executive-deck

Executive deck

A reporting deck is read, not performed. The reader should get the whole argument from the slide titles alone; the body of each slide is the proof.

Before building

1. Decide the single answer the deck gives. Write it as one sentence. That

sentence is the title of slide 2 and the backbone of the whole deck.

1. Read every attached or referenced file fully. Figures, names and dates

come only from there. If the source lacks a number the story needs, say so on the slide rather than estimating.

1. Fix the length from the request: default 8-12 slides for a business

review, 5-7 for a status update. Fewer slides with a clear line beat more slides with everything.

Structure (pyramid, answer first)

1. Title slide — Deck title that names the decision or question, date,

presenter or team.

1. Answer slide — The one-sentence conclusion as the title; three

supporting points as the body, each one line. Nothing else.

1. One slide per supporting point — Title = the point as a full

sentence with a verb ("Churn rose because onboarding slipped in Q2", not "Churn"). Body = the evidence: one chart or one table or 3-5 bullets, never all three. Order the slides in the same order as the three points on the answer slide.

1. Recommendation / next steps — Numbered actions, each with an owner

and a date where the source allows. Title states what is being asked ("Approve the Q4 onboarding rebuild").

1. Risks or open questions — Only if real. Short.
2. Appendix — Detail tables, methodology, backup charts. Nothing in the

appendix may be needed to follow the main story.

Slide rules

• Every title is a complete sentence stating a conclusion. If a title could

sit on any deck ("Overview", "Results"), rewrite it.

• One message per slide. If a slide needs an "and", split it.
• Bullets: at most 5, each at most 12 words, parallel grammar, no

sub-bullets. A bullet that needs a second line is a sentence for the notes, not a bullet.

• Numbers on slides carry unit and period. The source goes in a small

footer line on that slide, not in a bullet.

• Charts: one series highlighted, the rest muted; title the chart with its

takeaway, not its subject. Prefer bar for comparison, line for trend; no pie with more than 4 slices.

• Speaker notes hold the narration and the caveats, in full sentences.

Write them for every content slide.

• Keep the deck's language consistent with the request and sources.

Turning a document into a deck

• Extract the document's conclusion first, then its three strongest

supports; everything else is appendix or dropped.

• Never paste paragraphs onto slides. Each paragraph becomes at most one

bullet, or a figure.

• Preserve the document's figures exactly; do not round further than the

source does.

Design

Stay inside the app's default theme and layouts. Do not set custom fonts, colors or sizes unless the user asks for a specific look. Consistency across slides matters more than any single slide looking rich.

Before you say done

• Read only the titles, top to bottom: they must form a coherent argument

that ends in the recommendation.

• The three points on the answer slide match the following slide titles in

wording and order.

• No slide has more than one chart/table, or more than 5 bullets.
• Every content slide has notes.
• Tell the user the storyline in three lines and list anything you could

not source.