Module 2: AI Tools for Presentations & Documents
AI for Presentations & Documents
The AI presentation tool landscape has exploded. Here's how to navigate it without wasting money.
Presentation-Specific AI Tools
Gamma (free / Ā£10/month)
Creates full presentations from a text prompt. You describe what you want, it generates slides with content, layout, and basic visuals. Strengths: speed, decent design defaults, easy export. Weaknesses: limited design customisation, templates can feel samey. Best for: internal presentations, quick workshops, draft decks.
ā https://gamma.app
Beautiful.ai (Ā£12/month / Ā£40/month for teams)
AI-powered slide design. You add content, it handles layout and formatting automatically. Strengths: consistently good-looking slides, smart formatting that adapts as you edit. Weaknesses: less flexible than PowerPoint for custom designs. Best for: people who want professional-looking slides without design skills.
ā https://www.beautiful.ai
Tome ($16/month)
AI storytelling tool. Creates narrative presentations with generated text and images. Strengths: storytelling focus, good for exploratory/creative decks. Weaknesses: can feel more like a document than a presentation. Best for: creative pitches, thought leadership.
ā https://tome.app
Microsoft Copilot in PowerPoint (Ā£24/user/month)
AI built into PowerPoint. Creates slides from prompts, generates speaker notes, suggests designs. Strengths: works within the tool most companies already use. Weaknesses: requires Microsoft 365 Copilot license, quality is inconsistent. Best for: enterprise teams already on Microsoft 365.
Google Gemini in Slides (included with Workspace)
Generates slides and images. Currently limited but improving fast. Best for: Google Workspace teams who want zero-friction AI.
Document-Specific AI Tools
Notion AI (included with Notion, or Ā£8/member/month for AI add-on)
AI writing, summarisation, and editing within Notion. Creates documents, proposals, and briefs from prompts. Strengths: works within your existing workspace. Weaknesses: output quality depends heavily on prompt quality.
ā https://notion.so
Google Docs + Gemini (included with Workspace)
"Help me write" feature for drafting, editing, and reformatting. Getting better rapidly.
Canva Docs (free / Ā£11/month for Pro)
Documents with Canva's design tools built in. AI writing assistant included. Strengths: documents that look beautiful without effort. Best for: client-facing documents where design matters.
ā https://www.canva.com
Match each AI tool category to its best use case for presentations:
General-Purpose AI (The Swiss Army Knife)
ChatGPT / Claude
Still the most flexible option for document and presentation content. They don't create visual slides, but they produce the outlines, copy, speaker notes, and structure that you then put into any presentation tool. I use ChatGPT/Claude for 90% of my content creation, then move to a visual tool for formatting.
Put these presentation creation steps in the correct order:
My Recommended Stack
Budget (Ā£0/month): ChatGPT free + Google Slides/Docs + Canva free
Sweet spot (Ā£10-20/month): Claude Pro or ChatGPT Plus + Gamma + Canva free
Professional (Ā£30-50/month): ChatGPT Plus + Beautiful.ai + Canva Pro
Enterprise: Microsoft Copilot + existing Microsoft/Google suite
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The Tool Recommender
I need AI tools for creating presentations and documents. My situation: - Role: [YOUR JOB] - Main deliverables: [WHAT YOU CREATE ā decks, proposals, reports, etc.] - Current tools: [WHAT YOU USE NOW] - Design skill level: [BEGINNER / INTERMEDIATE / ADVANCED] - Budget: [Ā£/MONTH] - Team/solo: [WORKING ALONE OR WITH A TEAM] Recommend the best combination of tools. Explain why each one fits my specific needs. Include one free alternative for each paid recommendation.
The Presentation Outline (For Any Tool)
Create a presentation outline I can build in [TOOL ā Gamma/PowerPoint/Google Slides]: Topic: [WHAT THE PRESENTATION IS ABOUT] Audience: [WHO] Duration: [HOW LONG] Goal: [WHAT YOU WANT THE AUDIENCE TO DO/THINK AFTER] For each slide, provide: - Slide title - 3-4 bullet points of content - Speaker notes (2-3 sentences of what to say) - Suggested visual (what image, chart, or graphic would strengthen this slide) Keep it to [X] slides.
The Document Template Creator
Create a reusable template for [DOCUMENT TYPE] in [TOOL ā Notion/Google Docs/Word]: This document is for: [PURPOSE] Typical audience: [WHO READS IT] Typical length: [PAGES/WORDS] Include: - Section headers with brief descriptions of what goes in each - [PLACEHOLDERS] for customisable content - Formatting guidance (what to bold, what to bullet, where to add data) - One filled-in example section so I can see the intended quality Format in markdown if possible.
1. Pick a simple presentation you need to make (5-10 slides).
2. Create it in Gamma (gamma.app, free tier) ā use a text prompt to generate the full deck.
3. Create the same presentation using ChatGPT/Claude to write the content, then build in Google Slides or PowerPoint.
4. Compare: which was faster? Which looks better? Which content is stronger?
Most people find AI-generated tools (like Gamma) are faster for drafts, while ChatGPT + manual design gives more control. Use both strategically.
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- 1AI presentation tools (Gamma, Beautiful.ai) create full decks fast ā great for drafts and internal use
- 2General AI (ChatGPT/Claude) produces better content ā use it for outlines, copy, and speaker notes
- 3The sweet spot: use general AI for content + a visual tool for formatting
- 4Don't overspend ā ChatGPT free + Gamma free + Canva free is a powerful stack at Ā£0/month
- 5The tool matters less than the content. A great story in basic slides beats mediocre thinking in beautiful slides.