☕ Tech Tips & Tales from The MS Office Maestro

Your weekly guided mini lesson on Microsoft, Copilot & smart working

Hello Reader

Last week I delivered my first standalone Excel with Copilot webinar.

The session started life because the Excel content within Microsoft 365 with Copilot: The Human Advantage deserved more time than I could comfortably give it within the main programme. It became clear that Excel needed a session of its own.

As always, my biggest concern before a webinar isn't the technology.

It's value.

Whenever someone pays to attend one of my sessions, I want them to leave feeling their time and money were well spent. Before every webinar, I find myself wondering whether I have enough content, enough practical examples and enough takeaways that people can use immediately.

This first session was attended by a small group made up of learners from Cohort 4 alongside a few people who had booked specifically for the webinar.

Ninety minutes later, it was over.

The timing worked perfectly. We covered everything I had planned, there were plenty of questions and the feedback afterwards was wonderful.

Reading through the chat afterwards, a pattern quickly emerged. People weren't talking about learning dozens of new Excel features. They were talking about things they could immediately apply in their own work.

One attendee said they would "definitely use most of these prompts". Another commented, "Great to learn how to do it myself." Others described the session as "mind-blowing", "very useful" and "pretty amazing".

One comment in particular made me smile:

That's when it struck me.

The real value wasn't the features we covered. Many of the comments weren't actually about Excel at all.

They were about confidence. Confidence to try Copilot. Confidence to experiment.

Confidence to ask better questions.

Confidence to stop worrying about getting everything perfect before getting started.

I see this all the time when teaching Microsoft 365 and Copilot.

People often think they need more features, more shortcuts, or more technical knowledge.

Of course, learning new features is useful but very often the thing holding people back isn't a lack of knowledge. It's a lack of confidence.

Once people understand what's possible and have a chance to practise in a safe environment, they're far more willing to have a go for themselves.

That's why investing time in learning is never wasted. The reward isn't just a new skill.

It's greater confidence, better execution and ultimately more time saved in the future.

🚀 Early Bird Pricing Ends 25 August

If you're looking to build your Microsoft 365 and Copilot skills in a structured, practical way, now is a good time to take a look at the next Microsoft 365 with Copilot: The Human Advantage cohort, which starts in September.

The programme is designed for busy professionals who want practical ways to work more effectively with Microsoft 365 while developing the human skills that become even more valuable as AI becomes part of everyday work.

And if Excel is an area you'd like to strengthen, you can now add the Excel with Copilot webinar at a discounted rate when you enrol.

Prefer to take Excel as a standalone session? The next Excel with Copilot webinar will run on 6 October.

Early Bird pricing for the September cohort closes on 25 August.

My goal has never been to teach features for the sake of features.

It's to help people feel confident enough to use the tools they already have.

Because once confidence grows, everything else becomes much easier.

✨ This week's Copilot Moment

Build confidence with Excel using the Three-Line Prompt

One of the biggest lessons from the Excel with Copilot webinar was that confidence often comes from having a simple place to start.

Rather than wondering what to ask Copilot, try using this three-line structure:

What do you want Copilot to do?​
Identify the top five spending categories.

Where is the data?​
Use the data in the Expenses table on Sheet1.

What does good look like?​
Show the total spend for each category and present the results in a simple table.

Why this helps at work:​
A clear prompt gives Copilot the information it needs and usually produces more useful results.

Quick win:​
Open a spreadsheet this week and try the three-line structure instead of a one-sentence prompt.

📌 A tiny Microsoft tip

Start with a spreadsheet you already understand

One of the easiest ways to build confidence with Excel and Copilot is to practise on data that is already familiar to you.

Choose something simple such as:

• An expenses spreadsheet
• A project tracker
• Training attendance records
• A holiday planner

Start by asking Copilot a straightforward question before moving on to more advanced requests.

Why this helps:​
When you understand the data, it's much easier to judge whether the response makes sense and to learn from the results.

Try this today:​
Open a spreadsheet you use regularly and ask Copilot one question using the three-line prompt structure.

💛 Before I Go...

One of the things I enjoy most about running live sessions is seeing the moment when something clicks.

Not because someone has learnt a new feature but because they've realised they can do it.

Those moments never get old.

Thank you to everyone who joined the Excel with Copilot webinar and shared their questions, comments and feedback. It made a great first outing for the session.

✍️ Shelley Fishel

The MS Office Maestro​
Expert-led, human-centered Microsoft 365 training