deck

Deck

Core principle

A deck is not a document with pictures. It's a sequenced argument. Every slide answers one question and hands the reader to the next question. If a slide doesn't advance the argument, it doesn't belong. The structure is the product — nail that before touching a design tool.

Step 1: Understand the presentation before structuring anything

Answer these before writing slides:

1. Audience: Who is in the room? What do they already know? What do they care about?
2. Goal: What decision or action do you want from this presentation?
3. Format: Live presentation, leave-behind, or async read? (Changes density and annotation needs)
4. Time: How many minutes? Rule of thumb: 2 minutes per slide for live presentations.
5. Context: Is this the first time this audience is seeing this topic, or a recurring update?

Step 2: Choose the deck type

Different decks follow different spine structures. Match the type first.

---

Pitch Deck (Investor / Partner)

Use for: fundraising, partnership pitches, first-time investor conversations.

#	Slide	What it answers
1	Problem	What's broken in the world and for whom?
2	Solution	What do you do, in one sentence?
3	Why now	What changed that makes this the moment?
4	Market	How big? TAM/SAM/SOM if you have it — narrative if you don't
5	Product	What does it do? (Screenshots or demo beats description)
6	Traction	What have you proven? (Revenue, users, retention, logos)
7	Business model	How do you make money?
8	Go-to-market	How do you reach customers?
9	Team	Why are you the right people for this?
10	The ask	How much, for what milestones, by when?

Rules:

• Slide 1 (Problem) should make the investor feel the pain before you name your company.
• Slide 6 (Traction) is the most important slide for early-stage. Lead with the most impressive number.
• Slide 10 (Ask) should name the exact amount and the 2-3 milestones it funds.

---

QBR Deck (Quarterly Business Review)

Use for: customer success reviews, executive updates on account health.

#	Slide	What it answers
1	Executive summary	One slide: status, top achievement, top risk
2	Q[N] results	What were the goals? What was achieved?
3	Key metrics	The 3-5 numbers that define account health
4	Wins	Specific outcomes delivered this quarter
5	Challenges	What went wrong, what was done about it
6	Product roadmap highlights	What's coming that's relevant to this client
7	Q[N+1] plan	Goals, initiatives, and owners for next quarter
8	Asks	What you need from the customer to succeed

---

Board / Investor Update

Use for: recurring board meetings, monthly/quarterly investor updates.

#	Slide	What it answers
1	Summary	Headline metrics: revenue, growth, runway
2	Scorecard	OKRs or goals from last period — red/yellow/green
3	Key achievements	3-5 things that moved the needle
4	Challenges	Honest assessment of what's hard
5	Financial snapshot	P&L, burn, runway, forecast
6	Next period priorities	What you're focused on and why
7	Asks	Decisions needed from the board

Rule: Board members read the deck before the meeting. Every slide should be able to stand alone. Don't rely on verbal explanation for a board deck.

---

Internal All-Hands / Strategy Deck

Use for: team-wide alignment, strategy rollouts, OKR kickoffs.

#	Slide	What it answers
1	Where we are	Current state — honest, specific
2	What we learned	From the last period: what worked, what didn't
3	Where we're going	The goal or strategy for the next period
4	Why this direction	The reasoning — make the logic visible
5	What changes	Specific decisions or direction changes
6	What stays the same	Anchors — what people can count on
7	The plan	Priorities, owners, timeline
8	How to ask questions	Feedback channel, Q&A, follow-up

---

How to write each slide

For every slide, produce:

Slide N: [Title — the one-sentence claim of this slide]

Talking points:
- [Key point 1]
- [Key point 2]
- [Key point 3 — max 3 per slide for live presentations]

Key data / visual: [What should be on this slide visually — chart, screenshot, table, single number]

Presenter note: [What the presenter needs to say that's NOT on the slide]

Slide title rules

The title is the claim, not the topic.

Weak (topic)	Strong (claim)
"Revenue"	"ARR hit $2M — up 40% QoQ"
"The problem"	"Enterprises lose $200K/year to manual reconciliation"
"Our team"	"We've done this before — twice"
"Next steps"	"Two decisions needed by Friday"

Narrative flow test

Read the slide titles in sequence. They should tell the story without the slides. If the titles don't flow as an argument, the structure is wrong. Fix the structure before writing the content.

Anti-patterns

Pattern	Fix
Slides with 6+ bullet points	One claim per slide. Excess becomes speaker notes.
Weak titles that name the topic	Titles should make the claim
No "ask" or decision slide at the end	Every presentation ends with what you need from the audience
Data without context	"Revenue grew 40%" not "Revenue: $2M"
Deck built as a document	If it needs to be read top to bottom, write a doc

What this skill does NOT do

• Visual design, layout, or color — use a designer or /design
• Actual slide creation in PowerPoint/Google Slides — this outputs an outline
• Financial modeling — use /finance for the numbers, then bring them here
• Copywriting for marketing decks — use /pcp-engine for conversion-focused copy