Choose the route that matches your starting file
| Starting point | Where to work | What to check first |
|---|---|---|
| An idea or a few notes | In the ChatGPT desktop composer, type @Presentations and ask for a new PowerPoint | Audience, purpose, and facts you can actually supply |
| A PDF, memo, or spreadsheet | Attach the source files to the same @Presentations request | Exact figures, source locations, and missing information |
| An existing PowerPoint | Attach it to @Presentations, or open it in PowerPoint and use the ChatGPT add-in | Which slides, data, and brand elements may change |
| A company template | Attach a reference deck or choose a saved template if your workspace offers one | Slide size, masters, fonts, colors, logos, and footers |
OpenAI documents the desktop @Presentations route and the add-in as separate ways to work. The ChatGPT Work file guide also distinguishes availability by plan, workspace, file type, and surface. If @Presentations or the add-in does not appear in your account, check those availability details before following a different interface's instructions.
Make a first deck from notes
In the ChatGPT desktop app, attach the notes you are allowed to use, type @Presentations in the composer, and state who will see the slides. If you have no file, put the known facts in the request itself. For example, a team update might need the completed work, an unresolved blocker, and the decision required next week. Leave unknown figures as questions; a plausible chart is worse than a clearly marked gap.
Use @Presentations to make a PowerPoint for [audience] about [topic].
The audience needs to [understand or decide one specific thing].
Use only these notes: [paste approved facts]. Mark missing figures
as [TO CONFIRM]. First give me the slide titles and wait for my edits.
After I approve them, return an editable .pptx with native text and
a short list of facts or layout details I should check.- Ask for slide titles first. Read them as a sequence and remove slides that repeat the same point.
- Correct any unsupported title, then request an editable
.pptx. Name the text, tables, and charts that colleagues must be able to change. - Open the returned file in PowerPoint. Edit a title and save a copy. If the text is one flat picture, ask for native text boxes or rebuild that slide before sharing.
OpenAI says Presentations can start from a built-in layout when you do not supply a template. Ask for a modest first draft that fits the material you have; a precise slide count is useful only when a meeting format requires it.
Turn a PDF or data file into a sourced deck
For a long PDF, ask for a source map before slide titles: each candidate claim, its supporting passage and page, and any date, denominator, or caveat that must appear beside it. Read the cited page yourself. Scanned pages, footnotes, tables, and charts can be misread during extraction; our Northstar file test used a Markdown brief and CSV, so it does not establish PDF extraction quality. The PDF source-check workflow covers that earlier step.
Once the source map is sound, ask for a title-only outline, correct its claims, and then build the deck. If a spreadsheet supplies chart values, specify the series, labels, units, and denominator. In the Northstar example, 72 completions represent 60% of 120 invitations or 75% of 96 activations; the chart should make clear which comparison the audience is seeing. After export, open the chart's underlying data and compare it with the source file.
Revise an existing PowerPoint
To work inside a deck, open it in PowerPoint, save a working copy, and launch the ChatGPT add-in from the ribbon. OpenAI's installation instructions start at Home → Add-ins → search for ChatGPT; sign in with an account that has access. For a larger change, ask the add-in to list the slides it proposes to edit before you approve the revision. You can also attach the deck to @Presentations in the desktop app if that route is available to you.
Name the slides that may change and what must remain intact: figures, notes, slide order, master layout, logo, fonts, and footers. A useful request is: “Shorten slides 2 and 5 for a leadership audience. Keep the chart data, approval wording, and other slides unchanged. Show me the edit plan first.” Compare the saved copy with the original after the change. If the add-in alters an unrelated slide or cannot preserve a complex chart, restore that slide from the original and finish the edit in PowerPoint. OpenAI notes that advanced chart, shape, and template edits may need manual refinement.
Five checks before sharing any PPTX
- Read the slide titles in order: can this audience follow the argument?
- Compare each figure and strong conclusion with the approved source.
- Edit a text box, a table cell, and the chart data that a colleague may need to update; save and reopen the file.
- Inspect every slide at full size for clipping, small labels, font changes, and layout shifts.
- Run PowerPoint's Accessibility Checker and inspect a separate sharing copy for hidden notes or data.
These checks are enough for a small internal deck. The sections below explain the decisions that matter when a presentation contains formal recommendations, custom branding, or data that others will reuse.
Define the decision behind the Northstar example
For a decision deck, tell ChatGPT who will read it, what choice they face, and which facts are allowed. “Make ten slides about our pilot” leaves the audience, recommendation, and evidence threshold to guesswork.
Write four sentences before you ask for slides:
- Audience: who will use the presentation and what they already know.
- Decision: the question the deck should help them answer.
- Evidence: the approved files and the facts that must remain unchanged.
- Boundary: what the deck must not claim, approve, or infer.
