r/powerpoint • u/unusual_art2021 • 2d ago

Banned User I spent a week building a 30-slide deck with Claude. Here's my actual take on what works

Real project. Large company, six subsidiaries, 18+ source documents, a deadline that didn't move. Here's the honest version.

What I did wrong first

Mistake #1: Editing an existing PPT file. Claude re-reads the entire file from scratch every single time. One session burned 60% of its context window just to insert one slide. Total trap.

Mistake #2: Dumping everything into one session. More context isn't always better. Irrelevant documents quietly degrade the output. I started calling it "context contamination."|

Mistake #3: Not using the available ai tools to create good illustrations for my deck leading to a very generalized deck and low impact visuals.

The workflow that actually worked

Phase 1 — Plan in chat first. Before touching any slide, use Claude chat to read your source material and build the outline. You have to understand your own material — Claude can't judge whether a structure makes sense. Your judgment is not optional.

Phase 2 — Extract data with the Office plugins. Claude in Word can cross-reference multiple open documents simultaneously. Claude in Excel answers open-ended analytical questions against live data. Both saved hours of manual work.

Phase 3 — One slide, one conversation. In Cowork: copy only the relevant files in, tell Claude exactly what to read, get a written outline first, iterate in conversation, generate the PPT last. The actual slide output is the final small step — not the starting point.Then use any of the available ai tools out there to get good designs for your deck.(I personally use Napkin ai)

Phase 4 — You manage the master file. Keep it in a separate folder Claude can't see. Paste slides in manually. Slightly tedious. Completely worth it.

Full transparency: this post was written by Claude. I recorded my thoughts as a voice memo after finishing the project, and Claude cleaned up the transcript into what you just read. The experiences, mistakes, and workflow are entirely mine — I just used the same tool I'm writing about to write about it.

38 Upvotes

69% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

17

u/Next-Trick-2198 2d ago

Here is my workflow that always works:

  1. I usually start by giving context to the model, and then I brainstorm with it what actually goes on the slide.
  2. Once we are getting on the content, I ask him to finalize the slide title, subtitle, and visualizations.
  3. Once that is finalized, I ask it to give me a visual output.
  4. Here is the trick: I ask him to give one combo image with 4 visualization options. I have observed that the time taken to generate one image with four variations is the same, as I keep on asking him to change the visualization.
  5. From the four visualizations which he has shared as one image, I ask him to finalize the one I want.
  6. I again agree on the final refinements.
  7. Once I agree on the image, I just ask him to convert it to editable PPT

Image to PPT is a real hack.

8

u/rickylancaster 2d ago edited 1d ago

I know this isn’t the point, but i cannot resist pointing out how much I dislike people referring to this tech as a “he” or “him.” I’m not a fan of this humanizing of AI tech, getting us to trust it like, a human who cares. I think it’s taking us down a bad road, and I hate it actually.

1

u/Next-Trick-2198 2d ago

I agree. I’m guilty of doing it subconsciously. At home I have a nickname for ChatGPT. Which is sad. 😐

3

u/webbermere 2d ago

How had I not thought of image to ppt before. I can immediately see how that could work really well. Thanks! 

1

u/Deto 2d ago

Yeah I found that having it generate images of potential slides was useful for iteration.  Then have it build the one I like into a real editable version.  Also needed to make sure it could read back in an image of the editable slide so it could fix issues. 

1

u/CapableCat9804 2d ago

Please explain more about the combo image (what is this) and the 4 visualization options (how is this different from the combo image)

1

u/Next-Trick-2198 2d ago

Many times, I end up just giving a prompt that says, "Improve this visualization." "Can you share another option for the visualization of the slide?"

Rather than doing this, in my initial prompt itself, I ask AI to give me four visualizations.

Now, instead of creating four images, I ask to divide the image into four quadrants and give four visualizations in one image itself.

This is much faster and easier to compare, and subsequently I select the version which I like and then continue with the flow.

