No matter how many tools I try out to improve my research workflow and study smarter instead of harder, I always find myself returning to NotebookLM. I’ve been using it since before Google publicly launched it, and it’s remained a constant in my workflow ever since. While the tool initially launched with little more than the ability to query the documents you uploaded to your notebook, Google’s given it a complete overhaul since then, adding a bunch of new features — all while staying true to its original purpose of grounding every answer in your material rather than pulling from the open web.

One feature I’d say Google outdid itself with, though, is Slide Decks. If you aren’t familiar with it, Slide Decks lets you convert the sources in your notebook into full-fledged presentations in just a few clicks. And now, with its latest update, it finally has the two additions it desperately needed to go from a “nice extra” to something I’d actually rely on.

You can now tweak your slides just by prompting

No more endless redoing

If you haven't used the Slide Decks feature before, the way it works is quite simple: you upload your sources to a NotebookLM document and hit the Slide Deck button in the Studio panel. To end up with an output you could actually use and that meets the vision you had, you can also hit the pencil icon to add a custom prompt that guides how the presentation is structured, what it emphasizes, or even the tone it takes. You can even tell NotebookLM what visuals you'd like it to add to each slide, and if you’d prefer to insert your own, you can simply prompt it to leave space for them by adding a placeholder image.

While the option to add a custom prompt to a Slide Deck has helped me create presentations I can actually use with a little polishing, there’s always been a huge problem: you couldn't really edit the decks NotebookLM generated. While you could technically edit it by converting the PDF to an editable format and then manually tweaking slides one by one, it completely broke the seamless workflow that made the feature so appealing in the first place.

So, if you weren't willing to go through the hoops of converting, exporting, and reformatting, your next option was generating the Slide Deck again. But here’s the catch: there’s no guarantee you’ll end up with the same deck you generated earlier, even if you use the exact same prompt with just the changes you wanted.

On 18th February 2025, NotebookLM announced prompt-based revisions via a post on its X account. There's now a Revise button that appears when you're previewing your Slide Deck (denoted by a pencil icon). Once you've clicked that button, a Change Slide [X] section appears with a textbox where you can type exactly how you want that slide altered.

Whether it’s adjusting the wording, changing the emphasis of the slide, or even specifying different visuals, just type a short instruction. Once you're done specifying the changes for each slide, hit the Generate new deck button. Instead of writing instructions for one slide and immediately generating a new deck, I’d recommend typing out all the revisions you want across the slides first.

For instance, one of the best presentations I've generated using NotebookLM was for a college course. It was my final term presentation, and while I already had a script prepared, I wanted to generate a deck that matched the flow and emphasis of my talking points perfectly. Back when I created the deck, NotebookLM hadn't launched this revisions feature. So, I created five different Slide Decks with slightly different prompts and then landed on one that matched the vision I actually had.

However, it wasn't perfect and still needed revisions. For example, on the very first slide, I wanted to assume the audience had used every AI tool I was going to mention, including Copilot. Back then, I manually added "Copilot" in the text but didn’t add a visual myself because it wouldn’t have matched the way the other logos were added, and I quietly hoped no one would notice. Now, with prompt-based revisions, I simply added the instruction to include Copilot in the slide, and NotebookLM added both the text and the logo!

You can also export your Slide Decks as .pptx

Google Slides support is next

The other upgrade NotebookLM shared in the same X post is that you can now export your decks as .pptx. Previously, you could only export them as PDF files, meaning you couldn't easily make further edits, reuse slides in other presentations, or collaborate with others who rely on PowerPoint.

With .pptx support, all of that becomes possible. The decks you generate with NotebookLM are also always static, but with this change, you can now freely add animations, slide transitions, embedded media, and all the usual presentation effects that make your deck more interactive and engaging. The team also shared that Google Slides support is coming soon.

And it’s only going to get better

Many people I’ve chatted with have mentioned that the inability to edit the decks you generate with NotebookLM is the main reason they don’t rely on the feature for their presentations. So, the new changes were much needed, and going off NotebookLM’s pace, it’s clear the team is committed to making Slide Decks a truly practical tool for real-world use.