Use this skill when designing presentations, slide decks, or pitch materials. Triggers on "create a presentation", "design slides", "build a deck", "structure my talk", "make a pitch deck", "data visualization for slides", or any request involving slide layout, storytelling frameworks (Pyramid Principle, Hero's Journey, Problem-Solution-Benefit), narrative arc, speaker notes, or chart selection for presentations. Covers slide structure, visual hierarchy, data-driven storytelling, and deck architecture from executive summaries to conference keynotes.
Use this skill when designing presentations, slide decks, or pitch materials. Triggers on "create a presentation", "design slides", "build a deck", "structure my talk", "make a pitch deck", "data visualization for slides", or any request involving slide layout, storytelling frameworks (Pyramid Principle, Hero's Journey, Problem-Solution-Benefit), narrative arc, speaker notes, or chart selection for presentations. Covers slide structure, visual hierarchy, data-driven storytelling, and deck architecture from executive summaries to conference keynotes.
When this skill is activated, always start your first response with the 🧢 emoji.
Presentation Design
Presentation design is the discipline of structuring information into visual slide
sequences that inform, persuade, or inspire an audience. It sits at the intersection
of storytelling, information design, and visual communication. This skill equips an
agent to architect complete decks - from choosing the right narrative framework and
slide structure, to selecting appropriate chart types for data, to applying visual
hierarchy principles that keep audiences engaged. It applies to pitch decks, keynotes,
internal strategy reviews, training materials, and any context where slides are the medium.
When to use this skill
Trigger this skill when the user:
Wants to create, structure, or outline a presentation or slide deck
Needs a storytelling framework for a talk (Pyramid Principle, Hero's Journey, etc.)
Asks how to visualize data in slides (chart selection, data-ink ratio, labeling)
Wants to build a pitch deck for investors, customers, or internal stakeholders
Needs help with slide layout, visual hierarchy, or information density
Asks about speaker notes, delivery pacing, or slide-to-talk ratio
Wants to restructure or improve an existing presentation
Needs a presentation template or outline for a specific context
Do NOT trigger this skill for:
General graphic design work unrelated to slides (logos, branding, illustrations)
Data analysis or dashboard design (use data/analytics skills instead)
Key principles
One idea per slide - Each slide communicates exactly one point. If you need
a second sentence to explain what the slide is about, split it into two slides.
Audiences retain messages, not slide counts - more focused slides beat fewer dense ones.
Narrative before visuals - Always lock in the story arc and outline before
opening any design tool. A beautiful deck with no narrative thread fails. Write
the slide titles as a standalone story - if someone reads only the titles in
sequence, they should understand the full argument.
Signal-to-noise ratio - Every element on a slide must earn its place. Remove
logos from interior slides, drop decorative clip art, minimize bullet sub-levels,
and kill orphan text. The audience's eye should land on exactly what matters with
zero visual competition.
Data-ink maximization - For data slides, maximize the proportion of ink used
to display actual data vs. non-data elements (gridlines, borders, redundant labels).
Remove chart junk: 3D effects, gradient fills, excessive legends, and dual axes
unless absolutely necessary.
Context-audience fit - A board presentation is not a conference keynote is not
a training workshop. Match density, tone, animation level, and formality to the
specific audience and setting. Read-ahead decks need more text; live talks need less.
Core concepts
Deck architecture - Every presentation has three layers: the narrative layer (what
story are you telling), the structural layer (how slides are sequenced and grouped),
and the visual layer (how each slide looks). Work top-down through these layers.
Slide taxonomy - Slides fall into five functional types: Title/section dividers
(signal transitions), Assertion slides (state a claim with evidence), Data slides
(charts, tables, metrics), Framework slides (2x2 matrices, process flows, diagrams),
and Action slides (next steps, asks, CTAs). Knowing which type you need prevents
the default of "bullet point list for everything."
Storytelling structures - The three most versatile frameworks: (1) Situation-
Complication-Resolution (SCR) for executive communication - state the context, reveal
the tension, present the answer. (2) Problem-Solution-Benefit (PSB) for sales and
pitch decks - show the pain, offer the fix, prove the value. (3) The Pyramid Principle
(Minto) for analytical presentations - lead with the conclusion, then support with
grouped arguments and evidence.
Visual hierarchy - Slide elements are read in priority order: headline first,
then the dominant visual element, then supporting text. Use size, contrast, color,
and position to control this reading order. The headline should be an assertion
("Revenue grew 23% YoY"), not a label ("Revenue").
