Reliable summaries

How can you use Copilot to obtain a short summary without losing decisions or distorting the facts?

1250 € per session, excl. VAT

In short

This half-day session of 3 hours offers a guided introduction to summarising with Copilot. Using fictitious documents, participants formulate a request, compare the summary with the sources and correct discrepancies. They leave with a verified summary, a reusable instruction and a checking grid.

Why this training?

A fluent summary can conceal a significant omission: a caveat disappears, a proposal becomes a decision or a deadline appears to be confirmed. Learning to return to the source passage prevents you from passing on a misleading summary. Copilot can help condense a text, but the relevance of the result depends on the recipient, the scope of the material provided and the instructions. The training lets participants experiment with these factors without assuming any automatic connection to the organisation’s documents. Running case study: The fictitious organisation Avelune Signalétique is preparing to move premises. A meeting note and six messages set out the constraints, two options, a confirmed decision and a deadline that is still uncertain. Participants must provide the absent manager with a summary that distinguishes facts, decisions, actions and points requiring clarification. Transfer to the workplace: The next time a summary is needed, reuse the instruction with an authorised document, then check every decision and deadline against the source. Keep the corrections to refine the next request.

Objectives of this training

  • Identify the information essential to the recipient of the summary.
  • Formulate an instruction specifying the source, length, structure and exclusions.
  • Produce an initial summary in Copilot from an authorised text.
  • Identify omissions, additions and changes in meaning by comparing with the sources.
  • Correct the summary and measure its quality using a simple grid.

Who is it for and what are the prerequisites?

Roles and tasks concerned

  • Staff who need to summarise notes, messages or internal documents.
  • Assistants and team managers preparing brief information updates.

Prior skills

  • No prior knowledge of AI required.
  • Ability to consult a document and copy a text extract.

What you will work on

  1. Understanding what summarising involves

    Objective: Distinguish faithful condensation from interpretation. Introduction to Copilot, possible errors and confidentiality rules. Differences between summarising, rephrasing and making recommendations.

  2. Building a precise request

    Objective: Obtain an initial summary tailored to the absent manager. Recipient, scope, length and sections. Ask for missing information to be flagged rather than filled in.

  3. Checking facts and nuances

    Objective: Assess the faithfulness of the summary by returning to the sources. Identifying omissions, altered figures, incorrect attributions and erased uncertainties. Convincing wording does not constitute evidence.

  4. Finalising a summary ready to share

    Objective: Validate the deliverable and explain its limitations. Human review, readability, indication of the scope of the source documents and handling of unconfirmed points.

What you take away

  • Summary scoping sheet and essential information.
  • Reusable summarising instruction with fields to adapt.
  • Verified final summary of 150 to 180 words.
  • Annotated comparison grid for the two versions.

Method and assessment

  • Short input sessions followed by immediate practice using the running case study.
  • Individual work followed by work in pairs, with participants reviewing each other’s outputs.
  • Guided group discussion: what works, what needs correcting and what remains a human decision.
  • Preparation: Check access to a version of Copilot authorised by the organisation; input methods will be adapted to this environment. Prepare the fictitious case file and its marked passages; no confidential documents or personal data are required.

Observable criteria: The summary meets the requested length and follows the four agreed sections. ; Every decision and deadline mentioned is linked to a source passage. ; Proposals and uncertainties remain explicitly identified. ; No fact absent from the case file is retained after verification. ; The grid counts the essential pieces of information included, omissions and unsupported additions..

Frequently asked questions

Do you need to be familiar with Copilot already?

No. Getting started is guided, and the first requests are developed together.

Does Copilot automatically access our files?

That depends on the version and permissions. The exercise does not assume any automatic access.

Can we work with real documents?

The exercises use fictitious or anonymised cases, exclusively within tools authorised by the organisation.

Can a well-written summary be sent straight away?

No. Decisions, deadlines and caveats must be checked against the source before distribution.

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