No file? Write a briefing from scratch
The meeting is tomorrow. You don't have a document — just some numbers and a decision to make. Write who is in the room, what you need to decide, and the facts you already have.
Start a briefing1. Write who is listening and what you need to decide
When you don't have a file, put the meeting in the box: who is listening, what you need to decide, and the numbers you already have. Don't just type “Q2 operations PPT.”
We wrote: Write a 12-minute Q2 operations briefing for the VP of Supply Chain at a mid-size electronics distributor. Audience: internal leadership, not customers. We need to decide whether to keep the Shenzhen 3PL or bring inbound QC back in-house in Q4. Use only these facts — do not invent extra numbers: inbound volume 1.84M units in Q2, +11% vs Q1; dock-to-stock median 14.2 hours against an 8-hour target; damage rate 1.9% (Q1 1.4%); 3PL invoice $2.31M vs $1.96M; June 8 pallet collapse (47 units) and June 22 mislabel wave (612 units to the wrong DC). Consider a 90-day dual-run with 30% of inbound QC in-house. Don't write a product brochure. Make it a decision briefing.
Then click Generate outline.
2. After you send it, leave this tab open
A progress bar will show up. Stay on this page until it finishes. When it's done, slides start on their own.
If you close the tab and don't come back, the slides may not be ready. Open the project again to continue.
3. Look at the slides that came out
This run opened on the decision: dock-to-stock at 14.2 hours against an 8-hour target, damage at 1.9%. Later pages covered the two June incidents. That's a briefing, not a company intro.
If a page is wrong, change that page.
4. If the title is too long, ask it to shorten it
Sometimes the title comes out as a whole paragraph. In AI edit on that page, write “Shorten the title.” You don't need to redo the whole deck.
5. Export PPT or PDF
When it looks right, click Export. Choose PPTX if you'll keep editing in PowerPoint. Choose PDF if you just need to send a file.
If it reads like a product brochure
Check these:
- You only wrote a topic, not who is listening or what you need to decide.
- You let it invent numbers you don't have.
- You wrote “TBD” or “to be confirmed,” and it printed on the slide.
- You named a slide count. Write how long the meeting is instead.
The quarterly report is already a file?
See How to turn a PDF or Word file into slides, or You already have a PPT — just revise it. This guide is for the meeting that still has no file.