Presentation from sermon

Quick start

Sermon speech can become a presentation in two ways:

Create presentation (manual split)

1. Ensure the note has Sermon tab content (spoken manuscript).
2. Open the editor Sermon tab → Create presentation — or use ⋮ Create presentation on a library card.
3. Set Title and Aspect ratio, then choose a Theme.
4. Split the notes into slides: click Split slide here between paragraphs or headings. Headings start on their own slide by default.
5. Click Create presentation. WorshipDeck creates the deck immediately and opens it.

Generate presentation (AI)

1. Open the editor Sermon tab → Generate presentation — or use ⋮ Generate presentation on a library card (AI presentation beta).
2. Set Title, Max slides, Aspect ratio, and a Theme (required).
3. Optionally turn on Include AI-generated images if your church has account credit.
4. Click Generate — WorshipDeck queues a background job and shows a toast with an estimated wait time.
5. When the job finishes, open the new deck from the job toast (Open presentation) or from the note’s linked presentations.

You should land on /presentations/{id} after the presentation is created. AI generation can take from under a minute (slides only) to several minutes when images are included.

Deep dive

Entry points

Location	Create presentation	Generate presentation
Editor Sermon tab	Shown when the Sermon tab has content	Shown when the Sermon tab has content; requires AI presentation beta
Library note ⋮ menu	Note has speech content (Speech badge)	Speech badge + AI presentation beta

Create does not send notes to AI. Generate uses the same background job path as before. Only one AI presentation job can run for a note at a time.

Create presentation (manual split)

Field	Purpose
Title	Presentation name (defaults from note title)
Aspect ratio	16:9 (widescreen), 9:16 (vertical), or 4:3
Theme	Required. Slides follow this theme
Split notes	Click between Markdown paragraphs and headings to start a new slide. A title slide is added automatically

Each split chunk becomes a slide with speaker notes only — the on-screen canvas stays empty so you can add verse, image, or title content in the editor. A title slide is added automatically. A presentation can have at most 40 content slides.

Generate presentation (AI) options

Field	Purpose
Title	Presentation name (defaults from note title)
Max slides	Upper bound on generated slide count
Aspect ratio	16:9 (widescreen), 9:16 (vertical), or 4:3
Theme	Required. Slides (and optional images) follow this theme
Include AI-generated images	Optional. Creates theme-matched images for key slides; uses account credit

WorshipDeck uses sermon speech content as the source for slide text, speaker notes, and structure. Scripture on slides is grounded from your church’s authorized Bible sources when possible.

How AI generation runs

1. After you confirm the modal (and any privacy review), WorshipDeck enqueues an AI job.
2. A toast confirms that generation started and may show an estimate such as About 45 sec or About 6 min, based on similar past jobs (images, sermon length, slide count).
3. The bottom-right job notification stays visible while the job is queued or running. Progress may include building slides, generating images, and creating the presentation.
4. When complete, the toast offers Open presentation. The deck is created and linked to the note automatically — there is no separate proposal-review step for this flow.

You can keep working elsewhere while the job runs. If a job is already active for the note, generate stays locked until that job finishes or fails.

Privacy review

Uses the shared HTTP 428 pattern documented in AI sermon prep (purpose: sermon presentation generation; sources include speech and title). Manual Create presentation skips privacy review because notes are not sent to an AI provider.

After creation

• The presentation appears in your Presentations library
• Edit slides, themes, and media in the presentation editor
• Present live using presentation present mode
• The note’s Linked presentations panel shows the connection

Linked presentations

Creating or generating from the editor or library creates a link between the sermon note and the presentation. Create or generate again to add another deck when you want a fresh pass (for example after editing the sermon or changing theme / images).

Tips

• Polish sermon speech before creating or generating slides — clearer manuscript yields better slides.
• Use Create presentation when you already know the slide breaks. Use Generate presentation when you want Ezra to propose structure and optional images.
• Choose Max slides on the AI path based on how visual your service is (announcements vs full sermon).
• Use 16:9 for most auditorium screens; 9:16 for social or side screens.
• Turn on Include AI-generated images only when you need them — image jobs take longer and spend credit.
• Pick the theme first; slide copy and optional images are matched to it.

Troubleshooting

Create or Generate presentation is disabled

• Add content to the Sermon tab first.
• For Generate, wait if a presentation is already being generated for this note, and confirm AI presentation beta is enabled.

Button missing on library card

• Create presentation needs sermon speech content (Speech badge).
• Generate presentation also needs AI presentation beta.

Theme is required

• Choose a presentation theme in the modal before creating or generating.

Include images is unavailable

• Add account credit under Billing. The toggle explains when credit is missing.

Wait seems longer than the estimate

• Estimates use recent similar jobs and can be approximate. Image generation is usually much slower than slides only. Keep the job toast open for progress and the open link when ready.

Generation failed or retrying

• Check AI credits in Billing and retry.
• Jobs may retry automatically after a temporary failure. If the toast shows failed, try again with fewer max slides or without images.

Slides need heavy editing

• Expected for a first pass — refine in the presentation editor.