Book Review: Everyday Excellence with AI by Paige Joy — Communicate Like a Pro with ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot

You don’t need another hype-y book about AI. You need practical help. If your day is a blur of executive emails, proposal deadlines, messy meeting notes, and last‑minute slide edits, here’s the question that keeps coming up: How do I use AI to move faster and still sound like me?

Everyday Excellence with AI: Harness Artificial Intelligence to Communicate Like a Pro by Paige Joy is the clearest answer I’ve seen to date. It’s short on jargon, long on real‑world application, and relentlessly focused on one goal: helping professionals use tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot to communicate with clarity, confidence, and consistency.

If AI still feels intimidating—or if you’ve dabbled with prompts but aren’t getting reliable results—this book meets you exactly where you are. And if you lead a team, Joy offers a rare blend of practicality and leadership savvy: how to scale AI use without sacrificing quality, ethics, or your brand voice.

Let’s unpack what works, what to watch for, and how to put these ideas to work this week.

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What This Book Is (And Who It’s For)

At its core, Everyday Excellence with AI is a field guide for modern communication. Joy writes from the trenches—specifically, high‑pressure healthcare proposal environments—where words have to work hard, quickly, and often under scrutiny. That perspective shows. The examples and prompts feel tested, not theoretical.

Who will get the most value: – Busy professionals who write a lot—executives, project managers, proposal writers, consultants, marketers, and team leads. – New users who want to learn ChatGPT or Copilot without tech overwhelm. – Experienced users who want to standardize AI use across a team and maintain a consistent voice. – Leaders who need ethical guardrails, repeatable workflows, and measurable outcomes.

Bottom line: This is an applied, confidence‑building guide to using AI as a communication partner—not a replacement for your expertise.

The Big Idea: Clarity, Confidence, and Consistency

Joy organizes her guidance around three outcomes that matter every day: write with clarity, act with confidence, and show up with consistency. It sounds simple. In practice, it’s a powerful filter for everything from email tone to proposal structure.

Here’s how that takes shape in the book.

Clarity: Make the Message Easy to Understand

Clarity isn’t “dumbing down.” It’s making it easy for your reader to take action. Joy shows you how to lean on AI for: – Plain‑language rewrites of complex paragraphs. – Headline and bullet refinements that tighten focus. – Structured summaries that cut fluff but keep nuance.

Why it matters: Clear writing saves time on both sides. For a deep dive into plain language benefits, see research from Nielsen Norman Group on readability and trust in content design: Nielsen Norman Group: Why Plain Language Works.

Confidence: Keep Your Voice and Standards

Many people fear sounding “generic” with AI. Joy tackles that head‑on with voice tuning prompts and practical checkpoints. You learn to: – Feed AI a short “voice style sheet” for tone (e.g., confident, warm, no jargon). – Ask for alternatives, then choose the one that matches your intent. – Set review criteria—facts, tone, compliance—before you hit send.

Confidence also comes from knowing your data is safe. Joy’s advice to use tools within your organization’s security boundary (e.g., Microsoft Copilot within Microsoft 365) is on point. For a high‑level overview of Copilot and enterprise protections, see Microsoft’s documentation: Microsoft 365 Copilot Overview.

Consistency: Standardize What Works

Great communicators are consistent because they use templates, checklists, and shared prompts. Joy leans into that with: – Repeatable frameworks for emails, proposals, and presentations. – “Before/After” examples to show what good looks like. – Team‑ready prompts you can store in a shared doc or wiki.

Consistency isn’t just brand protection—it’s a productivity multiplier. As McKinsey notes, generative AI’s impact scales when teams codify workflows and reuse patterns: McKinsey: The Economic Potential of Generative AI.

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ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot in Action

Joy’s book shines when it shows, not just tells. Here’s a taste of how she frames these tools in everyday workflows.

