Added Authenticity: How Copilot Makes On-Brand Content Creation Effortless

Exploring the drafting and redrafting capabilities of Copilot in Microsoft Word 

Reading time: 4 minutes

Drafting content is hard!  How many hours have I spent gazing at a blank screen wondering what to type? 😵

The difficulty of drafting can be further compounded by knowing what to write, but not how to write it!

The tone and style of content is subtle, but important, not only does it make sure that your words reflect the identity and authenticity of your organisation or cause, but also empathises with the situation of the reader. 

A classic example is writing a brilliantly detailed, factually rich, technical manual for a process and then presenting it to a brand new joiner. It probably won’t engage them or hit the mark.  (Think about the quick start guides that come with a laptop!) 

Copilot to the rescue 

I’m valuing the addition of Copilot for Microsoft 365 in Word (Additional Copilot licence needed).

I think many of us have discovered the power of using AI to turn a blank canvas into the start of a draft that you can go on to make your own. 

But in this blog, I want to focus on the redraft abilities that I use to bring some consistency to my work. 

Worked example 1 

Here we have a block of technical details about Microsoft Teams. It’s in long paragraphs, with technical words. If I shared this with someone from our community, it wouldn’t be unhelpful but wouldn’t be the most engaging. 

I highlight the block of text, select the small Copilot logo and select Make changes. 

Into the prompt window I type how I want the text to be transformed, things that I include: 

• audience – people new to Microsoft 365 
• style – British English  
• tone – friendly 
• structure – short sentences and bullets 

Copilot produces a draft recreating my original text into the structure and theme that I asked in my prompts. I can go on to further make tweaks. 

Worked example 2 

Like many organisations, at Your 365 Coach, we’ve got a ‘tone of voice’ document that describes how we talk and write, to make sure we have a recognisable style. Tone of voice is often included in your company’s brand guidelines. 

Copilot in Word, lets me reference documents within our tenant to help with generating new content. (Typing ‘/’ in the prompt lets me select a document) 

Starting in a blank Word document, I click the Copilot logo and create a prompt. This time I reference our tone of voice document for Copilot to adopt the style, and the original Teams introduction to use as a technical source. 

The tone of voice guide includes differing styles for set scenarios so in my prompt it’s important that I reference them. I include: 

• audience – referring to a group of people mentioned in the tone of voice document
• purpose – mentions a type of content also called out in the tone of voice document 
• source – include the document with the detailed content 

Copilot turns my blank page into an absolutely brilliant starter for my new flyer. 

The power of the prompt! 

Are you considering investing in Copilot? Has it arrived, but you’re still wondering how to make the most of your new assistant? 

If my blog about generating content with Copilot has whet your appetite, then our FREE Your 365 Coach eBook “Our Top 5 Copilot Prompts!” is essential further reading to start your Copilot journey of exploration. 

Visit our website to download the ebook today!  

Matthew 

Matthew Burrell is a consultant at Your 365 Coach