Challenge 2: Mail Merge Plus a Distilled Companion Deck — Solution Walkthrough

Mail Merge setup (Step 6):
  1. Build a small Excel Table: columns Name, Amount, 3-4 rows of
     sample recipients.
  2. In Word, Mailings > Start Mail Merge > Letters.
  3. Select Recipients > Use an Existing List > browse to the
     workbook, pick the Table.
  4. Insert Merge Field for Name and Amount into a short cover letter
     template ("Dear «Name», your account shows «Amount»...").
  5. Preview Results to confirm the first row's real data appears
     correctly, then Finish & Merge > Edit Individual Documents to
     generate one personalized letter per recipient.

Companion deck setup (Steps 7-8):
  1. Create a new PowerPoint file. View > Slide Master, set a
     consistent accent colour and font on the Master itself.
  2. Build 4 slides, each using the same Layout (e.g. "Title and
     Content"), each covering exactly ONE idea from the report — for
     example: Slide 1 "Overview," Slide 2 "Q3 Results" (using a
     simple chart rather than restating the report's own data table),
     Slide 3 "Key Recommendation," Slide 4 "Next Steps" — each kept
     within the 6x6 guideline, not copy-pasted paragraphs from the
     Word report.

WHY THIS WORKS AS AN ANSWER
------------------------------
The Mail Merge half succeeds specifically because the Excel Table has
clear, exactly-matching column headers (Chapter 7's own exact-match
discipline) — Name and Amount inserted as merge fields work
immediately without needing Match Fields, precisely because the
template's field names and the source's column headers were written
to agree from the start. The deck half succeeds because each slide
distills ONE idea from the report rather than reproducing its actual
paragraphs — directly applying Chapter 9's "one idea per slide" and
"a chart over a data table" principles, using the Slide Master (Ch.8)
to keep all 4 slides visually consistent without repeating layout
work slide by slide.