Our fictional Northstar case asks a steering group to choose among ending a support pilot, extending it for two weeks, or expanding immediately. The brief supplies participation, reported time saving, support load, blockers, and a fixed budget. It supplies no customer results, revenue, annual savings, quotations, or approval, so the slides must leave those claims out.
Download the source brief, KPI CSV, and source ledger to follow the same example.
Use this source-map prompt for a long PDF
A summary can keep the theme of a document while losing the condition attached to a number or quotation. Use this prompt before asking for an outline. Mark an unsupported slide idea as interpretation or remove it; check the cited pages yourself.
Read the attached PDF or article as a bounded source.
Before proposing slides, return a source map with:
- one atomic claim per row;
- the shortest exact supporting passage;
- page number, heading, or section locator;
- any date, denominator, condition, or uncertainty that must travel with it;
- the decision question this claim may help answer.
Use NOT_FOUND when the source does not support a proposed idea.
Separate direct source facts from interpretation.
Do not design slides yet.Check scans and complex layouts against the original pages. The example deck below does not test PDF extraction.
Use a prompt that protects the source
Once you have the source and an approved outline, this request tells @Presentations what to build and what must stay unchanged. Replace the placeholders and attach your approved files before sending it.
Use @Presentations to create an editable PowerPoint from the attached brief,
data file, and source ledger.
Audience: [WHO WILL USE THE DECK]
Decision: [ONE QUESTION THE DECK SHOULD SUPPORT]
Length: [RANGE] slides, only if the story fits cleanly
Before building:
1. Summarize the source boundary and list missing decision-critical facts.
2. Propose a slide-title outline that reads as one argument.
3. Mark any unsupported idea as [EVIDENCE NEEDED]. Do not invent it.
Build requirements:
- Return an editable .pptx, not slide-shaped images.
- Keep important text, charts, and tables editable where possible.
- Use the supplied template or reference deck only as instructed.
- Preserve approved figures, dates, names, qualifiers, and approval language.
- Put a short source block in speaker notes for every evidence slide.
- Do not claim approval, causation, savings, customers, or outcomes not in the files.
Quality check:
- Render and inspect every slide for clipping, overlap, awkward wrapping,
unreadable labels, and repetitive layouts.
- Recheck chart and table data against the source.
- Return the file with a short list of assumptions and items for human review.Download the complete example prompt. Replace the fictional names and numbers with your approved sources.
Approve the outline while changes are cheap
Read the proposed slide titles without the body text. In Northstar, they should lead from the decision to evidence, constraints, options, a conditional recommendation, and named next actions. “Pilot results” names a subject; “Setup failures and support load are the release constraints” explains why a slide belongs in the deck.
Remove duplicate pages. An agenda, market overview, or closing slide earns space only if this audience needs it.
At this stage, verify the proposed claims against the source ledger. If the outline says “the pilot improved retention” and retention was never measured, fix the story before visual polish makes the assertion feel established.
Ask for editable objects where editability matters
The Northstar deck uses a native PowerPoint chart for 120 invited people, 96 activations, and 72 core-workflow completions. It uses a native table for the three decision options. Those objects can be edited after handoff. A screenshot of a chart may look correct, but it is not a substitute when the recipient needs to update the data.
Editability should be selective. A background illustration can be flattened. A decision table, financial figure, timeline, name, and chart usually should not be. State the requirement in the brief and test it in the file. “Editable deck” is too vague if the only editable object is the title.
In PowerPoint, select the chart and open its data. The Northstar source lists 120 invited people, 96 activations, and 72 completions. Check that the embedded chart has those three values in the same order; slide labels alone can conceal a different number in the data. Microsoft explains how to change chart data in PowerPoint.
Choose visuals that show the relationship in the data
| What the audience needs to see | Useful treatment | Weak substitute |
|---|---|---|
| Ordered stage counts | Bar, column, or funnel with the actual values | Three decorative icons with no scale |
| Options compared against the same criteria | Simple table | Three disconnected paragraphs |
| Change over time | Line chart with dated observations and visible gaps | A smooth trend drawn across missing data |
| A conditional recommendation | Gate, fallback, and named decision owner | A green “approved” badge |
| An interface detail | Rights-cleared, annotated screenshot | A plausible dashboard invented from memory |
A generated photo of happy customers would misrepresent Northstar, which has no customer evidence. A polished mock dashboard can make training numbers look operational. Label illustrations as illustrations and keep them away from claims they might appear to prove.
Keep claims narrow, especially in summary slides
The Northstar brief reports a median saving of 14 minutes across 48 logged completed cases and 31 feedback submissions. That is a limited observation. It cannot support a claim about annual savings, revenue, retention, or guaranteed results. Put the sample and time period on a summary slide if readers need them to judge the figure.
Check denominators as carefully as numerators. The 72 completions are 75% of activations and 60% of invitations. Both calculations are arithmetically valid, but they answer different questions. If the decision has not defined the appropriate denominator, show the raw counts or label both percentages.
