Refining presentations in PowerPoint

Completed

The combination of Surface hardware and AI in Microsoft 365 work together to help business users accomplish their tasks. Imagine that you're a product manager, and you have an upcoming leadership meeting. In preparation for this meeting, you need to create a presentation quickly. Typing is slowing the process down, but with your Surface you can utilize Surface Slim Pen 2nd Edition and Studio Microphones on the device to dictate ideas and annotate content while Copilot helps you refine slides. Let's explore how to do this.

1. Open PowerPoint and prepare Copilot: On your Surface, open the PowerPoint app. In the Home tab, select Blank Presentation. Select the Copilot button on the Home ribbon to open the Copilot sidebar.

2. Dictate or write your main points: Your Surface is equipped with Studio Microphones, which means that you can use dictation to help create your slide content. With the Copilot pane open, press Win + H on your Surface to start dictation—your spoken words are converted into text directly in Copilot's prompt box or in the slide content area. For ideas you want to refine or organize visually, you can write key points with dictation or with Surface Slim Pen 2nd Edition on the first slide. Voice Clarity technology on Surface can help make your voice more easily heard, even in noisy environments.

Note

Dictation is an optional input method on your Surface and isn't required to utilize Microsoft 365.

3. Use Copilot to generate slides: Prompt Copilot with natural language. For example, you could say "Create a five-slide presentation for our leadership meeting. Include objectives, key updates, and next steps." Copilot generates slides based on your prompts, including suggested headings, bullet points, layouts, and relevant visuals. You can also reference an existing Word document or outline by selecting the paperclip icon in the Copilot prompt box and choosing a file. Copilot can reference up to five Word documents, PDF files, TXT files, Excel files, and Loop pages when creating your presentation.

4. Annotate and refine slides with Surface Slim Pen 2nd Edition: Use Slim Pen 2nd Edition to highlight text or sections on your slides. Surface Slim Pen 2nd Edition provides haptic feedback as you write, giving a natural pen-on-paper feel that makes annotations intuitive. Ask Copilot to rewrite highlighted content for clarity, tone, or conciseness. For instance, you might prompt "Rewrite this bullet point to sound more concise and professional." Repeat this process until your slides match your intended message.

5. Use touch to rearrange content: Drag slides or text boxes with your finger or Surface Slim Pen 2nd Edition to adjust the flow of your presentation. The PixelSense touchscreen can help you highlight, rearrange, or select content while working with Copilot. You can also highlight sections and ask Copilot to summarize or create bullet points from longer text.

6. Add final changes: Use voice commands for quick adjustments such as "Change the title font to bold and larger size" or "Summarize slide 3 in a single bullet point." Review your slides, taking advantage of the high-resolution PixelSense display to get a clear idea of how they'll present. You can also ask Copilot to generate speaker notes for each slide and suggest design improvements.