Gridd Quick Start Guide

Read:
  1. Choose a template
  2. Activate the Gridd add-in
  3. Copy the template into your deck
  4. Match the Gridd style to your deck
  5. Add your content
  6. Adjust your content
  7. Share your deck
  8. Troubleshooting

See our full user guide.

Watch:

Essential Tips

  • While working in the Gridd add-in, use the Gridd menu (opened with RIGHT-CLICK) for functionality.
  • Inside the Gridd add-in, PowerPoint functions and shortcuts do not apply. Use the menu in Gridd instead (see above).
  • When moving a template into your own deck for use, copy the whole slide from the template pack and paste it into your deck, rather than copying just the Gridd element.
  • If for any reason you need all content in native PowerPoint text and shapes, use the Convert to PowerPoint button in the lower right of the Gridd object.

Choose a template

Gridd templates are professionally designed layouts optimized for clear business communication. Choosing the right template for your message matters — our Gridd Communication and Style Guide (included in the template pack) can help.

Templates are organized across 7 PowerPoint documents, each themed around a specific communication need, to help you find the right fit quickly. Templates are adaptive: built with the Gridd add-in, so adding or removing content requires no manual reformatting or realignment of PowerPoint objects. Most templates include a Gridd object, which requires the Gridd add-in to be installed.

Screenshot of PowerPoint window showing 12 slide thumbnails with slide 14 selected, displaying a house diagram labeled 'Our strategy will target businesses looking for better outcomes.'

Activate the Gridd add-in

When you open a template, click Accept and Continue when prompted to activate the add-in.

Screenshot of the Gridd add-in consent popup with a cursor pointing at the Accept and Continue button outlined in pink.

If the add-in isn't working:

  • Confirm the add-in is installed by looking in the add-in menu in PowerPoint to verify that Gridd appears there
  • On a work computer, verify that your administrator allows third-party add-ins
  • Make sure you're signed into the correct Microsoft account

Select and copy a template into your deck

  1. Open a template pack and choose your template
  2. If you haven't already done so, click Accept on the Gridd object to activate the add-in
  3. Copy the entire slide (not just the Gridd object) and paste it into your destination deck
  4. Paste it into your destination deck

Copy

PowerPoint slide showing a simple strategy template with a house diagram labeled with vision and four pillars, plus sections for foundational elements and footnotes.

Paste

PowerPoint slide titled 'Welcome Message' with placeholder for picture, lorem ipsum text, and social media icons at bottom left.

Match the Gridd's contents to your deck's style

The Style Wizard automatically detects your deck's fonts and colors and applies them to the Gridd. When you paste your page into your deck, the style wizard will automatically open.

  1. Review the detected fonts and colors, then click Save and Continue
Presentation slide titled Simple strategy template showing a style selection menu with font and color options, including a zoomed-in view of color selections for Header, Body, Highlight, and Secondary.Slide titled 'Simple strategy temple' showing a style selection popup with font and color options, and a cursor clicking 'Save and Apply' button.

Add your content

Add content from an LLM conversation:

  1. In the Gridd menu, click Copy Prompt and paste it into your LLM conversation
  2. Copy the table the LLM returns
  3. Paste back into the Gridd by selecting the upper left cell and pasting

Step 1 – Copy the prompt

Simple strategy template diagram with four pillars under a vision header and sections for foundational elements description; Pillar 1 highlighted in red.

Step 2 – Copy the LLM's table output

ChatGPT interface showing a response about structured business communication and consulting standards with a visible Copy table button highlighted with a cursor.

Step 3 – Paste into Gridd

Slide titled Simple strategy temple showing a strategy pillar focused on enabling clear, structured, and efficient business communication featuring four key areas: Structured Thinking, Narrative Discipline, Visual Clarity, and Operational Efficiency, along with notes on codifying consulting standards and democratizing storytelling.

Add content from an existing table (Excel or other):

  1. Copy your table
  2. Select the top-left cell of the Gridd and paste — the Gridd will expand automatically to fit

Make adjustments

Your slide should be nearly presentation-ready. Use the Gridd controls to fine-tune:

  • Format one or more cells: Click into any cell, or select a group of cells using shift-click or control-click (command-click on a Mac) and right-click to access formatting options
  • Add a row, column, or border: Click any circle-with-plus-sign insertion handle
  • Move or resize a column or row: Click a grey pill handle along the top or left edge, then drag it to its new position, or instead click on a side handle and drag it to its new width or height
  • Resize the Gridd: Drag the Gridd object's outer edges to adjust its overall size

Format one or more cells

Click into any cell, or select a group of cells using shift-click or control-click (command-click on a Mac) and right-click to access formatting options

PowerPoint slide titled 'Simple strategy temple' showing a strategy pyramid with sections labeled Structured Thinking, Narrative Development, Story Clarity, and Operational Efficiency, with an overlay of a right-click context menu and a cursor.

Add a column, row, or border

Click into any cell, or select a group of cells using shift-click or control-click (command-click on a Mac) and right-click to access formatting options

Slide titled 'Simple strategy temple' showing a diagram with four pillars for clear, structured, efficient business communication: Structured Thinking, Narrative Discipline, Visual Clarity, Operational Efficiency, with supporting text about consulting standards and storytelling.

Move or resize a column or row

Click a grey pill handle along the top or left edge, then drag it to its new position, or instead click on a side handle and drag it to its new width or height

Simple strategy template slide titled 'Simple strategy temple' showing four pillars: Structured Thinking, Narrative Discipline, Visual Clarity, and Operational Efficiency, with description text below.

For more detailed editing tutorials, visit our full Gridd Guide.

Note that you can also convert your Gridd to 100% PowerPoint text and shapes for the unconstrained flexibility (and correpsonding fiddling) of PowerPoint editing. Use Convert to PowerPoint, shown in the step below.

Share your deck

You can share your deck with the Gridd. Your recipient will need to accept the Gridd add-in.

Alternatively, you can convert your Gridd to PowerPoint text and shapes and no add-in is needed. (Note that once exported, the Gridd add-in no longer appears on that slide.)

  1. In the Gridd menu, click Convert to PowerPoint
Slide titled Simple strategy temple showing a diagram with four pillars: Structured Thinking, Narrative Discipline, Visual Clarity, and Operational Efficiency supporting clear, structured, and efficient business communication.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues with content loading:

  1. In the microsoft menu, click Reload.
Screenshot of a simple strategy template with three pillars: Structured Thinking, Narrative Discipline, and Visual Clarity, alongside a context menu highlighting the Reload option.

See our full user guide.