Use Cases You Can Steal Today

Email clarity, fast: – Prompt: “Rewrite this email to be clear and decisive. Keep it under 150 words. Tone: professional, friendly, no jargon. Include a specific ask and deadline. [Paste draft]” – Result: Shorter, clearer, and easier to approve.

Executive summary that lands: – Prompt: “Summarize this 8‑page report for a CFO. 3 bullets: risk, upside, decision needed. Keep numbers intact. Flag any unclear assumptions. [Paste text]”

Proposal section polish: – Prompt: “Edit for precision and compliance with the RFP’s Section C. Remove fluff. Replace vague claims with verifiable outcomes. Keep original structure. [Paste section]”

Presentation draft in minutes: – Prompt: “Create a 10‑slide outline for a stakeholder update. Goal: get approval for Phase 2. Audience: cross‑functional leaders. Include risks, mitigations, timeline, and budget.”

Meeting notes to next steps: – Prompt: “Turn these notes into action items with owner, deadline, and dependencies. Add a short recap paragraph for the project sponsor. [Paste notes]”

Where Copilot Helps Most

If your organization uses Microsoft 365, Copilot has a distinct advantage: context. It can draft emails in Outlook, summarize Teams meetings, refine Word documents, and suggest PowerPoint slides using your own docs and permissions.

Sample Copilot asks: – “Draft a reply that confirms timeline and asks for final approval by Friday at 3pm. Keep tone appreciative but firm.” – “Summarize last week’s Teams meeting and highlight open risks with owners.” – “Create a PowerPoint outline from this Word document with a 1‑slide executive summary.”

Note on privacy and governance: Always confirm your company’s data policies. Joy’s advice aligns with best practice: keep sensitive data inside secure tools, check AI outputs for accuracy, and avoid pasting confidential information into public models. For broader context on AI risk and governance, see the NIST AI Risk Management Framework: NIST AI RMF.

The “Start Small, Scale Smart” Method

One of Joy’s best contributions is a practical adoption path. Rather than “AI everything,” she advocates a crawl‑walk‑run approach you can apply solo or with a team.

Crawl: Improve one task by 20% – Choose one pain point (e.g., executive emails). – Create a 3‑prompt toolkit for that task. – Track time saved and error rate reduced.

Walk: Template your wins – Turn the best prompts into templates. – Build a short voice guide (tone, do/don’t, sample phrases). – Share with a colleague and refine.

Run: Scale with governance – Create a team prompt library and checklist for review. – Define guardrails for privacy, accuracy, and source control. – Measure outcomes (speed, quality, response rates) and report monthly.

Why this matters: process beats novelty. A well‑run workflow beats “clever prompts” every time.

Ethical, Practical Guardrails You Shouldn’t Skip

Joy treats ethics as a practical toolset, not an afterthought. That’s refreshing—and essential.

Key guardrails to adopt: – Accuracy first. Ask AI to cite sources or mark uncertain claims. Cross‑check anything that sounds surprising. – Protect data. Don’t paste confidential information into public tools. Use enterprise‑approved tools for sensitive work. – Note bias. Ask AI to “scan for biased or exclusionary language and suggest inclusive alternatives.” – Own the message. You are the editor. Keep your voice. Keep your judgment.

If you’re building org‑wide norms, align with trusted frameworks and policy updates: – NIST AI Risk Management Framework: NIST AI RMF – European Commission overview of the AI Act: EU AI Act Overview – OpenAI’s ChatGPT overview and resources: OpenAI ChatGPT

Leadership Communications and Team Collaboration

The book’s leadership angle is another strength. Joy shows how AI can raise the floor for team communication—and raise the bar for leaders.

What that looks like in practice: – Decision memos: Ask for structured options with pros/cons, risks, and a recommended path. Then tighten the narrative in your own voice. – Team updates: Draft weekly status summaries that are consistent in format and easy to scan. – Performance feedback: Use AI for structure and phrasing prompts, then personalize with specifics and examples. – Meeting hygiene: Convert agendas into time‑boxed plans; convert notes into action items with owners and deadlines.

