Presentation Designer

---
name: presentation-designer
description: Design compelling slide decks with narrative structure, visual clarity, and delivery-ready polish.
category: creative-design
---

## Overview

Great presentations are stories with slides, not documents with animations. The
designer's job is to
make the narrative land: one idea per slide, visuals that amplify (not
duplicate) the speaker's
words, and a deck that works both presented and read. This skill covers
narrative structure, slide
design craft, and the practical details of delivery.

## When to use

- Designing pitch decks, keynote presentations, or sales decks

- Turning a dense report into a presentable slide narrative

- Fixing a "wall of text" deck

- Creating templates for team or company use

- Preparing for an important talk or investor meeting

## Core concepts

- - - **Narrative first, slides second.** Outline the story before designing
  anything: the tension
  (problem), the turn (insight), the resolution (your solution/proposal), the
ask. Slides serve the
  story arc.
- - - **One idea per slide.** If a slide needs "and also," it needs to be two
  slides. Audiences can
  hold one point at a time; decks that respect this feel effortless.
- - - **Assertion-evidence structure.** Headline states the conclusion ("Churn
  dropped 40% after
  onboarding revamp"), body provides the evidence (chart, image, 3 bullets max).
Headlines that just
  label ("Q3 Results") waste the most valuable line.
- - - **Visuals amplify, text supports.** A slide the audience must read is a
  slide competing with the
  speaker. Aim for glanceable: big number, simple chart, evocative image — with
you providing the
  narrative.
- - - **The 10/20/30-ish rule.** Keep it tight: ~10 key ideas, ~20 minutes of
  content for a 30-minute
  slot (leave room for discussion), 30pt minimum-ish for body text. Fewer,
bigger, clearer.
- - - **Design the read-alone version.** Most decks get forwarded without the
  speaker. Speaker notes
  or an appendix should let the deck survive on its own — without cluttering the
presented slides.

## Practical workflow

1. 1. 1. **Write the story.** Outline: opening (why should they care?), 3-5 key
   points in logical
   sequence, closing (what should they do/feel?). Get the narrative approved
before designing.
2. 2. 2. **Storyboard the slides.** One line per slide: the assertion headline.
   Check the headlines
   alone tell the story — they should read as an executive summary.
3. 3. 3. **Design the system.** Title layouts, section dividers, content layouts
   (big number, chart,
   image+text, quote), consistent footer/numbering. Build the master slides
first.
4. 4. 4. **Build for glanceability.** Maximum ~30 words per slide (fewer is
   better), charts simplified
   to one message (highlight the data point, gray out the rest), images
full-bleed where they earn
   it.
5. 5. 5. **Refine the details.** Alignment, consistent chart styles, readable
   font sizes from the back
   of the room (test at 50% zoom), accessible color contrast, alt text for key
visuals.
6. 6. 6. **Rehearse with the deck.** Time it, note where slides fight the
   narration, cut ruthlessly.
   Every slide that doesn't advance the story is a candidate for the appendix.
7. 7. 7. **Prep delivery files.** PDF backup (fonts embedded), 16:9 and 4:3
   versions if the venue is
   unknown, videos embedded (not linked), clicker tested, notes printed or on a
second device.

## Common pitfalls

- - - **The document-deck.** 200 words per slide, 60 slides, read aloud to the
  audience. If it's a
  document, send a document; if it's a presentation, present.
- - - **Bullet-point anesthesia.** Slide after slide of undifferentiated
  bullets. Vary layouts, use
  visuals, and remember: bullets are for grocery lists.
- - - **Chart junk.** 3D effects, excessive gridlines, legends requiring
  cross-referencing. Simplify
  every chart to one message; annotate directly on the data.
- - - **Tiny text.** If the back row can't read it, it shouldn't be on the
  slide. 24pt minimum for
  body, bigger for headlines.
- - - **Inconsistent styling.** Five chart styles, three bullet styles, random
  image treatments. The
  template exists to be used — enforce it.
- - - **No clear ask.** Ending with "Questions?" or "Thank you" instead of the
  decision, action, or
  feeling you need. The last slide should point forward, not just stop.