How to Get Your PowerPoint Template Ready for Copilot: Brand Kit and Template Assessment Explained
Copilot in PowerPoint builds decks from your brand kit, but how on-brand they look depends on your template. Copilot uses your template's sample slides first and its layouts second, and when there aren't enough sample slides it falls back to the slide master, which Microsoft says may give less optimal results. In the final part of his four-part series, Anand goes through getting your company template ready for Copilot, checking it with Template assessment, and the two settings that keep Copilot on brand.What the episode covers:- Why sample slides matter most: Microsoft's advice is "If you only have time for one thing, add sample slides." Make them representative, complete slides at light, medium and heavy density, not libraries of icons or charts.- Template structure: put main content in placeholders, not text boxes. Use theme colors and fonts instead of manual formatting, and editable tables and charts instead of pictures of them. Create and save the template in PowerPoint for Windows or Mac, as .pptx or .potx. Brand kit is available in PowerPoint for Windows, Mac and the web.- Template assessment: made for brand managers. It runs automatically when you add a template to a brand kit (Templates, then Add template), and you can run it on an existing template from More options (...), then Template assessment. It checks the template file, slide master, theme, placeholders and sample slides. Each row is marked Suggestion or Pass, with Why it matters and How to improve. It never changes your file or blocks saving. Select Copy results to share the report. A Microsoft 365 Copilot (Premium) license is required.- Fixing with Copilot: in Copilot in PowerPoint, enter Microsoft's prompt ("Fix the template issues from the checker report, keeping the existing design and slide count:") and paste the copied results after it. Copilot might ask how you want to act on the report: Fix the existing slides, Fix and expand examples, or Explain the report first. Then save, upload the template again and reassess.- Strict brand adherence and note instructions: strict mode is one setting for the whole brand kit. It keeps Copilot to your approved template and slide master layouts, with no new layouts and no added or removed placeholders. Note instructions are plain-language rules in a template slide's speaker notes, such as "Always include this cover slide" or "Don't modify this slide". Placeholder text is used for styling only, not as instructions. Only the brand kit owner or a brand manager can change these settings, and people using the template can't override them.This wraps up the four-part series: Copilot itself, built-in skills, custom skills and brand kit.Chapters0:00 Where part three left off: the template0:26 What Copilot learns from your template1:34 Template assessment2:35 Fixing the results with Copilot2:59 Two settings: strict brand adherence and note instructions3:48 Looking back over the series4:07 One step this weekSome screenshots: Microsoft Support ("Build templates that work well with Copilot", "Keep your presentation on-brand with Copilot", "Manage template settings in your Brand Kit for Copilot in PowerPoint"), with the demo company names masked. Other screens come from a Microsoft 365 tenant with details masked. Scenes marked ILLUSTRATION are drawn, not captured.Part one: Copilot in PowerPoint: Skills, Custom Skills and Brand Kit Explainedhttps://youtu.be/uFVfNL_VirEPart two: Copilot in PowerPoint built-in skillshttps://youtu.be/-T3weF2p5T8Part three: Custom Skills in Copilot in PowerPoint: How to Write, Record and Share Your Ownhttps://open.spotify.com/episode/3KmzfnceE2ce3z8XyzGjeFWatch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-PrNigSn8tkTech Ease on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@anandvijayaragavan18Follow Tech Ease on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Cd8NsDE7kdQmLnbXe8Xx1Tech Ease is independent and not affiliated with Microsoft.#CopilotInPowerPoint #Microsoft365Copilot #PowerPoint