How to Make Slides with Gemini (in the App or Google Slides)

The short version

There are two routes: build the whole deck in the Gemini app, or add slides one at a time inside Google Slides. The app route is free and fast for a first draft. The Slides route keeps your theme and pulls facts from your Drive files.

Step by step

Route 1: a whole deck in the Gemini app

1. Go to gemini.google.com.
2. Below the text box, click Add files, then Canvas.
3. Ask for a slide presentation, with the audience, number of slides and key points. Attach source files with Add files if you have them.
4. Click Submit. The deck opens in the Canvas panel.
5. Ask for changes in the chat: “Merge slides 3 and 4”, “Add a slide on pricing”.
6. Click Share & export > Export to Slides (or export as PDF).

Route 2: inside Google Slides

1. Open a presentation in Google Slides.
2. Click Ask Gemini at the top right, or Insert > Help me create a slide.
3. Describe the slide, referencing files with @: “Create a slide outlining next steps from @meeting notes.”
4. Click Insert to add it, or Retry for another version. New slides use your current theme.
5. For text in an empty box, click Write a title or Help me write under it.

Prompts to copy

A first deck in Canvas:

Create a slide presentation for new staff at a 20-person landscaping company.
8 slides: welcome, our services, safety rules, daily schedule, equipment, who to ask, payroll, first week.
Short bullets, one idea per slide.

A slide from your notes in Google Slides:

Create a slide summarizing the three decisions in @Q3 planning notes,
with the owner and date for each.

Speaker notes:

Write speaker notes for each slide: 3 or 4 sentences, plain spoken English,
as if I'm talking to a room of customers.

Example

You need: a 10-minute talk for a local business group about your bakery’s switch to online ordering.

You do: in Canvas, ask for 7 slides covering the problem, what you tried, the numbers, and lessons learned, then attach your sales summary. Export to Slides, apply your own theme, and replace the stock wording with your own stories. Check every number against your records.

Mistakes to avoid

• Too much text per slide. Ask for “one idea per slide, under 15 words”.
• Invented numbers. If you don’t give Gemini the figures, it may fill gaps. Attach the data or leave placeholders.
• Losing your side-panel history. In Slides, Google says history is lost on reload or when you close the deck. Insert what you want to keep.
• Skipping the design pass. Gemini gives you structure; a real photo and your own colors make it yours.

Good to know

In Google Slides, Tools > Create images in the side panel makes images for a slide, and Gemini can summarize an existing presentation. You can also ask Gemini in Gmail to create a presentation; Google says to keep the tab open while it generates. For pictures, see create images with Gemini.

Related: use Gemini Canvas.