Data visualization selection - Match chart type to the analytical message:
comparison (bar chart), trend over time (line chart), part-to-whole (stacked bar or
pie for 2-3 segments only), distribution (histogram), correlation (scatter plot),
flow (Sankey or waterfall). The chart type IS the argument.
Common tasks
Structure a presentation from scratch
Follow this sequence:
Define the objective in one sentence: "After this presentation, the audience will ___"
Identify the audience and context (live talk, read-ahead, hybrid)
Choose a storytelling framework (SCR, PSB, or Pyramid - see references/storytelling-frameworks.md)
Write 8-15 slide titles that tell the story when read in sequence
Classify each slide by type (title, assertion, data, framework, action)
Draft content for each slide - one key message per slide
Identify which slides need data visualization and select chart types
Add a strong opening slide (hook) and closing slide (call to action)
Always validate: read the slide titles alone top to bottom. If the narrative is unclear, restructure before adding any visual content.
Build a pitch deck
Standard pitch deck structure (10-12 slides):
Title - Company name, one-line value prop, presenter name
Problem - The pain point, sized with data if possible
Solution - What you built, shown simply (screenshot or diagram)
Audience reads faster than you speak; creates cognitive conflict
Slides show the visual; you provide the narration
No clear ask or CTA
Presentation ends without the audience knowing what to do next
Final slide states the specific desired action
Decorative chart junk
3D effects, gradients, unnecessary gridlines distract from data
Flat, clean charts with data-ink ratio maximized
Inconsistent formatting
Different fonts, colors, alignment slide-to-slide breaks trust
Use a master template; enforce consistency
Too many slides for the time
Rushing through slides signals poor preparation
Target 1-2 minutes per slide for live talks
Gotchas
Deck sent as read-ahead but designed for live delivery fails both use cases - A deck with minimal text, large visuals, and no context reads as confusing to someone receiving it by email. Conversely, a read-ahead deck with dense prose is death-by-slide in a live presentation. Decide the delivery format before slide 1 and design accordingly. If you need both, build a "speaker version" and a "leave-behind version" as separate files.
"Most Popular" badge on the middle tier backfires if the middle tier is empty - Social proof on a pricing tier or comparison slide (e.g., marking the middle column as "most popular") loses credibility if the content doesn't justify it. The badge should reinforce a natural gravitational pull, not substitute for it. Ensure the middle tier genuinely offers the best value proposition before adding the badge.
Pie charts with more than 4 segments are consistently misread - Humans cannot accurately compare arc lengths when there are 5+ segments. Audiences in live presentations have no time to study the chart. If a pie chart has more than 3-4 meaningful segments, replace it with a sorted horizontal bar chart immediately. This is the single most common data visualization error in business presentations.
Dark slide backgrounds render poorly in bright conference rooms - A dark-theme deck that looks stunning on a monitor can become near-unreadable when projected in a daylight-lit conference room with a low-lumen projector. Test your deck in the actual room or use a high-contrast theme with at least 7:1 contrast ratio for any text on background.
Animations and transitions in exported PDF break the read-ahead experience - Build and reveal animations (text appearing line by line, chart bars animating in) are invisible in PDFs sent for async review - readers see only the final state. If a slide's argument depends on the reveal order, add numbers or explicit visual cues to the exported version, or duplicate the slide in a progressive state for PDF exports.
References
For detailed guidance on specific sub-domains, read the relevant file from references/:
references/storytelling-frameworks.md - Deep dive into SCR, PSB, Pyramid Principle,
Hero's Journey, and when to use each. Load when helping a user choose or apply a
narrative structure.
references/data-visualization.md - Chart formatting rules, color palettes, labeling
standards, annotation techniques, and common chart mistakes. Load when working with
data-heavy slides.
references/slide-templates.md - Reusable slide layout templates for common slide
types (title, assertion, comparison, timeline, team, metrics dashboard). Load when
the user needs specific slide layout guidance.
Only load a references file if the current task requires it.
Companion check
On first activation of this skill in a conversation: check which companion skills are installed by running ls ~/.claude/skills/ ~/.agent/skills/ ~/.agents/skills/ .claude/skills/ .agent/skills/ .agents/skills/ 2>/dev/null. Compare the results against the recommended_skills field in this file's frontmatter. For any that are missing, mention them once and offer to install:
