What is NotebookLM?

NotebookLM is Google's AI-powered research tool and thinking partner, built on the latest Gemini models. It focuses on analyzing "trusted sources" to generate reliable insights. It supports uploading a wide range of materials—PDFs, Google Docs, websites, YouTube videos, audio files, and more—and instantly produces high-quality summaries, Audio Overviews (AI-hosted in-depth audio discussions), mind maps, quizzes, reports, and even professional-grade Slide Decks.

The 2025–2026 updates have significantly enhanced its capabilities, including Deep Research (in-depth web research that automatically recommends and adds high-quality sources), Fast Research (quick searches), Prompt-based Slide Revisions (iterative slide editing via text prompts), Video Overviews, and fully editable multimedia outputs, making content creation far more flexible and controllable.

In the field of HR training, NotebookLM dramatically boosts efficiency and professionalism, compressing preparation time from weeks down to just a few hours.

Uploading Sources to Quickly Grasp the Big Picture

For example, I had a 200-page book on the history of HR development and wanted to organize its chapters for easier understanding.

I simply clicked “Add sources” and uploaded the entire PDF. Within seconds, NotebookLM generated a comprehensive summary of the book, allowing me to immediately capture the overall direction and key themes.

Next, I entered a clear prompt: “Act like a senior HR instructor and organize the content into four parts:

The core question this book aims to answer and its main answers;
Key points from each chapter and the book as a whole;
Practical insights for today’s HR professionals;
Specific, actionable steps that can be implemented right away.”

The output was extremely well-structured and logically rigorous—ready to be used directly as the outline for training materials or lecture notes.

Combining Web Search to Make Content More Vivid and Substantial

When I felt the book’s content wasn’t deep or current enough, I activated the Research function. There are two modes: Fast Research (quick generation, ideal for initial supplementation) and Deep Research (deeper exploration that automatically pulls in multiple reliable references—takes longer but delivers much higher quality).

For instance, for the section on “Traits and Key Examples of Each Stage,” I asked it to search for more real-world cases and recent data.

Once the research finished, NotebookLM automatically added the new references to my Notebook.

I then instructed it: “Integrate the newly searched content and revise the ‘Traits and Key Examples of Each Stage’ section accordingly.”

The result was transformative: abstract stage descriptions were instantly enriched with concrete corporate examples (such as Ford’s assembly line revolutionizing 19th-century production methods), making the content far more vivid, relatable, and persuasive.

One-Click Generation of High-Quality Professional Slides

Of course, text summaries aren’t NotebookLM’s killer feature—its real strength lies in multimedia generation. I asked it to turn the existing sources into a slide deck by clicking “Slide Deck.” You can choose between a Detailed Slide Deck or a Presentation Slide Deck, then wait. Generation time depends on the volume of sources—typically a few minutes to over ten minutes.

The resulting slides were astonishing: not basic PowerPoint slides, but professionally laid-out decks with consistent color schemes, appropriate icons, and strong visual elements—quality on par with what a professional design team would produce, ready to use straight away.

These aren’t static images; they’re fully editable slides. You can modify content, layout, or design through simple edits.

For example, I felt the celebrity quote on the last slide wasn’t very relevant to HR, so I instructed: “Replace the quote on this slide with a more HR-relevant one from Peter Drucker.” After clicking “Generate new deck,” it instantly updated the slide with Drucker’s famous HR-related quote.

Finally, you can export the deck as PDF or PowerPoint, making it easy to adapt for different occasions or audiences.

Summary

NotebookLM delivers tremendous value for HR training. It enables training specialists to quickly extract key points from dense books or policy documents and transform them into structured handouts, audio courses, and high-quality slides—slashing preparation time from weeks to hours. Deep Research adds the latest industry examples for greater depth and timeliness, while editable multimedia outputs allow precise customization to match company culture and audience needs.