Practical Use Cases: Posts, Slides, Study Aids

Knowing how to prompt is only useful if you make things you actually need. This lesson turns the skills from earlier into real outputs you can use today: social media posts, presentation slides, study aids, and thumbnails. For each one you get a ready-to-adapt prompt and a few tips so your first try lands close to the mark.

What You'll Learn

• Ready-to-use prompts for four common projects
• How to size images for different platforms
• Simple habits that make your images look intentional, not random
• How to keep a consistent look across a set of images

Use Case 1: Social Media Posts

Whether you post for a club, a small business, a class project, or yourself, a clean custom image stands out more than a stock photo everyone has seen.

Try a prompt like:

"A bright, cheerful square graphic announcing a book club meeting, with a stack of colorful books, soft pastel background, and the text 'Book Club Thursday 6 PM' in bold rounded letters at the top."

Tips:

• Ask for a square image for most feeds, or a tall/portrait image for stories and reels.
• Keep on-image text to a short headline. Add the details in your caption, not the picture.
• Pick two or three colors and name them so your posts feel like a set.

Use Case 2: Presentation Slides

A single strong image can carry a slide better than a wall of bullet points. Use Nano Banana for section dividers, concept illustrations, and simple diagrams-as-art.

Try:

"A clean flat illustration for a slide about teamwork, showing three diverse people fitting puzzle pieces together, minimal style, plenty of empty space on the right for text, soft blue and orange colors."

Tips:

• Ask for empty space on one side so you have room to add your own text in your slides tool.
• Request a wide (landscape) shape to match slide dimensions.
• Keep the style consistent across every slide by reusing the same style words ("clean flat illustration, soft blue and orange").

Use Case 3: Study Aids

Images make ideas stick. You can turn abstract concepts into simple visuals that help you and your classmates remember.

Try:

"A simple, labeled illustration of the water cycle showing the sun, ocean, clouds, rain, and a river, cartoon style, clear labels in plain English, bright colors."

Tips:

• Ask for labels and keep them short so they render cleanly.
• Use "simple" and "clear" to avoid busy, cluttered results.
• For a topic with steps, ask for them "arranged left to right in order."

Always double-check that any labeled facts in a study image are actually correct. AI can draw a convincing diagram with a wrong label, so treat generated study aids as a helpful sketch, not a source of truth.

Use Case 4: Thumbnails

If you make videos or share links, a custom thumbnail grabs attention. Nano Banana's text-in-image ability shines here.

Try:

"A bold, high-contrast video thumbnail with a surprised person on the left, a bright yellow background, and the words 'I Tried This' in large black letters on the right."

Tips:

• Go high-contrast and bold; thumbnails are viewed small.
• Keep the on-image text to three or four words.
• Leave one clear focal point rather than a crowded scene.

Match the Size to the Platform

Different places want different shapes. You can ask for the shape directly.

If an image comes out the wrong shape, you can also ask Nano Banana to resize or reframe it while keeping the important parts.

Keep a Consistent Look

For a set of images that belong together (a slide deck, a week of posts), consistency makes them look professional. The trick is to reuse the same style sentence every time and only change the subject:

• Slide 1: "...flat illustration, soft blue and orange colors, minimal style... of a person planning."
• Slide 2: "...flat illustration, soft blue and orange colors, minimal style... of a team meeting."

Same style words, different subject. Your deck will feel designed rather than random.

Key Takeaways

• Use ready-made prompts as starting points for posts, slides, study aids, and thumbnails, then adapt the details.
• Name the shape you need (square, tall, wide) so the image fits its destination.
• Keep on-image text short and put the rest in captions or slide text.
• Reuse the same style sentence across a set of images to keep a consistent, intentional look.
• Verify any facts or labels in study images yourself, because a neat diagram can still be wrong.