Slide Deck Creation

---
name: slide-deck-creation
description: Build a deck that supports a spoken argument, with one idea per slide and visuals that carry meaning. Use when presenting to an audience rather than sending a document.
---

# Slide deck creation

A deck is a visual aid for a talk, not a document. The most common
failure is writing the document and projecting it, which leaves the
audience reading instead of listening.

## Method

1. **Write the argument first, in sentences.** The narrative decides the
   slides; slides made first produce a sequence of topics rather than an
   argument (see data-storytelling).
2. **One idea per slide.** If a slide needs a paragraph to explain, it
   is two slides or a spoken point with a simple visual.
3. **Make the headline the point.** Revenue grew forty percent after
   launch beats Q3 Results, because a reader skimming later still gets
   the argument.
4. **Use visuals that carry the meaning.** A chart showing the trend
   beats a table of numbers, and decorative imagery earns nothing (see
   data-visualization).
5. **Keep text large and sparse.** If the font must shrink to fit, the
   content belongs in the appendix or in speech.
6. **Design for the room and the medium.** Contrast for projectors,
   legibility on a laptop, and no reliance on colour alone (see
   color-contrast).
7. **Build the appendix separately.** Detail and backup data live after
   the end, ready for questions, keeping the main sequence clean.

## Boundaries

A deck supports a presenter; a document sent to be read alone should be
written as prose instead (see exec-one-pager). Template constraints in
organisations limit design freedom. Slides cannot rescue an argument
that does not hold.