look for a “More” menu or a “Show Copilot” option in the ribbon. You'll know it worked when you see a chat window labeled “Copilot” on the right side.

Ask Copilot to create an outline

In the Copilot chat box, type:

After you press Enter, Copilot will respond with a numbered outline in the chat. It usually lists slides like:

1. Title slide
2. Agenda
3. Q2 Sales Overview
4. Key Wins
5. Next Steps You’ll see the outline appear in the chat window. If Copilot doesn’t respond or shows an error, refresh the page or check your internet connection. You'll know it worked when you see a clear 5-slide outline in the chat.

Generate slide content from the outline

Now, ask Copilot to turn the outline into real slide content. Type:

Copilot will create a new slide for each item in the outline and add placeholder text and speaker notes. You’ll see each slide appear in your presentation one by one. If the slides look too short or generic, ask Copilot to expand them by typing:

You'll know it worked when you see 5 new slides with titles, bullet points, and speaker notes.

Refine the draft with a prompt

To make the slides more specific, type a follow-up prompt in Copilot:

Copilot will revise the slides, update the speaker notes, and adjust the tone to sound more professional and region-specific. It usually keeps the structure but adds relevant details. If the changes don’t appear, click the Regenerate button in the Copilot chat. You'll know it worked when the slides include phrases like “Australian market” and “Q2 2025 vs 2024 comparison.”

Add your own data and branding

Now it’s time to personalise. Replace any placeholder text with your real data. For example, edit the “Q2 Sales Overview” slide to include your actual revenue numbers. You can also add your company logo by going to the Insert tab, clicking Pictures, and choosing your logo file. If you don’t have a logo file, skip this step—your slides will still look professional. You'll know it worked when the slide shows your real data and, if added, your logo appears in the corner.

Review and polish the slides

Read through each slide and its speaker notes. Use Copilot one last time to clean up the language:

Copilot will shorten long sentences and improve the tone. You can also ask it to fix any spelling or grammar issues. If you prefer, edit the text manually—PowerPoint’s built-in spelling checker will highlight errors in red. You'll know it worked when the speaker notes are clear, concise, and free of errors.