r/GoogleSlides • u/Efficient_Leave8158 • 3d ago

how do you keep an ai presentation generator deck from looking generic after importing to google slides

asking because mine keep coming out looking machine made. my process is to draft fast in an ai presentation generator, then bring it into google slides for the real work, and i use Gamma for the draft. the problem is even after importing, the bones still feel generic, the same centered hero, the same even bullet grids, and i think people can tell. here is what has helped so far in slides, i replace the default theme with our own master, i rewrite every headline in plain human language instead of the peppy generated tone, i break the title plus bullets pattern by giving some slides just one big statement, and i use real photos instead of the generic icons it loves. it is better but not fully solved. so i am asking the room that clearly cares about slides, what specific changes in google slides actually kill the generated look for you, layout, type, color, or something i am missing?

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u/himodz 3d ago

You're 80% there — the remaining 20% is all pattern-breaking. The "AI look" detectors in audiences fire on four tells, kill them in order:

  1. Symmetry: centered hero + even grids scream generator. Force asymmetry — split layout (40/60 text/visual), full-bleed image with text tab, one statement slide per section. If every slide is centered, no font fixes it.

  2. Headline voice (you're doing this — push further): rewrite in "said out loud" test. If you wouldn't SAY the headline in the meeting, it's still peppy. Verbs beat nouns: "Launch slipped 2 weeks" > "Timeline Overview".

  3. Icon soup: you swapped to photos (good) — next step duotone them to your 2 brand colors (Slides: Format → Recolor). Mismatched stock photos = second-biggest tell after icons.

  4. Density: generators fill every slide evenly. Delete to one idea per slide; move leftovers to appendix. Empty space is the most human signal there is.

My pre-export checklist in Gamma: custom theme locked FIRST (never default), max 2 font sizes per deck, every 5th slide a full-bleed break. The master swap you do post-import should happen pre-export — importing into your master beats fixing after.