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Chapter 12: Don't Design Your Deck Like a Poster

Chapter 12: Don't Design Your Deck Like a Poster

A presentation slide is not a report.

  • It is not a textbook.
  • It is not a spreadsheet.
  • It is not a poster designed to communicate everything without a presenter.

You are standing beside it. That matters. The slide only needs to contain the information the audience needs at that moment in the argument.

The Presentation Is Layered

Think about the information available to your audience as several layers.

  • Main Deck: What the judges need to understand the argument.
  • Presenter: The explanation and interpretation that brings the slide to life.
  • Appendix: Supporting detail that may become important during Q&A.
  • Analysis: The deeper work your team completed to reach a conclusion.

These layers should not contain the same amount of information. A common mistake is moving everything from the analysis into the main deck. Don't. The purpose of analysis is to discover the answer; the purpose of the presentation is to communicate the answer. Those are different tasks.

The Information Hierarchy

Divide potential content into three categories.

MUST KNOW

The judge needs this to understand or believe the recommendation. Examples might include:

  • the root problem;

  • critical insight;

  • recommendation;

  • major financial impact;

  • implementation;

  • significant risk.

This belongs in the presentation.

USEFUL TO KNOW

It strengthens the argument but does not require extensive attention. Examples might include:

  • secondary research;

  • supporting financial metrics;

  • additional customer information;

  • secondary implementation details.

Some of this may appear briefly in the presentation. Some may belong in the appendix.

NICE TO KNOW

It's interesting but not necessary for the decision. This is where teams often get into trouble. They spent time discovering the information, so they feel compelled to show it. The amount of effort required to discover something does not determine whether it belongs in the presentation. If it does not strengthen the argument, leave it out.

Don't Confuse Effort With Importance

Imagine your team spends forty-five minutes building a competitor analysis. You discover that the competitors are largely similar. It does not significantly affect your recommendation. Should you show the slide? Maybe not. Teams sometimes think: "But we spent forty-five minutes on it." That time helped you reach a conclusion; it doesn't create an obligation to show the work. Analysis can be valuable without appearing in the final deck.

Don't Prove That You Did the Framework

This is particularly important with frameworks. You may have completed:

  • SWOT;

  • PESTLE;

  • Five Forces;

  • Value Chain;

  • stakeholder analysis.

That does not mean the judges need five framework slides. Perhaps your PESTLE analysis revealed one important regulatory change. Show the regulatory change. Perhaps your Five Forces analysis revealed that supplier power is increasing rapidly; show that insight. The judge does not need proof that you completed the framework. They need the insight the framework produced.

The Slide Is a Moment in the Story

Every slide exists at a particular point in the argument.

  • Ask: What does the audience need to know right now to understand what comes next?
  • Not: What else could we tell them?

Suppose the next section recommends market expansion. At that moment, the audience may need to know:

  • why growth is necessary;

  • which market is attractive;

  • why the organisation can compete there.

They may not need:

  • the complete history of the company;

  • every competitor;

  • all demographic information;

  • every market-sizing assumption.

Those details can live elsewhere.

Use Progressive Disclosure

Sometimes information needs to be introduced in stages. Instead of one slide containing:

  • the problem;

  • three causes;

  • five supporting numbers;

  • financial impact;

  • recommendation;

consider creating a sequence:

  • Slide 1: Profitability has declined for three consecutive years.
  • Slide 2: The decline is being driven primarily by customer churn.
  • Slide 3: High-value customers account for most of the lost profit.

Now the audience sees the logic. Each slide has a clear job.

Use the Appendix Strategically

The appendix is not a dumping ground for every slide you deleted. It should contain information that may help you defend the recommendation during Q&A. Examples might include:

  • detailed financial assumptions;

  • sensitivity analysis;

  • additional market research;

  • competitor comparisons;

  • alternative calculations;

  • implementation detail;

  • supporting frameworks.

Ask what questions judges are likely to ask that require evidence beyond the main presentation. Build appendix slides around those questions. That turns the appendix into a Q&A resource, rather than a graveyard for rejected slides.

The Delete Test

For every piece of information on a slide, ask if we remove this, does the audience understand the argument just as well? If yes, consider removing it. Then ask whether this information helps us answer a likely Q&A question. If yes, move it to the appendix. If no: Delete it. That can be uncomfortable. It is also one of the most important presentation skills.

The Must-Know Test

Before finalising the main deck, classify every significant piece of content:

Level Question Likely Location
Must Know Does the judge need this to understand or believe the recommendation? Main Deck
Useful to Know Does it strengthen or defend the argument? Main Deck or Appendix
Nice to Know Is it merely interesting? Usually Remove

The goal is not to make the presentation smaller for its own sake. The goal is to protect the audience's attention for the information that matters most.

Discover Your MAD Skills Principle

Just because you know it does not mean you need to show it.

Strong teams perform extensive analysis. Strong presenters show the right amount of that analysis.

The Bottom Line

Your presentation is not intended to be a record of everything your team did. It is a carefully selected argument. Separate information into: Must Know → Useful to Know → Nice to Know. Keep the main deck focused on what the audience needs to: 

  1. understand the problem,
  2. believe the recommendation,
  3. see that it can work,
  4. make the decision.

Everything else must earn its place.

MAD Skills Drill

Before moving forward, conduct a Slide Design Audit. Choose several slides and evaluate them using four tests.

  • The Back-Row Test
    • Can you read and understand the slide from several metres away?
  • The Cognitive Load Test
    • Can the audience understand where to look without studying the slide?
  • The Information Test
    • Label the content: Must Know | Useful to Know | Nice to Know
    • Remove or relocate unnecessary information.
  • The Delete Test
    • For each major element, ask if we remove this, does the argument become weaker? If not, consider removing it.

Then run one final test on the entire deck. Does this feel like a single presentation created by one team, or a collection of slides created by four people? If the message, terminology, hierarchy, and design remain consistent from beginning to end, you are ready to move from designing the presentation to delivering it.

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