The short answer
To make a presentation with AI, write a one-paragraph storyline and a slide outline first, then let a tool design the slides. Gamma's agent builds a deck from a prompt in Plan, Express or Research mode and exports to PowerPoint, Google Slides or PDF, with 400 one-time free credits. Microsoft's Copilot in PowerPoint builds decks inside PowerPoint with Microsoft 365. Anthropic's Claude Slides template is on every Claude plan, including Free, and exports to PowerPoint or PDF.
What you need before you start
- A clear point. One sentence that says what the audience should think or do after the talk. If you cannot write it, no tool will find it for you.
- Your source material. The report, notes, figures or Word document the deck is based on. Decks built from real material are far better than decks built from a topic name.
- Your audience and time slot. "Ten minutes for the leadership team" leads to a different deck from "a 45-minute training session".
- Your template, if your company has one. Copilot in PowerPoint uses the layouts of the file you start from, and can apply a Brand Kit if your organisation set one up.
- One of these tools: Gamma (free plan with 400 credits at signup that do not refresh, up to 10 slides per prompt), Copilot in PowerPoint (Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, Premium or Pro, or a Microsoft 365 Copilot work licence), or Claude (the Slides template is on Free, Pro, Max, Ultra, Team and Enterprise).
Step 1: get the storyline right in a chatbot
Do this part in any assistant, such as Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini, before you open a slide tool.
- Upload or paste your source material. In Claude, click the + button in the lower left of the chat box and choose Add files or photos.
- Ask for the storyline: the audience, the one-sentence point, the three to five supporting messages and the ask at the end (use the first prompt below).
- Ask for a slide-by-slide outline with a headline that is a full sentence for each slide. "Revenue grew 12% because of the partner channel" is a headline; "Revenue" is a label.
- Edit the outline yourself. Move, merge and cut until the headlines alone tell the story.
Step 2: build the slides in the tool that fits
Gamma
- Sign in and use the agent in the prompt bar on your dashboard.
- Choose a mode. Plan (the default) asks you questions, then shows a plan you approve. Express goes straight to a draft. Research runs web research first, but only on Pro and above and only in Plan mode. Gamma's help centre says web search cannot be switched off completely.
- Paste your edited outline and say "use these headlines exactly".
- Edit the result. Manual editing is always free; AI actions use credits.
- Export to PowerPoint, Google Slides or PDF.
Copilot in PowerPoint
These steps follow Microsoft's help page, last updated October 2026.
- Start a new presentation in PowerPoint, ideally from your organisation's template.
- Open Copilot Chat with the Copilot icon at the bottom-right corner of the screen.
- Optionally choose an AI model from the model selector, or leave it on Auto.
- If your organisation uses Brand Kits, choose one in Select brand. Otherwise skip this step.
- In the prompt box, describe the presentation and paste your outline. Copilot may ask clarifying questions about audience, length, template and imagery; answer them or skip them.
- Copilot builds the deck with your template. Microsoft notes it works best from Word documents smaller than 24 MB and that Word heading styles help it split content into slides.
In October 2026 Copilot in PowerPoint started using Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 5.5 for stronger slide design, and PowerPoint added a way to record a repeated presentation task as a reusable skill.
Claude Slides
- In a Claude chat, select Output in the message box and choose the Slides template, or pick it from the Artifacts tab in the sidebar.
- Give it your outline and source files. Claude builds the deck beside the conversation.
- Edit any slide directly or ask Claude to change it. You can present without leaving Claude.
- Export to PowerPoint or PDF.
Artifacts need Code execution and file creation (called Create and edit files in the updated layout) switched on under Settings, then Capabilities. It is on by default for personal plans. ChatGPT also has ChatGPT Slides, launched on 16 October 2026, but only for eligible Pro, Business and Enterprise users.
A worked example: a 10-minute quarterly update
Sam has to present the support team's third-quarter results to the leadership team in 10 minutes. He has a four-page Word report.
