Better Business Writing

Better Business Writing

Course Length: 1 day

Description:
Create more engaging presentations, more actionable e-mails and more persuasive memos. The need for sharp writing skills in business is greater today than ever before. We’re surrounded by mountains of text on our virtual and actual desktops every day. Learn how to choose the most powerful words and write the most effective documents to give yourself a much needed edge in this self-paced book.
Table Of Contents:
Part 1: Back to the Basics
Mastering Spelling, Punctuation, and Usage
Six Tips for Better Spelling
Punctuation Pointers
Part Summary
Part 2: Choosing Your Words Carefully
Sharpening Your Writing Style
Deleting (Unnecessary) Redundancies
Forming Parallel Construction
Recognizing Clichés
Avoiding Sexist Language
Part Summary
Part 3: Improving Your Business Writing
Strengthening Your Memos
Using Email Effectively
Ten Tips for a Better Memo
How to Begin
Part Summary
Part 4: Writing for Special Circumstances
Special Kinds of Business Writing
Conveying Bad News Tactfully
When the News Is Especially Sensitive
Writing Persuasively
Using the Motivated Sequence Outline
Part Summary
Part 5: Know Your Audience
Identifying Communication Styles
Writing to Specific Styles
Ten Techniques for Effective Communication
Voluntary Learning Contract
Part Summary

(Just In Time) Microsoft Copilot – Overview (1.5 Hours)

Workshop: Using Copilot in Microsoft Applications

Duration: 6 Hours

 

Overview:

Copilot is a digital assistant embedded into Office tools that enable people to consume content impressively faster than we are used to. It helps to discover information by holistically searching for content in different repositories.

Microsoft has branded AI under different names, to mention: Bing Chat, M365 Chat, and Copilot. This will likely standardize in the future. Copilot answers could be different for everyone; content visibility and context of the prompt make the output unique. Copilot can help you quickly catch up with unattended meetings, especially when we are double/triple booked.

During a Teams meetings Copilot uses transcriptions. Transcriptions are sensitive to listening errors or misunderstanding, leading at times to inaccuracies.

 

Objectives

  • What is Copilot
  • How to access Copilot
  • Copilot in Teams
  • Copilot in Outlook
  • Copilot in Power BI
  • Copilot in Designer
  • Q&A

 

 

Session 1: Introduction to Copilot

  • Welcome and Introduction
      • Icebreaker activity.
      • Overview of workshop objectives and agenda.
  • What is Copilot?
      • History and development.
      • How it works:

 

  • Capabilities and Limitations
    • Copilot can do (e.g., content generation, Q&A, conversational AI).

Session 2: Copilot and Teams

  • Generate meeting notes and summarize key points
  • Detail follow-up tasks and action items for the team
  • Use Copilot can recap key meetings points
  • Rewrite and adjust your messages
  • Discuss best practices using the prompts
  • Discuss and analyze sample prompts

Session 3: Copilot and Outlook

  • Prepare a quick summary of a long email
  • Associate related emails or conversations into the summary
  • Draft new emails or replies
  • General full-length email drafts using thread context when replying
    • Currently supported in the Outlook web version only
  • Get Coaching while writing an email (new or reply)
  • Provide on-demand assistance suggesting tone, sentiment, and clarity

Session 4: Copilot and Power BI

  • Data Import: Copilot can assist in importing data from various sources into Power BI.
  • Data Transformation: Copilot can help guide through data cleaning, transformation, and preparation using Power Query.
  • Visualization Creation: Copilot can help create and customize visualizations like charts, graphs, and maps.
  • Report Building: Assist in building comprehensive reports and dashboards.
  • DAX Formulas: Provide suggestions and assistance with writing DAX formulas for advanced calculations.

Session 5: Copilot and Microsoft Designer

  • Generate professional and visually appealing graphic designs automatically.
  • Customize templates with ease, using AI-driven suggestions for layout, colors, and fonts.
  • Collaborate seamlessly with team members by sharing designs and receiving feedback in real-time.

Microsoft Copilot – Introduction

Workshop: Using Copilot in Microsoft Applications

Duration: 6 Hours

 

Overview:

Copilot is a digital assistant embedded into Office tools that enable people to consume content impressively faster than we are used to. It helps to discover information by holistically searching for content in different repositories.

Microsoft has branded AI under different names, to mention: Bing Chat, M365 Chat, and Copilot. This will likely standardize in the future. Copilot answers could be different for everyone; content visibility and context of the prompt make the output unique. Copilot can help you quickly catch up with unattended meetings, especially when we are double/triple booked.

During a Teams meetings Copilot uses transcriptions. Transcriptions are sensitive to listening errors or misunderstanding, leading at times to inaccuracies.

