Credit: Adaeze Uche/MakeUseOf

Published 5 hours ago

In 2021, after catching the tech bug as a kid and earning a degree in communications, Ada got into tech writing by editing crypto guides.

Ada’s expertise now spans Windows, Android (especially Samsung devices), mobile apps, and productivity tools through several years of hands-on exploration. She’s published over 100 articles on MakeUseOf since 2023. Her knack for breaking down complex stuff into engaging articles has earned nods from tech enthusiasts.

You’ll likely find Ada curled up with a riveting book when she’s not testing the latest shiny tech toy or uncovering its how-tos through her articles. It’s her way to unplug and fuel her passion for lifelong learning.

Even with the thousands of fabulous slideshow templates available, you’d still need to dedicate a good amount of time and effort to the process. I always end up clicking and dragging shapes, repositioning text boxes, and spending way too much time searching for the best diagrams for my ideas. When I thought that was my only option, the effort and time made sense.

That changed when I discovered that NotebookLM can turn my notes into a slide deck with just a click. It’s not that this free tool is better than PowerPoint; it just makes it easier for me to turn my research into diagrams. Instead of building slides piece by piece, you can upload your notes and generate a full, proper deck in minutes.

OS Android, iOS, Web-based app

Pricing model Free

Creating a deck from start to finish

It’s nothing like using PowerPoint

Generating a slide deck with relevant diagrams begins by creating a new notebook that serves as the central container for everything related to the slide deck or the diagrams you want to create. Click the Create notebook button and start adding sources. By clicking Add sources, you can upload files, paste text, link to websites or YouTube videos, or connect to your Google Drive. NotebookLM supports PDFs, articles, documents, audio files, and images, and it even lets you search the web and pull in new sources directly.

The key is to upload all the information you want reflected in the final deck, because NotebookLM only works with the sources you provide. On the free plan, you can add up to 50 sources per notebook, which is more than enough for most presentations.

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As you add sources, select which ones the tool should reference when building the slide deck. You don’t need every source to influence the presentation, which makes it possible to generate multiple decks from the same notebook.

Once you’ve selected the relevant sources, you’re ready to generate the deck. Click the pencil icon next to Slide Deck in the Studio panel (not available on mobile) to open the customization options, where you can define exactly what you want. NotebookLM offers two formats: a Detailed Deck with full explanatory text, and Presenter Slides that prioritize visual talking points over text-heavy slides. The language defaults to English, but you can switch to another supported language if needed. You can also control the length, choosing between the Default option for a fuller deck or Short for a more concise version. The description box is where you specify style preferences, brand guidelines, outlines, or the overall narrative direction.

If you don’t need any customization, skip the pencil icon and click Slide Deck directly, and the tool will handle everything with the default selections. Either way, the diagrams are ready in just a few minutes.

Once the deck is generated, you can download it as a PDF, launch the slideshow directly in NotebookLM for live presentations, or save individual images by right-clicking on them. Collaboration is just as simple. By clicking the Share button and adding Gmail addresses, you can give others view or edit access to the entire notebook, including sources, settings, and generated content, without emailing files back and forth.

Refining through iteration, not editing

Improve your input and let the diagrams update themselves

You can’t edit any of the slide decks that NotebookLM generates. The only things you can modify are your sources and prompts, so that’s where all optimization happens.

If a generated deck misses an important point or leans too heavily into the wrong angle, the only fix before regenerating the deck is to add a relevant source to rebalance the material or refine the description prompt to guide the tool more clearly. Too many sources, too few sources, or sources that add unnecessary fluff will often result in decks that are all over the place. Vague prompts, like asking to “add more visuals” or “make the business section better,” usually produce similarly vague results, so you should learn to write prompts that encourage better AI reasoning.

For instance, I uploaded my master’s thesis along with the abstract and used the following description:

There are five research questions here. Please address each one with 2–3 slides discussing the parameters of the questions as well as the relevant findings. I’d like a minimalist look with the slides, preferably colors blue and white, and stick figures for the diagrams.

Here’s what the generated slides look like:

Compared to the decks I generated using the default settings, the result was much closer to what I had in mind.

It’s possible that being able to edit the slides directly could improve the process, but the win for me is that I can generate a complete deck with usable diagrams in just a few minutes, and it’ll actually reflect what I want to talk about.

Besides, most of the time, the first generation is good enough to use as is, especially since I only have a few goes per day on the free plan. The things I usually want to change aren’t dealbreakers, just nice-to-haves. When the output misses the mark, improving the source selection and refining the prompt are usually more effective than rebuilding an entire deck manually. The workflow differs from PowerPoint’s, but it’s just as effective once you adjust to its approach.

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Finally, no more staring at a blank slide wondering where to start

Four times out of five, NotebookLM’s slide decks are spot on

I’ve not designed a PowerPoint presentation in a while because I get better results by gathering the relevant statistics and research findings and letting NotebookLM turn that material into diagrams and slides. When a deck misses the mark, I can usually trace it back to my own choices, such as adding irrelevant or underwhelming sources or selecting the wrong customization options.

If you’re comfortable doing the research and handing off the diagrams and slide creation, you won’t find a better option than NotebookLM.