- He uploads the report to Claude and asks for the storyline. The one-sentence point comes back as: "We hit our response-time target for the first time, but ticket volume is rising faster than headcount, so we need a decision on hiring or self-service."
- He asks for an eight-slide outline with sentence headlines. He cuts one slide on tooling that the leadership team does not need and moves the decision slide to second place, so the ask is clear early.
- His company has Microsoft 365 Copilot, so he opens the company template in PowerPoint, selects the Copilot icon and pastes the outline with "use these headlines exactly; one chart per slide where there is a number".
- He checks every chart against the report. One chart shows the second quarter's figure for September; he fixes the number by hand.
- He deletes the stock photos, adds speaker notes in his own words and rehearses once against a timer: 9 minutes 40 seconds.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
- Starting with a topic, not a point. "Q3 update" produces a generic deck. Fix: give the tool your one-sentence point and your outline.
- Too many words per slide. AI tools love bullets. Fix: set a limit, such as 25 words per slide, and move detail into speaker notes.
- Wrong numbers on charts. Fix: check every figure against the source, and ask the tool to list the source of each number.
- Off-brand design. Fix: start from your template in PowerPoint, use a Brand Kit if you have one, or restyle in Gamma.
- Running out of Gamma credits. Free credits do not refresh. Fix: do the outline in a chatbot first so Gamma has less to redo, and make small fixes by hand, which costs nothing.
- Confidential decks in tools that train on them. Gamma's Free, Plus, Pro and Ultra plans may use your content for training by default. Fix: click your avatar or initials at the lower left of the dashboard, choose Settings, then the Data Controls tab, and opt out. Business and Enterprise are opted out and locked.
Which AI tool to use for a presentation
| Your situation | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You need a polished deck fast and have no template | Gamma | Strong designs from a prompt, exports to PowerPoint and Google Slides |
| Your company lives in PowerPoint and has Copilot | Copilot in PowerPoint | Uses your template and Brand Kit, works from Word files |
| You want the deck built from a long document, for free | Claude Slides | On every plan including Free, exports to PowerPoint or PDF |
| You already pay for ChatGPT Pro or Business | ChatGPT Slides | Co-edit in Space, export to PowerPoint, PDF or Google Slides |
Our opinion: the storyline matters more than the tool. Pick Copilot in PowerPoint if your company has it, because your deck will match the house style; pick Gamma for external, design-heavy decks; pick Claude when you are starting from a long document and do not want to pay. For a ranked comparison, read the best AI for presentations, compare Gamma vs Canva, or see Gamma alternatives. More prompts are in prompts for presentations. Tool guides: Gamma, Copilot, Claude and Canva.
Prompts to copy
Find the storyline
Here is my material: [paste or upload]. The audience is [who] and I have [minutes] minutes. Give me the one-sentence point of the talk, three to five supporting messages with the evidence for each from my material, and the ask for the final slide.
You get: A storyline you can build a deck on
Outline with sentence headlines
Turn this storyline into a [number]-slide outline. Each slide gets a headline that is a full sentence stating the takeaway, two or three supporting points, and a note on the best visual (chart, table, photo or none). Put the decision or ask on slide 2.
You get: An outline where the headlines tell the story
Build the deck from the outline
Create a presentation from this outline for [audience]. Use these headlines exactly. No more than 25 words per slide, one chart where a slide has a number, speaker notes of about 60 words per slide, and a final slide with the decision we need. [paste outline]
You get: A tight first draft deck
Check the numbers
List every number, date and name that appears on these slides, the slide it is on, and where in my source material it comes from. Flag anything you cannot find in the source.
You get: A fact-check list for the deck
Rehearse the questions
Act as a sceptical member of [audience]. Read this deck and ask me the five hardest questions you would ask, one at a time. After my answers, tell me which slide should change to head off each question.
You get: Practice for the Q&A and a stronger deck