As someone who has spent countless hours with PowerPoint, I thought my presentation workflow was set in stone. I would collect my thoughts, craft slides, and then spend some time trying to remember key points. And when I'd receive a massive presentation, such as an investor meeting deck or a detailed business plan, I'd go through every single slide just to grasp the core message. It was a tedious, often frustrating process.
Then I discovered NotebookLM, and everything changed. It began as an experiment to streamline my existing process and quickly turned into a transformative approach. The inclusion of NotebookLM has changed how I consume presentations.
I supercharge NotebookLM with Gemini, and they work together perfectly
Let me quickly show you some NotebookLM deficiencies and how I used Gemini to address them.
Posts 14
Combining PowerPoint with NotebookLM
It's not a direct one-click integration
Before I begin, let me clarify one thing. NotebookLM to PowerPoint isn't a magical one-click integration. NotebookLM doesn't directly support PPT files by default. So, how do I bridge the gap and get my PowerPoint content into NotebookLM?
If I have a PowerPoint presentation that's mostly text and images, and I want to quickly extract insights or create summaries, I will simply export that file as a PDF and upload that directly into NotebookLM.
For presentations with rich media, I export PowerPoint files to the device storage, upload the same to Google Slides, and add them to my NotebookLM with a single click only. These two workarounds are quick and efficient, unlocking the powerful analytical capabilities of NotebookLM for all my PowerPoint content.
Also, there are a couple of reasons why I combined PowerPoint with NotebookLM. Whenever I needed to create a PPT from scratch, I had to refer to multiple documents, PDF files, and notes. With NotebookLM, I can summarize everything, generate talking points, and extract useful information with just text prompts.
I can then use these details in my slides. When I receive large presentations with dozens of slides, I rely on NotebookLM to quickly summarize them. Let's check it in action.
Exploring NotebookLM for long presentations
Making the AI assistant work for you
Let me share with you a recent experience that perfectly illustrates the power of NotebookLM in tackling large presentations. I was tasked with getting up to speed on a critical internal document: a 25-slide presentation titled 'Long-term benefits of electric vehicles'.
Now, 25 slides might not sound like a huge task, but when you are managing multiple projects and need to understand core arguments quickly for an upcoming discussion, reading every single word on a slide is simply not an option. That's where NotebookLM became my absolute lifesaver.
After applying my workaround, I had the entire presentation loaded as a source in NotebookLM. Now, instead of mindlessly scrolling, I started asking the following questions.
* Summarize the key arguments for electric vehicle adoption.
* What are the projected environmental impacts of widespread EV adoption?
* How do electric vehicles impact environmental, economic, and technological landscapes?
The possibilities are endless here. The best part is that NotebookLM accurately refers to a slide number when displaying the answer. I can easily click on the slide number and refer to it right from the sidebar.
Now, you might wonder if Copilot in PowerPoint can do the same, too. That's correct, but it requires an extra $20 per month subscription. Additionally, Copilot is limited to a single presentation. Here, I can add other sources like relevant research PDFs on electric vehicles, a couple of YouTube videos discussing the same topic, and get answers from all of them at the same time.
NotebookLM is more powerful than I initially estimated
It blew my expectations out of the water
Posts 7
Going beyond traditional features
Take notes, generate an audio overview, and more
NotebookLM's utility extends far beyond a basic Q&A tool. For instance, after I have uploaded a lengthy report or a detailed presentation like the EV one, I can utilize its audio overview feature. It's one of the features NotebookLM can do that no other productivity tool can.
Instead of just reading summaries, I can generate a podcast-style audio discussion of my sources. This is helpful while I'm doing other tasks - whether I'm commuting, exercising, or even just making dinner. It's like having two AI hosts discuss the key points of my research.
I can even jot down quick notes, create a study guide, and even make mind maps based on added presentations and sources.
In another scenario, let's say I'm building a new presentation on sustainable energy solutions. I will upload all my relevant research papers, articles, and reports to NotebookLM, and ask it to lay out key points, extract specific data from charts, and then copy and paste directly into PowerPoint.
Goodbye, tedious slides!
Overall, once you experience the NotebookLM and PowerPoint duo, there is no turning back. I no longer struggle to recall critical information on the fly. Instead, I have a powerful, intelligent assistant right at my fingertips to transform complex (and lengthy) slides into actionable insights.
If you are still doing things the old way, I urge you to give this combination a try. Aside from PowerPoint, I also use the same hack to use NotebookLM with Notion. Check out my dedicated post to learn more.
NotebookLM
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