Presentation Summit 2026: Conversation with Chantal Bossé

  
Chantal Bossé helps people turn ideas into presentations that get results. A Microsoft MVP, TEDx speaker coach, LinkedIn Learning instructor, and author of Microsoft PowerPoint Mastery, she has spent more than 20 years helping organizations communicate more clearly with PowerPoint, Microsoft 365, and visual storytelling. Since the earliest days of Microsoft 365 Copilot, she has been testing and teaching AI tools in real business environments, with a practical, honest focus on what works, what doesn’t, and where human judgment still matters.

In this conversation, Chantal talks about the upcoming Presentation Summit 2026, being held virtually from September 13 to 16, 2026.

Indezine.com is the official media partner for the Presentation Summit.

Geetesh: Chantal, your session this year is Copilot Highs and Lows, described as a no-spin look at Microsoft Copilot. What pushed you to frame it around both the highs and the lows, rather than a straightforward how-to?

Chantal: Many people already know how to click the buttons. What they struggle with is judgment: knowing when Copilot actually helps, when it disappoints, and how to set expectations that hold up.

I spend a lot of my time training organizations that are investing heavily in AI, and I almost never meet anyone who’s neutral about Copilot. People love it, or they’re ready to throw it out the window because they have been using Claude or ChatGPT and are now forced to use Copilot in their Microsoft 365 work environment. The truth sits somewhere in the middle.

A straight how-to would age badly, because the product changes every few weeks, sometimes even faster. I’d rather help people build good instincts. If they leave knowing where Copilot creates value today, where it still needs work, and how to decide when and where to reach for it, the session did its job.

Geetesh: Where do you see Copilot genuinely earning its place in a presenter’s workflow today, and where does it still get in the way?

Chantal: The place Copilot earns its keep fastest is communication. Most knowledge workers spend their days buried in emails, Teams chats, meeting recaps, documents, and follow-ups. Copilot is genuinely good at helping people catch up on all of it and pull out what matters.

For presenters, that means reaching the substance faster. Instead of staring at a blank slide, you start from content that already exists across your organization, whether it’s an email thread, meeting notes, a PDF report, some data in Excel spreadsheets, or previous presentation files.

The friction is still PowerPoint. Sometimes the slides it builds are useful. Sometimes they’re a rough starting point. Sometimes they’re a good reminder of why presenters still have jobs.

One that stung: I pointed Copilot at a folder and it built a deck from a document version that was three weeks stale. The slides looked clean but some details were wrong. Nothing failed technically. I just hadn’t named the file, and the folder had four candidates.

The PowerPoint team moves fast, though. By September, there’s a decent chance some of today’s complaints are already out of date.

Geetesh: Your book, Microsoft PowerPoint Mastery, is about communicating better, not just learning features. Does that same idea carry into how you think presenters should approach Copilot, as a communication tool rather than just a shortcut?

Chantal: For me, a strong presentation comes down to understanding your audience and communicating clearly. Features come second. I think about Copilot the same way. Yes, we can view it as a communication tool but I’d add one word to it: assistant.

That word matters, because a lot of people expect a shortcut. They type a prompt, then sit and watch it work, and they walk away feeling it saved them nothing. Copilot changes how you work, and that takes a small shift in habit.

Here’s what it looks like for me. I prepare what I want to delegate, the same way I’d brief a real assistant. Then I send the prompt and I go do something else. I answer an email, I outline another section, I refill my coffee. When I come back, there’s a draft waiting, and my job becomes reviewing and refining it. The review step is where accountability sits. Copilot writes the draft, I sign my name to it, and I’m the one answering the question from the back of the room when it comes.

Used that way, Copilot gives you real time back. Used passively, it mostly gives you frustration. Lately I have named it my smart multitasking buddy: starting a presentation outline for one project, while asking Copilot to review messaging and insights on another one, and even asking for overall formatting changes for another project. All of that works because I move between the different places Copilot lives, which I’ll demonstrate during my session.

Geetesh: You’ve been part of the Presentation Summit since it was still called PowerPoint Live back in 2005. What keeps bringing you back after all these years?

Chantal: The people, friendships and learning. I know that’s the expected answer, but it’s true.

Everything else has changed. In 2005 nobody was talking about AI, and now we can’t stop. The software, the techniques, the whole industry keep moving.

The community stayed. The Presentation Summit is one of the few places where you can spend a few days with people who genuinely care about helping audiences understand ideas better. Some of my closest professional friendships started there. I’ve been learning from people on that stage for twenty-one years, and I still learn from my talented friends every year.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog post or content are those of the authors or the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog post or content are those of the authors or the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.