Search the slides for words such as approved, confirmed, proven, and will. In Northstar, a two-week extension is only a conditional recommendation; the steering group has not approved it.
Put source details in speaker notes
Speaker notes can hold a source block, definitions, and presenter context. Every slide in the example names the files used on that page, so a reviewer can trace a figure without covering the slide with citations. Microsoft documents how to add and read speaker notes.
Do not move a material condition into notes simply to make a slide look cleaner. If the audience must know that a result came from 38 volunteers, that the data ends in June, or that approval is pending, the condition belongs on the slide. Notes can explain it; they should not hide it.
Open and inspect every slide at full size
Fonts can substitute when a recipient opens the file, titles can wrap, and labels can disappear. Open the deck in the application the recipient will use and inspect every slide at full size.
Our first Northstar render exposed two visible defects: one title wrapped unexpectedly and the last action line on the closing slide was clipped. Both were repaired, then the complete deck was rendered again. A contact sheet is useful for pacing and repeated layouts, but it is too small to prove that individual slides are readable.
- Read every title at presentation distance.
- Inspect all four edges for clipped text or off-slide objects.
- Open chart data and tables; do not trust the screenshot alone.
- Check that labels, units, dates, and legends survive the chosen theme.
- Review notes, hidden slides, comments, links, and embedded workbooks.
- Confirm that one slide does one main job.
Run separate story, evidence, and accessibility passes
For a consequential deck, review the story, facts, file, visuals, accessibility, and sharing copy separately. A general request to “check the deck” can miss a chart value even when the slides look polished.
Microsoft recommends descriptive slide titles, a logical reading order, readable contrast and type, simple tables with headers, meaningful alt text, and PowerPoint's Accessibility Checker. Visual order may differ from screen-reader order. Check the Reading Order pane on custom layouts; our alt-text guide covers informative images.
We checked the example's titles, visible contrast, rendered text, and table header, but did not run the desktop PowerPoint Accessibility Checker. Run it on your copy and resolve its findings before calling the deck accessible.
| Review pass | Question to answer | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|---|
| Story | Do the slide titles form one useful argument for this audience and decision? | Approved title-only outline and the decision brief |
| Facts | Can every number, name, date, quotation, and strong conclusion be traced to an approved source? | Claim ledger, source locators, chart and table values |
| File | Are the objects that need later editing actually editable in the returned PPTX? | Opened chart data, table cells, notes pages, and file-level checks |
| Visual | Does every rendered slide remain readable, unclipped, and intentionally composed? | Full-size renders plus a contact sheet |
| Accessibility | Do titles, contrast, alt text, tables, and reading order work beyond the visible canvas? | PowerPoint Accessibility Checker findings and resolved exceptions |
| Distribution | Does the sharing copy exclude comments, hidden slides, private notes, properties, and unintended embedded data? | Document Inspector result and a reopened distribution copy |
Keep revisions limited to named slides
“Make it more persuasive” can turn a conditional recommendation into a certainty or remove a necessary qualifier. Keep the last approved file and name the slides that may change.
Revise slides 2, 5, and 8 only.
Keep all approved values, dates, source-note blocks, chart data,
table data, slide order, and approval language unchanged.
Shorten visible copy without moving material conditions into notes.
Return a new .pptx and a slide-level change log.
Render the changed slides and the complete deck.
Flag any locked element that could not be preserved.When a source value changes, update the source file and record the old and new values, source date, affected slides, and reviewer. Then check the slide text, notes, and embedded chart data for the same value.
Apply a company template and inspect the result
Attach the company template or a reference deck you are allowed to use. Tell @Presentations which parts to preserve: slide size, master layouts, fonts, colors, logos, footers, and chart styling. A reference file is enough for a one-off deck; a saved template is useful when you repeat the format.
After the design change, reopen every slide. Check whether logos moved, title lines wrapped, charts lost labels, or the new colors reduced contrast. Microsoft explains why applying a template to an existing deck can require starting with the intended template and importing slides.
Inspect the distribution copy for private material
A PowerPoint can carry notes, comments, document properties, hidden slides, off-slide objects, and embedded workbooks. Use only source files allowed in your workspace. Before sending the result outside the original audience, save a separate distribution copy.
Run Microsoft's Document Inspector on the distribution copy and reopen it. The inspector may remove useful notes or data, and Microsoft says some embedded items need manual inspection.
Download and inspect the example deck
Download the eight-slide Northstar PowerPoint. The company and data are fictional. Open the file to inspect its native chart, options table, and speaker-note source blocks. The file shows what we checked in Codex; it is not a demonstration of the ChatGPT add-in.
For readers who want to audit the file, the Python checker tests slide order, notes, native chart and table values, and selected required and forbidden claims. The example passed those checks and a full-size visual review after two layout repairs. The review kit includes the source pack, file, checker, and test results. These checks cover the supplied example, not every deck a reader might generate; they also do not replace PowerPoint's Accessibility Checker.
