public speaking
September 13-16, 2026 in Nashville, TN
Microsoft Excel
Two real tests of the Claude add-in for Excel: a cross-sheet XLOOKUP profit calculation, and building an HR spreadsheet from scratch with data validation dropdowns, hidden source lists, and dynamic tables.
Chris Menard - Microsoft MVP
One of my favorite productivity tools right now is Wispr Flow. It's an AI dictation tool, but it does a lot more than just transcribe what you say. It strips out filler words automatically, handles mid-sentence corrections, and even formats your text into bullet points when it thinks
Microsoft Excel
Every serious Excel user should have Go To Special in their toolkit. It is one of the fastest ways to find blanks, formulas, constants, or other specific cell types in a worksheet — and it pairs beautifully with the new Excel COPILOT function when your data needs more than a quick
Microsoft Excel
Extra spaces are one of the most common data problems in Excel — leading spaces, trailing spaces, and the trickiest of all, extra spaces in the middle of words. The TRIM function handles all three. But what happens when you switch to Power Query for a larger data cleanup? Power Query&
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams has rolled out new recap features for recorded meetings that work with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Alongside the AI summary and transcript we have had for a while, there is now a Custom summary section with three options — Speaker summary, Executive report, and Create template — plus an
Microsoft Word
Microsoft 365 Copilot can summarize a Word document in seconds, and it is one of the most popular features for licensed users. What is not obvious is that the summarize experience differs between Word Desktop and Word for the Web. The summary itself is identical in both, but Word for
Microsoft Excel
Copilot in Excel can create PivotTables in seconds, and that is great for basic summaries. But when you need calculations that go beyond what a PivotTable can show — median, second highest, third highest — functions are the better approach. Here is how to use Copilot for both, and when to choose
Thoughts, stories and ideas.
I'll be presenting in-person on M365 Copilot at the APC Conference on September 13-16, 2026, in Nashville, TN. Updated on 4/13/2026
Videos cover M365 Copilot, Excel, Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Teams
By default, pressing Enter in a Microsoft Teams chat sends the message immediately. If you have ever accidentally sent a half-finished message, there is now a setting to change this behavior so Enter starts a new line instead. The Default Behavior In the default Teams configuration, typing a message and
Was originally scheduled for April 15, 2026. Moved to May 16, 2026
The Word Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot can do more than create documents from scratch. It can also clean up and fix existing documents, including inconsistent heading styles. Here is how to use Word Agent Mode to make all your Heading 2 styles consistent in a single prompt. Finding the
Microsoft is making major updates to Copilot, and one of the most significant changes is how you create new documents in Word. There are now two distinct Copilot experiences: Edit with Copilot for modifying existing content, and the Word Agent in M365 Copilot chat for creating brand-new documents from scratch.
Redmond, Washington | March 2026 | Evergreen Post — Last updated: March 29, 2026
If you use tags in Microsoft OneNote, you already know how helpful the To Do tag is for tracking tasks. But what happens when you have tasks scattered across multiple sections of a notebook? Manually clicking through each section to find your open items is tedious and easy to miss.
Microsoft Word has a built-in feature that converts plain text into a structured table — and vice versa. This is useful when you receive unformatted data (from an email, a PDF, or a text file) and need to organize it into columns and rows. In this tutorial, Chris Menard demonstrates both
Microsoft has added a built-in TRANSLATE function to Excel that lets you translate text between languages directly in your spreadsheet — no copy-pasting into Google Translate or third-party tools. In this tutorial, Chris Menard demonstrates how to use this powerful new function. YouTube Video How the TRANSLATE Function Works The syntax
Live Stream on M365 Copilot Function and Formula Completion in Excel. Registration is NOT required. Just join at noon ET on 03/18/2026
If you're an IHG One Rewards member, you might be leaving serious money on the table by paying cash for hotel rooms. Let me walk you through a real example where I saved over 50% — more than $1,900 — on a four-night stay at one of Washington, DC&