 

Objectives

  • What is Copilot
  • How to access Copilot
  • Copilot in Teams
  • Copilot in Outlook
  • Copilot in Power BI
  • Copilot in Designer
  • Q&A

 

 

Session 1: Introduction to Copilot

  • Welcome and Introduction
      • Icebreaker activity.
      • Overview of workshop objectives and agenda.
  • What is Copilot?
      • History and development.
      • How it works:

 

  • Capabilities and Limitations
    • Copilot can do (e.g., content generation, Q&A, conversational AI).

Session 2: Copilot and Teams

  • Generate meeting notes and summarize key points
  • Detail follow-up tasks and action items for the team
  • Use Copilot can recap key meetings points
  • Rewrite and adjust your messages
  • Discuss best practices using the prompts
  • Discuss and analyze sample prompts

Session 3: Copilot and Outlook

  • Prepare a quick summary of a long email
  • Associate related emails or conversations into the summary
  • Draft new emails or replies
  • General full-length email drafts using thread context when replying
    • Currently supported in the Outlook web version only
  • Get Coaching while writing an email (new or reply)
  • Provide on-demand assistance suggesting tone, sentiment, and clarity

Session 4: Copilot and Power BI

  • Data Import: Copilot can assist in importing data from various sources into Power BI.
  • Data Transformation: Copilot can help guide through data cleaning, transformation, and preparation using Power Query.
  • Visualization Creation: Copilot can help create and customize visualizations like charts, graphs, and maps.
  • Report Building: Assist in building comprehensive reports and dashboards.
  • DAX Formulas: Provide suggestions and assistance with writing DAX formulas for advanced calculations.

Session 5: Copilot and Microsoft Designer

  • Generate professional and visually appealing graphic designs automatically.
  • Customize templates with ease, using AI-driven suggestions for layout, colors, and fonts.
  • Collaborate seamlessly with team members by sharing designs and receiving feedback in real-time.

Microsoft Copilot – Introduction

Workshop: Using Copilot in Microsoft Applications

Duration: 6 Hours

 

Overview:

Copilot is a digital assistant embedded into Office tools that enable people to consume content impressively faster than we are used to. It helps to discover information by holistically searching for content in different repositories.

Microsoft has branded AI under different names, to mention: Bing Chat, M365 Chat, and Copilot. This will likely standardize in the future. Copilot answers could be different for everyone; content visibility and context of the prompt make the output unique. Copilot can help you quickly catch up with unattended meetings, especially when we are double/triple booked.

During a Teams meetings Copilot uses transcriptions. Transcriptions are sensitive to listening errors or misunderstanding, leading at times to inaccuracies.

 

Objectives

  • What is Copilot
  • How to access Copilot
  • Copilot in Teams
  • Copilot in Outlook
  • Copilot in Power BI
  • Copilot in Designer
  • Q&A

 

 

Session 1: Introduction to Copilot

  • Welcome and Introduction
      • Icebreaker activity.
      • Overview of workshop objectives and agenda.
  • What is Copilot?
      • History and development.
      • How it works:

 

  • Capabilities and Limitations
    • Copilot can do (e.g., content generation, Q&A, conversational AI).

Session 2: Copilot and Teams

  • Generate meeting notes and summarize key points
  • Detail follow-up tasks and action items for the team
  • Use Copilot can recap key meetings points
  • Rewrite and adjust your messages
  • Discuss best practices using the prompts
  • Discuss and analyze sample prompts

Session 3: Copilot and Outlook

  • Prepare a quick summary of a long email
  • Associate related emails or conversations into the summary
  • Draft new emails or replies
  • General full-length email drafts using thread context when replying
    • Currently supported in the Outlook web version only
  • Get Coaching while writing an email (new or reply)
  • Provide on-demand assistance suggesting tone, sentiment, and clarity

Session 4: Copilot and Power BI

  • Data Import: Copilot can assist in importing data from various sources into Power BI.
  • Data Transformation: Copilot can help guide through data cleaning, transformation, and preparation using Power Query.
  • Visualization Creation: Copilot can help create and customize visualizations like charts, graphs, and maps.
  • Report Building: Assist in building comprehensive reports and dashboards.
  • DAX Formulas: Provide suggestions and assistance with writing DAX formulas for advanced calculations.

Session 5: Copilot and Microsoft Designer

  • Generate professional and visually appealing graphic designs automatically.
  • Customize templates with ease, using AI-driven suggestions for layout, colors, and fonts.
  • Collaborate seamlessly with team members by sharing designs and receiving feedback in real-time.

Microsoft Power Automate – Introduction

MICROSOFT POWER AUTOMATE

Course Duration: 1 Day

 

Overview

This course delivers an instructor-led product showcase for Microsoft Power Automate from start to finish in an engaging and practical way. Power Automate is a diverse product, turning business processes into automated, consistent, and visual workflows. Power Automate is designed to interweave the various products in Office 365 as well as connect to other on-premises and web-based solutions. This course will give you the confidence to select the right actions and workflow logic for your business workflows.

Audience

The intended audience for this course would be those who have been using Office 365 for some time and are now looking at optimizing their existing business processes and designing new ones.

Prerequisites

Delegates should have some exposure to Microsoft Windows operating system and Microsoft Office 365.

Course Objectives

  • An Introduction to Microsoft Power Automate
  • Getting Started with Workflows
  • Flow Logic
  • Integration
  • The Mobile App
  • Administration and Maintenance

Module 1:

An Introduction to Microsoft Power Automate 

Let’s get started with an introduction to Microsoft Power Automate. Historically, automating business processes typically landed in the lap of a developer in the business, who has a good understanding of coding and the systems that they were connecting. However, more systems deployed to businesses are encouraging a bigger focus on end user design and management. With this culture change, end users are looking to further improve their business solutions. Power Automate brings workflow design to all audiences. It offers the building blocks for lightweight or business-critical processes.

In this module, we cover an overview of the product and its application to Office 365 and third-party services.

Topics Covered

  • What is Microsoft Power Automate?
  • The benefits of automation
  • How to get to Power Automate

Module 2:

Getting started with Power Automate 

We begin our discovery of Microsoft Power Automate by building our first business process. We will discuss how to use templates to get started with Power Automate or how to use a blank template to start with no defined actions. Once in the product, we will give you a tour of the editor, workflow management page and the home screen to help you navigate around the product.

Next, we will start to add, edit, and remove actions from our workflow template in order to customize the Power Automate for a specific business need. Once ready we will publish and trigger the workflow to test that it works as expected. We will finish this module by discussing how to turn a flow on or off as well as deleting a flow.

Topics Covered

  • Using Power Automate templates
  • Navigating in Power Automate
  • Editing a flow • Publish and trigger a flow
  • Turn off or delete a flow

Module 3:

Power Automate logic 

Decision making during a business process is often a bottleneck. Waiting for decisions or information to steer the workflow towards its goal is dependent on how long the involved party spends on the task. This could be mitigated if the desired information is found declared elsewhere for example, as a document property or a form entry to name a few examples. Logic in a workflow allows existing information to push the workflow down multiple paths. This often speeds up workflow duration and minimizes human input.

In this module, we will look at the core logic found in Power Automate and a practical application of each option.

Topics Covered

  • Adding conditions
  • Designing switches
  • Using apply to each
  • Configuring “do until” logic
  • Adding a scope

Module 4:

Integration

Businesses will often use a selection of productivity tools and services beyond Office 365. Marketing teams may use Facebook and Twitter whereas a sales team may use Salesforce to manage their customers. Power Automate provides connectors for popular services allowing your processes to extend beyond Office 365 to other web services. Connections can even be made to on-premises servers, allowing your business systems house at the office to take part in your processes.

Topics Covered

  • Standard and premium connectors
  • Connecting to web services
  • Using Power Automate with on-premises data

Module 5:

The Mobile App 

Power Automate has a corresponding mobile app that can be used to leverage many features of Power Automate. Firstly, it offers users the capability to build new flows, directly from their phone or tablet. Secondly, it can be used to manage existing flows including editing, viewing history, saving a copy, disabling, and deleting flows. You can access any approvals that have been sent to you by Power Automate and approve or reject decisions. The app also supports the push notifications that can be sent to your phone or tablet from a flow. Additionally, you can even create buttons that appear in the app which allow you to trigger flows. This valuable app will be detailed in this module.

Topics Covered

  • Downloading the mobile app
  • Signing in and account management
  • Building and managing flows
  • Creating buttons
  • Feeds and approvals

Module 6:

Administration and Maintenance 

In our last module for Microsoft Power Automate, we will be looking at how a business can manage their flows once they have a good uptake of the product. We will begin by discussing managing individual flows. This could be using history to discover the source of any issues and implement error handling as well as using the analytics to discover usage trends. We will discover how to share a flow which is ideal for sharing the maintenance of a flow with another colleague and how to import and export flows. Finally, we will discuss how Office 365 administrators can shape the Power Automate experience with high-level settings that help ensure data segregation and security.

