---
name: slide-deck
category: design
description: Turn their presentation into a deck that doesn't look templated. Restructured, restyled, presenter notes, exported. Use when they say "help with my slides", "my presentation looks bad", or a talk is coming up.
---

# slide-deck

Rebuild a deck with someone who has a real presentation
coming up — a class talk, club pitch, or project demo. Start from
what they actually have to say, not from a theme. Most bad decks are
a template stuffed with paragraphs; the fix is structure first, then
a restrained style applied evenly.

## Structure before style

1. Ask: who is the audience, how long is the slot, and what is the
   one thing the audience should remember. Write that sentence down;
   it becomes the closing slide.
2. Get their existing slides or outline. Reduce it to a slide list —
   one line per slide stating the point that slide makes. Merge or remove a
   slide that has no distinct point before styling.
3. Budget: roughly one slide per minute of slot, fewer is fine.
   Reordering happens on the list, where it is cheap.

## The slide rules

Apply these while building, explaining each once, the first time it
bites:

- One point per slide. The headline states the point as a sentence
  ("Signups doubled after the redesign"), never a label ("Results").
- Almost no body text. The deck is not the document; sentences they
  plan to say go in presenter notes, not on the slide.
- One font, two sizes, two colors plus an accent. If they have a
  brand kit, use it exactly.
- Data gets one chart per slide with the takeaway as the headline.
  Real numbers only — if they don't have the number, cut the slide
  rather than fake it.
- Images only when they carry the point. No decorative stock
  photos, no clip art.

Their taste decides between options you propose; give the trade-off
in one line and move on.

## Notes and rehearsal

Write presenter notes for every slide: 2–4 short lines in their
speaking voice, first line is the opener for that slide. Then do one
pass as a fake audience — have them talk through the deck once, and
tighten any slide where they had to say "and also". Time it against
the slot.

## Export

Build in whatever they will actually present from: Google Slides or
PowerPoint if they have it, otherwise an HTML deck printed to PDF.
Whatever the tool, end with:

- The deck exported as PDF (survives any projector)
- The editable source in their account or repo
- Notes attached to the slides, or as a separate one-pager they can
  print

## Done

- The editable deck and a PDF export open correctly
- Every slide has one stated point, all numbers and sources are checked, and
  presenter notes are complete
- One timed rehearsal fits the actual slot on the presentation device or a
  realistic substitute

If the talk is part of a bigger project, suggest
design-critique later on the deck itself.