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NotebookLM’s New Video Overviews: Turn Your Research into AI-Narrated Slides
Google’s NotebookLM now delivers AI‑generated narrated visual overviews, plus a more flexible Studio panel, streamlining how you digest, tailor, and share knowledge.
What if your dense research notes could talk you through the key points as a slick slideshow?
Here's a Cool Tip: Try the New Google NotebookLM Video Overview.
With its new Video Overviews feature, you get visual walkthroughs of your content, complete with figures, quotes, diagrams, and narration.
It’s like having a mini‑doc ready to absorb, on demand.
What You’ll Gain
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Visual summaries on autopilot: convert long documents into narrated slides in seconds.
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Customizable outputs: tailor for different audiences, languages, or learning goals.
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Better multitasking: listen to audio while exploring mind maps or guides.
How It Works & Why It’s Useful
NotebookLM’s Video Overviews are AI-generated slide decks that narrate your documents while pulling in visuals like images, data, and quotes, the tool finds inside your sources.
It’s the visual counterpart to the Audio Overviews, but now with dynamics slides to complement the narration.
You can prompt it to focus on specific topics, tweak the tone for learners or experts, even target particular goals or audiences .
Especially handy when you need to prep tailored summaries for stakeholders, students, or global teammates.
At the same time, the Studio panel is redesigned.
You’ll see tiles for Audio Overviews, Video Overviews, Mind Maps, and Reports, letting you generate and manage multiple outputs from the same notebook, no more one-and-done limitation.
Plus multitasking is baked in—you can listen to an Audio Overview while exploring a mind map or study guide in the side panel.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here's how to do it.
On Web/Desktop
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Open your notebook in NotebookLM, https://notebooklm.google.com/ .
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Look to the right-side Studio panel: locate the Video Overview tile.
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Click it then configure: specify focus points, audience level, goals.
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Hit “Generate.” The AI builds slide visuals with narration and integrates visual data.
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Access the output below the tiles list: play, download, or re-generate as needed.
Note: The video overview is only available on the web-based version of NotebookLM.
Watch and Listen to this Video Overview!
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Visually handy and time-saving,
- Video Overviews turn tedious reading into digestible, spoken slides. Imagine presenting a process walkthrough without designing the deck yourself.
- Customizable, shareable, and more grounded than generic AI summaries.
Cons:
- The visuals can feel bland, functional, but not flashy.
- Detailed formatting control or media-rich layouts may still require manual edits.
Feature Access
This feature is rolling out in English to all NotebookLM users as of August 2025; other languages forthcoming.
Subscription needs:
- Free users can generate outputs but with limits.
- Upgrading to Google AI Pro, Ultra, or enterprise plans gives you 5× more daily video, audio, notebook, and query limits, plus analytics, advanced sharing, and customization.
Score
Criterion Score (0–10) Justification
Value 8
Video Overviews streamline turning dense docs into digestible, narrated visuals—meeting real needs in business and education.
Usability 7
Easy to find and use, though visual polish could be improved; multitasking improves accessibility.
Wow Factor 7
It’s clever and practical—still, visuals feel straightforward rather than stunning.
Total Score: 22/30 - 👍 Good. Worth adopting for most users.
Key Takeaways
NotebookLM’s Video Overviews add visual narration to AI summaries, making research easier to absorb and share.
Paired with Studio’s new capabilities, multi-output, multitasking, and better sharing, it becomes a versatile tool for professionals and educators.
It’s not a graphic design replacement, but a powerful assistant for clarity and efficiency.
Try It Yourself
Take it for a spin today.
Open a notebook, fire up a Video Overview, and see how quick and smooth it is.
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