Prompts for leaders: – “Draft a 250‑word update that explains what changed, why it matters, and what we’re doing next. Audience: cross‑functional team. Tone: calm, transparent, forward‑looking.” – “Turn these notes into a one‑page decision memo: context, options, recommendation, risks, mitigations. [Paste notes]”

Tip: Pair AI with a human staircase. Junior staff can draft with AI; senior reviewers ensure alignment, nuance, and accountability.

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Where the Book Shines

Grounded practicality. The examples are relatable and ready to copy for real work.
Voice preservation. Joy shows how to “sound like you,” not like a bot.
Ethical clarity. Clear guardrails make it easier to adopt AI responsibly.
Team‑friendly. It’s written with managers and cross‑functional teams in mind.

If you’ve been overwhelmed by AI advice, this book is a relief. It isn’t trying to impress you with technical prowess. It’s trying to help you ship better work.

What Could Be Even Better

No book covers everything. Here are areas I’d love to see expanded in future editions: – Metrics library. More examples of KPIs (response rates, review cycles, time to draft, error rates) would help leaders quantify impact. – Sector specifics. The healthcare proposal lens is valuable; additional scenarios for finance, public sector, and SaaS would widen applicability. – Non‑English guidance. Tips for multilingual teams and non‑English prompts would serve global readers. – Change management. A deeper look at coaching reluctant adopters and running pilots across departments would help leaders scale faster.

These aren’t shortcomings so much as opportunities. The core playbook is strong.

A 7‑Day Sprint to Put the Book Into Practice

Want quick wins? Here’s a one‑week rollout plan inspired by the book’s approach.

Day 1: Pick one workflow – Choose the task that eats your time: executive emails, weekly updates, or deck outlines. – Define “done”: clearer, faster, fewer revisions.

Day 2: Draft three prompts – Write short, reusable prompts for that workflow. – Include tone, length, audience, and constraints.

Day 3: Build a voice sheet – 6–8 lines: tone, sentence length, words to avoid, key phrases, examples of good. – Paste it at the top of your prompts.

Day 4: Test and measure – Run three tasks end‑to‑end with AI support. – Track time saved, edits made, and stakeholder satisfaction.

Day 5: Create a template – Turn what worked into a Google Doc or Word template. – Add a brief checklist: facts verified, tone confirmed, brand terms used.

Day 6: Peer review – Share with one colleague. Ask them to use it once and give you feedback. – Improve prompts and the checklist.

Day 7: Scale modestly – Share the final template and prompts with your team. – Set a 15‑minute weekly review to collect wins and refine.

Pro tip: Keep a “What AI did well / What I did better” log. Your future self (and your team) will thank you.

Practical Prompt Library (Copy/Paste)

Email: decision request – “Write a concise email (120–150 words) asking for approval on [project/task]. Include: the decision needed, the ‘why,’ deadline, and two bullet options. Tone: respectful, confident, time‑sensitive.”

Proposal: executive summary – “Create a 150‑word executive summary for a proposal to [client]. Focus on outcomes, unique value, and risk mitigation. Use plain language and no more than 2 short sentences per paragraph.”

Presentation: storyline – “Outline a 12‑slide deck for [audience]. Use the following structure: Title, Problem, Impact, Opportunity, Plan, Timeline, Resources, Risks, Mitigation, Proof, Call to Action, Next Steps.”

Report: clarity pass – “Edit for clarity and brevity. Keep technical accuracy. Convert long sentences into two. Replace abstract words with concrete ones. Flag any unsupported claims.”

Meeting notes: action list – “Turn these notes into action items with owner, due date, and status. Then write a 5‑sentence recap for stakeholders who missed the meeting.”

Voice tuning (use this once, then reuse) – “Here is my voice guide: [paste]. Apply it to the output. If any phrasing drifts from this voice, suggest two alternatives that fit better.”

