Which AI Tool Should You Use to Build Better PowerPoint Presentations?

Microsoft 365 Copilot and ChatGPT are both powerful AI assistants, but they work in different ways. Copilot lives inside PowerPoint and helps you build slides from your existing documents and Microsoft 365 content. ChatGPT is more flexible and creative, making it ideal for storylines, structure, messaging, and refining your presentation logic. Learn more about Copilot on the official Microsoft 365 Copilot page.

Quick Summary

• Copilot is best for working directly inside PowerPoint with your existing files.
• ChatGPT is best for content creation, storytelling, messaging, and clarity.
• Together, they create a fast and highly effective workflow.
• Use Copilot for draft slides and ChatGPT for polished messaging.

Where Copilot Performs Best

Copilot is deeply integrated into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. It can pull context from your emails, Word documents, Excel data, and Teams chats to instantly generate slide outlines and draft content. This makes Copilot strong in situations where you already have raw information but no structured deck yet.

• Meeting recaps converted into quick slides
• Project summaries based on documents and notes
• Drafting slide outlines directly inside PowerPoint
• Turning long documents into short, presentable content

Copilot is strongest when you already have lots of internal data and need a quick draft straight inside PowerPoint.

Where ChatGPT Performs Best

ChatGPT excels at the broader thinking around a presentation: structure, messaging, persuasion, logic, and storytelling. It can generate sharper headlines, clearer bullet points, and a stronger narrative than Copilot.

• Crafting storylines for pitch decks and strategy decks
• Improving clarity and rewriting weak slides
• Writing insight-driven headlines
• Turning messy notes into coherent ideas
• Generating alternate versions of text to fit tone or audience

ChatGPT is your creative strategist. It sees structure and meaning even in messy content.

The Best Workflow: Use Both Tools Together

The most effective approach is to combine both tools. Each one covers the other’s weaknesses and strengthens your workflow.

1. Start with ChatGPT

Let ChatGPT create:

• a complete slide storyline
• clear headlines
• sharp bullet points
• a narrative arc for your message

This gives you clean, strategic content.

2. Move into PowerPoint and use Copilot

Once the content is ready, open PowerPoint and let Copilot:

• place content into slides
• generate draft layouts
• summarize your Word or Excel files
• adjust slide structure for readability

Copilot turns ChatGPT's ideas into fast, usable drafts inside PowerPoint.

3. Apply Your Professional Template

Neither AI tool delivers strong visual design. You get professional design only when you add a high-quality template:

• consistent spacing
• brand colors
• modern layouts
• clean typography

This final step turns AI-generated drafts into polished business slides.

Best Prompts for Using ChatGPT + Copilot Together

For ChatGPT:

"Create a complete 12-slide storyline for a pitch deck about [topic].
Include: problem, opportunity, solution, product, KPIs, business model, roadmap,
and final CTA. Use strong, insight-driven headlines."

For Copilot:

"Turn this text into a clean slide with a short headline and 3–4 concise bullet points."

Combined workflow prompt:

"Rewrite this slide in a clearer, more executive-friendly style. 
Then prepare a version suitable for Copilot to insert directly into PowerPoint."

Final Verdict: Use Each Tool for What It Does Best

Copilot is your in-PowerPoint assistant. ChatGPT is your thinking and writing engine. Together they cut hours of presentation work down to minutes.

To make both tools shine, pair them with clean, modern templates from PresentationBase so your slides look polished, consistent, and professional.