I have always prided myself on my PowerPoint skills, but after integrating Copilot into my workflow, I have realized that skill was mostly just wasted time. Initially, I was skeptical about using AI in my slides. Then, I gave Copilot a rough outline and watched in real-time as it structured my narrative, visualized my data, and polished the design before I could even finish my coffee.

Wasting time with blank slides

A huge time saver

The hardest part of any presentation wasn’t the delivery — it was the start. My routine was always the same: I would spend twenty minutes hunting for a template that didn’t look like a corporate brochure from 2005, another ten minutes resizing a logo, and an hour trying to figure out how to transition from my ‘Introduction’ to my ‘Core Strategy.’

By the time I actually started writing content, my creative energy was already half-spent.

But since I started using Copilot, that entire phase of the process has simply evaporated. With a few prompts, Copilot gives me a solid, structured draft that I can immediately start tearing apart, refining, and polishing.

It’s not about letting the AI think for me; it’s about letting the AI handle the structure work so I can step into my role as the editor-in-chief. I’m no longer the person staring at the blinking cursor. The friction is gone, and quite frankly, I can’t imagine going back to the old ways of creating presentations from generic templates or from scratch.

The good news is that Copilot is now included in Microsoft 365 plans. You don’t need to pay any extra to unlock it in Office apps. Once you sign up for a relevant plan, the Copilot icon should start appearing in the top right corner of PowerPoint.

From designer to creative director

Copilot to the rescue

Now, instead of hunting for templates or outlines, I treat the prompt box like a high-speed brainstorming partner. I just type in my vision, and Copilot does the heavy lifting of visualizing it.

Here are a few ways I have been using text prompts to skip the initial work entirely. If I have a sudden idea for a workshop, I will just type: ‘Create a slide on the basics of Agile Project Management for a creative team.’ Within seconds, I have a complete slide ready with icons and layouts that actually look professional.

When I’m mid-deck and realize I need to explain a complex concept, I will prompt: Add a slide that explains the concepts of compound interest using a simple, clean infographic. I don’t have to draw the charts or find icons and pictures; it just builds the visual logic for me.

Sometimes I have the content, but the vibe is wrong. I have started using prompts like: Make this entire presentation look more modern and high-tech with dark mode and neon accents.

You can even give Copilot a specific topic and ask it to create an entire presentation from scratch. For example, I can give a topic like self-hosting using Docker, and it can generate four or five slides in no time. You can refer to them and click Insert.

Copilot even adds relevant comments under each generated slide. So if you are giving a presentation to a crowd, you can always refer to notes. At any point, you can summon Copilot to rewrite the content or summarize the slide.

Microsoft has neatly integrated Copilot features into PowerPoint. However, the UX is confusing. It may take a while for new users to get comfortable with all the features.

My new workflow

Designer takes the experience to the next level

PowerPoint Designer polishes the aesthetics of my slides until they look like I spent days on them. Once Copilot generates a slide based on my prompt, I don’t just leave it as-is.

I immediately click on the Designer button to see how I can push the visual even further.

Copilot might give me a solid list of three key points, but Designer will take that list and offer to turn it into a sleek, professional-grade infographic.

If Copilot picks a stock photo that’s too corporate, I can swap it out, and Designer instantly suggests new layouts that wrap the text around the new image perfectly. It handles the cropping, the alignment, and the color matching in a way that used to take me 15 minutes of fiddling per slide.

Overall, the biggest change is that I have stopped sweating the small stuff. Now, my workflow looks like this:

• Prompt: Ask Copilot to build the core message.
• Refine: Tweak the text for my specific voice.
• Style: Use Designer to cycle through 5-10 professional looks until one pops.

Goodbye, blank slides

The reality is that AI isn’t going to replace the person giving the presentation, but it’s surely going to replace someone spending four hours on slide transitions. If you haven’t experimented with Copilot yet, this is your sign to start.

The learning curve with text prompts is small, but the payoff is massive. My only regret? Not starting sooner. Aside from Copilot, you can even take advantage of Designer to give your slides an aesthetic touch.