Create PowerPoint Presentations in Minutes
If you make presentations often, AI can greatly simplify your workflow. Beyond helping with research, AI can draft PowerPoint files for you to edit, enhance, and personalize. Dedicated AI tools exist for this, but ChatGPT or Claude can produce excellent results. Here are two methods for generating presentation drafts: using ChatGPT’s coding capabilities, and using Quarto for math-heavy content. You can create presentations like this and this in minutes.
1. Generate Presentation Files with ChatGPT
ChatGPT’s broad knowledge and its ability to write and run code make it a powerful tool for creating presentations. You first generate the slide content, then convert it into a downloadable PowerPoint file.
Step 1: Generate slide content
Ask ChatGPT for concise talking points on your topic with a simple prompt:
First prompt:
“Generate a presentation on the history of South Dakota. About 10 slides. Don’t be wordy.”
ChatGPT produces key points for each slide, giving you structured content that’s ready to customize.
Step 2: Convert to PowerPoint
ChatGPT can write and run Python code, so it can turn that content into a PowerPoint file. Ask for it in a follow-up prompt:
Second prompt:
“Write and run code to convert that into a PowerPoint for download.”
ChatGPT writes Python code, usually with the python-pptx library, and runs it right in the chat (free accounts have limited access to this feature). You can also copy the code and run it yourself in a Python environment such as Jupyter Notebook or Google Colab.
Step 3: Run the code in Google Colab (for Claude users)
Claude.ai doesn’t run Python code, so run the code it writes in Google Colab. This extra prompt makes that smoother:
Third prompt:
“I will run this on Google Colab. Change the code so that the file is automatically downloaded.”
Claude modifies the code accordingly. Once you run it, you’ll have a PowerPoint draft ready to edit, enhance, and polish.
With these prompts, I created this presentation.
2. Use Quarto to Render Presentations with Math Equations
For presentations with equations, Quarto (or R Markdown) is a reliable option that renders mathematical symbols and formatting properly.
Step 1: Generate slide content with key mathematics
Ask ChatGPT for a draft on your topic, including the essential equations:
First prompt:
“Generate a presentation on logistic regression. About 10 slides, including key mathematics.”
ChatGPT provides a concise outline, including the equations needed to explain logistic regression.
Step 2: Request Quarto code
To make sure the equations render well in the final presentation, ask ChatGPT for Quarto code:
Second prompt:
“Give me the Quarto code to create a PowerPoint file for these slides . Make sure the math equations and symbols are enclosed in $$ so they are rendered nicely.”
ChatGPT generates Quarto code with the equations wrapped in $$ delimiters for clean rendering. A simpler prompt without the $$ instruction also works some of the time:
Alternate prompt:
“Give me the Quarto code to generate a PowerPoint file for these slides . Make sure the math equations are rendered nicely.”
Step 3: Render and edit
Render the Quarto code in RStudio or Posit Cloud (a cloud-based RStudio environment with a free tier). This produces a PowerPoint file you can download and refine in PowerPoint by adding images, animations, or other customizations.
I got this presentation.
Conclusion
Whether you use ChatGPT’s coding capabilities or Quarto for math-heavy slides, AI tools can help you create polished presentations with minimal effort. Give these methods a try!
Rewritten by ChatGPT.