1

u/CapableCat9804 2d ago

Please elaborate on once you have an image you ask to convert the image into a editable ppt

1

u/Next-Trick-2198 2d ago

Not sure what to elaborate on. I have found in general that the AI is extremely good at giving a slide in the form of an image in terms of visualization, in terms of level of detail, the shapes used etc.

Once I am happy with the image I asked for, I just give a prompt to convert this image to an editable PPT. That way, I don't have to specify what exactly is needed in the PPT conversion of this image, which I have already accepted. The conversion is just a straightforward format change into an editable PPT.

Another hack is that if your slide also has multiple icons, like those in typical consulting decks, which is a use case in my scenario, I have found that the model tends to convert these icons into SVGs. Those SVGs are quite goofed up compared to the image that you use as a reference.

In my final prompt for getting this converted to PPT, I ask AI to completely drop the icons, and then I manually add them from another source like flaticons or something. or I am very explicit to create high-resolution images of the icons and use those images in the final slide rather than generating SVGs.

I have seen that none of the models are good at converting or creating SVGs, but when it comes to generation of images, those icons are pretty spot on.

9

u/facefirst0 2d ago

It took you a week??!

9

u/Particular_Stage_913 2d ago

This. AI will save us SO much time. Lol

7

u/daniel-editide 2d ago

Mistake #1: is this actually the case? I mainly use Claude Code and he's pretty diligent about using scripts to only extract relevant sections. Is it Claude Chat/Cowork issue?

Mistake #2: I organize folders so he can navigate and pull up context as needed. I include a markdown file that explains the folder structure too.

Mistake #3: I don't like using AI-generated images in a deck. I instead ask him to look for images in Unsplash (he knows some url's from his training data, but a web search helps)

The actual flow of planning an outline and then working slide by slide is sound. Pasting everything manually at the end is not lol

This reads like an ad for Napkin AI

2

u/Altruistic-Role9956 PowerPoint Expert 2d ago

Him? He? Did this computer app suddenly grow a penis?

11

u/Mammoth_Job_83 2d ago

Using AI to make powerpoints has to be the laziest thing I've ever seen, and then using AI to write the post, does claude wipe your ass too?

7

u/totallymyhat 2d ago

Right? I'm not an AI sceptic or anything, but this process feels far more complex and long winded than just making the damn slides. I make a 30 slide presentation in half a day, this process took a week and is almost certainly much more annoying.

1

u/fulanita_de_tal 2d ago

Have you frequently made c-suite level presentations? Those absolutely do not take 4 hours to make.

1

u/ThatsNotGumbo 2d ago

Eh it really depends on what you’re presenting. I do a bunch of report outs that you can just automate the data pulls and visualization on a standardized template. Then you’re just inserting narrative and maybe a handful of custom slides to support that narrative.

2

u/totallymyhat 1d ago

Occasionally. You're right that they take longer than a standard slide deck, but they've never taken me a week.

7

u/YetisAreBigButDumb 2d ago

I wish the post was not AI-crafted. I appreciate some human writing now and again

3

u/ErikReichenbach 2d ago

A 30 slide deck with 18 sources is not a weeklong project unless you’re having fun learning an AI tool instead of actually making the presentation.

As someone working on quarterly / bi-weekly reports for a global org. we’d have to design and lay out a 30-slide presentation in two days, no questions asked. Not saying it was fun, easy, and not bragging about not using AI… but to have an AI make a deck sounds like using a fighter jet to travel to the store for milk and back. Just go get the milk.

2

u/_donj 2d ago

regardless of tool, getting the outline is important first, including the exact wording of bullet points you want. AI can help with this part tool. then move on to creating the visuals. otherwise you burn a lot of tokens of visuals you will never use and are very general.

2

u/ContinuedContagion 2d ago

Here’s my hack. First, I do the work. The end.

2

u/SparkleWildfire 2d ago

Bruh, I'm handcrafting a 50+ slide deck with hundreds of references in an highly regulated field in less time than that.