Topics Covered

  • Maintaining a flow
  • View history and analytics
  • Sharing a flow
  • Export and import flows
  • Office 365 administration for Power Automate
  • Environments
  • Data policies
  • Data integration

Microsoft Power Automate – Introduction

MICROSOFT POWER AUTOMATE

Course Duration: 1 Day

 

Overview

This course delivers an instructor-led product showcase for Microsoft Power Automate from start to finish in an engaging and practical way. Power Automate is a diverse product, turning business processes into automated, consistent, and visual workflows. Power Automate is designed to interweave the various products in Office 365 as well as connect to other on-premises and web-based solutions. This course will give you the confidence to select the right actions and workflow logic for your business workflows.

Audience

The intended audience for this course would be those who have been using Office 365 for some time and are now looking at optimizing their existing business processes and designing new ones.

Prerequisites

Delegates should have some exposure to Microsoft Windows operating system and Microsoft Office 365.

Course Objectives

  • An Introduction to Microsoft Power Automate
  • Getting Started with Workflows
  • Flow Logic
  • Integration
  • The Mobile App
  • Administration and Maintenance

Module 1:

An Introduction to Microsoft Power Automate 

Let’s get started with an introduction to Microsoft Power Automate. Historically, automating business processes typically landed in the lap of a developer in the business, who has a good understanding of coding and the systems that they were connecting. However, more systems deployed to businesses are encouraging a bigger focus on end user design and management. With this culture change, end users are looking to further improve their business solutions. Power Automate brings workflow design to all audiences. It offers the building blocks for lightweight or business-critical processes.

In this module, we cover an overview of the product and its application to Office 365 and third-party services.

Topics Covered

  • What is Microsoft Power Automate?
  • The benefits of automation
  • How to get to Power Automate

Module 2:

Getting started with Power Automate 

We begin our discovery of Microsoft Power Automate by building our first business process. We will discuss how to use templates to get started with Power Automate or how to use a blank template to start with no defined actions. Once in the product, we will give you a tour of the editor, workflow management page and the home screen to help you navigate around the product.

Next, we will start to add, edit, and remove actions from our workflow template in order to customize the Power Automate for a specific business need. Once ready we will publish and trigger the workflow to test that it works as expected. We will finish this module by discussing how to turn a flow on or off as well as deleting a flow.

Topics Covered

  • Using Power Automate templates
  • Navigating in Power Automate
  • Editing a flow • Publish and trigger a flow
  • Turn off or delete a flow

Module 3:

Power Automate logic 

Decision making during a business process is often a bottleneck. Waiting for decisions or information to steer the workflow towards its goal is dependent on how long the involved party spends on the task. This could be mitigated if the desired information is found declared elsewhere for example, as a document property or a form entry to name a few examples. Logic in a workflow allows existing information to push the workflow down multiple paths. This often speeds up workflow duration and minimizes human input.

In this module, we will look at the core logic found in Power Automate and a practical application of each option.

Topics Covered

  • Adding conditions
  • Designing switches
  • Using apply to each
  • Configuring “do until” logic
  • Adding a scope

Module 4:

Integration

Businesses will often use a selection of productivity tools and services beyond Office 365. Marketing teams may use Facebook and Twitter whereas a sales team may use Salesforce to manage their customers. Power Automate provides connectors for popular services allowing your processes to extend beyond Office 365 to other web services. Connections can even be made to on-premises servers, allowing your business systems house at the office to take part in your processes.

Topics Covered

  • Standard and premium connectors
  • Connecting to web services
  • Using Power Automate with on-premises data

Module 5:

The Mobile App 

Power Automate has a corresponding mobile app that can be used to leverage many features of Power Automate. Firstly, it offers users the capability to build new flows, directly from their phone or tablet. Secondly, it can be used to manage existing flows including editing, viewing history, saving a copy, disabling, and deleting flows. You can access any approvals that have been sent to you by Power Automate and approve or reject decisions. The app also supports the push notifications that can be sent to your phone or tablet from a flow. Additionally, you can even create buttons that appear in the app which allow you to trigger flows. This valuable app will be detailed in this module.

Topics Covered

  • Downloading the mobile app
  • Signing in and account management
  • Building and managing flows
  • Creating buttons
  • Feeds and approvals

Module 6:

Administration and Maintenance 

In our last module for Microsoft Power Automate, we will be looking at how a business can manage their flows once they have a good uptake of the product. We will begin by discussing managing individual flows. This could be using history to discover the source of any issues and implement error handling as well as using the analytics to discover usage trends. We will discover how to share a flow which is ideal for sharing the maintenance of a flow with another colleague and how to import and export flows. Finally, we will discuss how Office 365 administrators can shape the Power Automate experience with high-level settings that help ensure data segregation and security.

Topics Covered

  • Maintaining a flow
  • View history and analytics
  • Sharing a flow
  • Export and import flows
  • Office 365 administration for Power Automate
  • Environments
  • Data policies
  • Data integration

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