Turn paper tally sheets into a spreadsheet and summary with Gemini

← All use cases / Productivity

ToolGemini

As a volunteer chair of her child's preschool parent committee, Jessica McKellar photographed two weeks of paper classroom surveys about a new food programme and had Gemini turn them into spreadsheets of raw data, a summary report for the school's administrators and a draft email to parents explaining the results.

Prompt to copy
Here are photos of paper tally sheets from [WHAT THE SURVEY WAS ABOUT]. First, turn them into a table with one row per [CLASS / DAY / RESPONSE] and the counts in columns, and flag any numbers you can't read. Then write a short summary of the main findings for [AUDIENCE], and a friendly draft email explaining the results to [WHO NEEDS TO KNOW].

Replace the [PLACEHOLDERS] with your own details before you send it.

How to try it

  1. Photograph each sheet flat and straight on, one per photo.
  2. Ask Gemini to build the table first, then spot-check a few rows against the paper before you trust the totals.
  3. Only then ask for the summary and email, and edit them before sending.

More productivity use cases

Find a hard-to-find email with Copilot in Outlook

One user tried Copilot in Outlook for the first time and it found exactly the email they were after, which Outlook's basic and advanced search hadn't turned up.

Turn a rambling notes page into a to-do list with Copilot in OneNote

A long-time OneNote user asks Copilot to turn a messy brainstorm page into a prioritised to-do list with deadlines and checkboxes, and uses its rewrite tool to reshape blunt notes into something shareable, such as a short quick-start guide. Note it needs a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan and the Windows app.

Plan a hectic week by talking it through with Gemini Live

A Tom's Guide writer juggling work deadlines, a book festival reading and her children's schedules swapped her paper planner for a spoken morning brain dump to Gemini Live. It talked her through a sensible order for the week, coped when she interrupted to change plans, and, with access to her calendar and email, reminded her of an invitation she'd forgotten.

Full guide →
Source: Tom's Guide

Reference: Jessica McKellar (LinkedIn)