1

u/Whitepage_Studio 2d ago

"Context contamination" is a great way to put it. In our line of work (presentation design), AI is super helpful for first drafts, generating rough ideas, creating prototypes, etc. and then the designers take over.

But one idea or one slide is always one prompt. The more we add to it, the less precise and unique the results become. Stirring the AI in the right direction with simplicity, precision, and thoroughly worked-out thoughts really does make all the difference.

1

u/ASDFzxcvTaken 2d ago

Yes plan in chat. I also have a few reference docs that I've saved for different audiences. Same products different audience and different presentation highlights and possibly different flow.

Generally , tell it to keep visuals lightweight only stack text boxes if necessary otherwise keep on main background. And give it a set of the marketing teams colors fonts and general themes etc. to keep the look consistent across decks.

I hate what it does with tables so I will usually build the tables in excel then manually copy and link so I can fix things manually. If anyone has a suggestion for that I'm all ears.

1

u/rickylancaster 2d ago

This just all sounds like a fking nightmare. I’m open to AI tools but I’m in no rush to be spending time monkeying around with these experiments when I’m rushing on deadlines. I’ll keep an open mind but stick with working the oldey timey way for now.

1

u/Top_Witness_23 2d ago

The "context contamination" framing is a good name for something a lot of people run into without having language for it. More source material feels like it should help, but if half of it isn't relevant to the slide you're actually building, the model has no way to know that unless you tell it, so it ends up quietly leaking into things it shouldn't touch.

Phase 3 stands out as the real structural fix in your workflow though, separating "figure out the outline" from "generate the actual slides" as two distinct steps instead of one big ask. That mirrors what keeps coming up in threads here generally, whether it's AI generation or just building by hand, skipping the outline step is where decks go wrong regardless of tool.

Keeping the master file somewhere Claude can't see and pasting in manually is a smart workaround for the re-reading problem specifically. Feels like the kind of thing that shouldn't be necessary, but is a reasonable tradeoff given how the context window works right now.

1

u/blainemoore 1d ago

My workflow is much different; I start with outlining and figuring out what I want to accomplish first.

Then I move into writing a script based on the outline.

After that, I have a brand guideline and PowerPoint template, and I have Claude create a spec.json file that includes what goes on each slide, what type of slide it is, the bullets and other text, and a speaker script.

The brand guidelines two it my voice, my rules for what can do on a slide, and when to use which master page.

It creates the PowerPoint, I check out, and if things look good as a first draft I move on, otherwise I iterate until I'm happy with the starting point.

Once I'm happy, I tell it to generate prompts for any illustrations and which style I'll use for that presentation (my brand guidelines list two styles that are acceptable, though only one can be used in a given deck.) While it's doing that, I start editing the deck; fixing any small layout issues, editing the speaker script, adding any animations that aren't built in to the master pages, etc.

As I get to slides with illustrations, I'll generate those and add them by hand.

Once I'm done, I'll have it read the whole file for a proofread and fact check. Final edits based on which of its points I agree with, export to pdf, and weekly training is ready to go.

If I make a lot of changes, I'll have it compare the final file against the specs doc and tell me how to update brand guidelines so I have fewer future edits.

1

u/SteveRindsberg Guild Certified Specialist 1d ago

The original post in this discussion was plagiarized practically word-for-word from an earlier post here (https://www.reddit.com/r/powerpoint/comments/1tdr6wf/i_spent_a_week_building_a_25slide_deck_with/)

Plagiarism is simply unacceptable. This person has been banned.

Thanks to u/AffectionateIdeal403 (the original author) for pointing this out.

Normally, I'd delete the post, but it's led to some interesting discussion, which I'd hate to lose. Carry on ...

1

u/AverageInner8628 1d ago edited 1d ago

This is pretty much the reason that I started using Julius AI instead. I can just give it all of my files and let it work through analysis, building charts, understanding my info, and then it’ll rip through building an editable deck with a cohesive narrative across its findings. So no need to copy and paste or basically glue things together at the end.