Do you have Inkscape installed? I think it would be easier to draw the mask, i.e. the edgy edges, in there. You could just trace the one from your example pic as well. And then you could go back to GIMP and attempt the same procedure again. I would just make sure you convert all your images to PNG or JPEG. And to make sure you add the alpha channel before you do anything else.
Tbh I would use the clip function in Inkscape and then export the image as PNG to use in your slide. But I've always been more comfortable on the vector side of things.