Recently, I decided to try NotebookLM - a tool from Google designed to work with your own materials (documents, links, notes) using AI.
What I uploaded
A minimal setup:
- one Word document with a product description;
- a link to the product landing page.
No additional instructions, scripts, or manual preparation were required.
What the tool generated automatically
Based on the uploaded materials, NotebookLM:
- produced a coherent product description;
- structured the content into logical slides;
- generated voice narration;
- assembled everything into a complete video overview.
Essentially, this is an automated assembly of a product overview / demo-level presentation from raw input data.
How long it took
The generation process took approximately 15–30 minutes.
The output was a ready-to-use result that did not require further assembly or manual editing.
What felt especially useful
- it does not require a pre-written script;
- it works well with existing documentation;
- it is suitable for quick demos, internal presentations, and early-stage product overviews;
- it lowers the effort required to prepare materials for external communication.
Limitations and nuances
- the quality of the result depends on the quality of the source documents;
- it is not a replacement for a fully produced marketing video, but rather a fast, clear, and practical format.
Example output
As a real example, I applied NotebookLM to the description of one of my own products.
Here is the automatically generated video overview:
NotebookLM is a strong practical tool for quickly packaging ideas and products into a clear, understandable format. It is especially useful when the goal is to communicate the core idea without spending time on manual presentation work.
Top comments (2)
Great review! NotebookLM's ability to generate structured overviews from raw docs is indeed impressive especially for fast demos and early-stage presentations.
One challenge I've encountered when using it for larger research projects (10+ documents) is that the sidebar becomes difficult to navigate. After working with 40+ research papers on microservices, I ended up building a Chrome extension for ( Copilot Cli Challenge ) that adds folder organization to NotebookLM's sidebar.
The combination is powerful: NotebookLM handles the AI synthesis (like your automated video generation), while folders keep the source materials organized. Each project gets isolated folder structures, so your "Product A" research doesn't mix with "Product B".
If you're planning to use NotebookLM for multiple product overviews, organizing sources by project/topic might save you time when switching contexts.
Feel free to check it out if you're curious: dev.to/cgcm070/notebooklm-enhancer...
Great write-up on the tool's practical capabilities!
Great work, Cesar. The folder structure idea feels like a very natural extension for NotebookLM, especially at scale. Really nice complement to its AI synthesis capabilities.