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Practice beats hype.

For many things you don’t need a Copilot license. Microsoft Copilot Chat is often already included in your Microsoft 365 subscription.

“Write minutes from my notes.”It becomes four parts: Goal, Context, Source, Expectations.

25 ninja techniques for Microsoft Copilot Chat and Copilot Studio. Each with a source, no sign-up.

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Marcel Lehmann

The cut

Before

“Write minutes from my notes.”

After

Goal: Turn my notes into meeting minutes with a list of action items.

Context: The notes are from a team meeting. The minutes will then go to all participants.

Source: Only the text I paste below. Do not add anything that is not in the notes. If a detail is missing, write “open”.

Expectations:
1. A summary of where things stand in no more than three sentences.
2. The decisions as a list.
3. The action items as a table with the columns Task, Owner and Due date.
4. The open questions as a list.
Write in plain, factual English without filler phrases.

Notes:
[Notes, e.g. your bullet points from the meeting]

Goal
Context
Source
Expectations

Example. The answer can differ depending on license and data. The four parts come from the learning module “Write effective prompts” on Microsoft Learn, as of October 15, 2026.

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19 of 25 techniques run without an add-on license if your subscription includes Microsoft Copilot Chat. Show these techniques

Compare three quotes as PDFsLevel 1: Copilot Chat
Reply to an angry customer emailLevel 1: Copilot Chat
Copilot directly in Word or ExcelLevel 3: license

Four moments

When do you need it?

“I don’t know what to ask.”
Technique 01 The Interrogation
“The answer sounds like a brochure.”
Technique 11 The Shadow Writer
“Three quotes, no time.”
Technique 09 The Quote Duel
“The agent makes things up.”
Technique 18 The Belt Exam

Technique of the day

The View from the EndNo. 7: Pre-mortem for a project

The new project starts soon and the plan looks good. In the meeting, nobody said what could go wrong, because nobody wants to look like the one holding things back.