Writing Standards That Pair Well With the Book

If “clarity” is your north star, bookmark these: – U.S. Plain Language Guidelines for clear, actionable writing: PlainLanguage.gov – Nielsen Norman Group on readable, trustworthy content: Why Plain Language Works – OpenAI’s ChatGPT overview and resources for better prompts: OpenAI ChatGPT – Microsoft’s official Copilot overview for enterprise usage: Microsoft 365 Copilot Overview – Safety and best practices for responsible prompting: OpenAI Safety Best Practices

These pair nicely with Joy’s frameworks when you want to deepen your practice or train a team.

Final Verdict: A Practical, Human Guide for Real Work

Everyday Excellence with AI is the book I’d hand to any professional who wants to use AI not as a shortcut, but as a craft tool. Joy’s advice is simple without being simplistic, ethical without being alarmist, and immediately applicable.

Buy it if: – You write daily and want cleaner, faster results with your voice intact. – You manage communications at scale and need shared prompts and guardrails. – You’re launching or refining an AI‑assisted writing pilot inside your org.

Skip it if: – You’re looking for technical deep dives or model architecture details. – You want a speculative future‑of‑work manifesto rather than a practical manual.

The takeaway: AI won’t make you excellent on its own. But with the right workflows, it can remove friction, sharpen your message, and give you back hours each week.

If this review helped, consider subscribing for more practical AI playbooks and book breakdowns. And if you put any of these prompts to work, I’d love to hear what you shipped.

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FAQs: Everyday Excellence with AI, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot

How does this book differ from other “AI for business” guides? – It focuses on daily communication tasks—emails, proposals, presentations—rather than abstract strategy. The tone is practical and the examples are ready to deploy.

Can beginners use this book without prior AI experience? – Yes. Joy explains how to start small, gives copy‑and‑paste prompts, and shows you how to keep your own voice. It’s friendly to first‑time users.

Is Microsoft Copilot required, or can I use ChatGPT alone? – You can use either. Copilot shines if your company uses Microsoft 365 because it works inside Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Teams with enterprise security. ChatGPT is great for drafting, brainstorming, and rewrites. Many readers will use both.

Will AI make my writing sound generic? – Not if you set a clear voice guide and review outputs. The book teaches voice tuning so your writing sounds like you—only clearer and faster.

How do I protect confidential information while using AI? – Use enterprise‑approved tools, avoid pasting sensitive data into public models, and follow your company’s data policies. For broader frameworks, see the NIST AI RMF and the EU AI Act overview.

What are the best prompts for executive emails? – Keep it short and specific. Example: “Draft a 130‑word email requesting a decision on [topic] by [deadline]. Include two options with pros/cons. Tone: direct, respectful, time‑bound.”

Can AI help with proposals without risking compliance? – Yes, with guardrails. Use AI for structure, clarity, and consistency. Keep compliance checks human. Ask AI to highlight potential gaps or ambiguous claims, but do final verification yourself.

How do I measure the impact of AI on my team’s communication? – Track time to draft, number of review cycles, stakeholder satisfaction, and response rates. Start with a single workflow (e.g., status updates) and compare 4 weeks pre‑ and post‑adoption.

What’s a simple way to keep my tone consistent across a team? – Create a one‑page voice guide (tone, sentence length, words to avoid, sample phrases) and paste it at the top of shared prompts. Ask AI to follow it by default and flag deviations.

Is this book relevant if I’m outside healthcare or proposals? – Yes. The healthcare proposal lens informs the examples, but the frameworks—clarity, voice, prompts, guardrails—apply to any professional setting.

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Book Review: Everyday Excellence with AI by Paige Joy — Communicate Like a Pro with ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot

What This Book Is (And Who It’s For)

The Big Idea: Clarity, Confidence, and Consistency

Clarity: Make the Message Easy to Understand