Max MorrishThe Playbook

Whether, chapter fourteen

Reports and decks people act on

Topic label

Q3 subscriptionsSubscribers at the end of each monthJuly300August330September400Roast date on the product page from 14 AugustKiln, invented

Takeaway headline

Kiln’s subscriptions grew by a thirdonce the roast date went on the pageSubscribers at the end of each monthJuly300August330September400Roast date on the product page from 14 AugustKiln, invented

Topic label

Pipeline by sourceDeals closed this quarter, by sourceWebinars8Paid search4Leads: 40 from webinars, 120 from paid searchLedgerline, invented

Takeaway headline

Ledgerline’s webinars bring fewerleads but twice the closed dealsDeals closed this quarter, by sourceWebinars8Paid search4Leads: 40 from webinars, 120 from paid searchLedgerline, invented

Topic label

Volunteer numbers, autumn termFirst-timers who came back for a second shift, of 10Reminder text7No text3Autumn term, first shifts onlyNorthfield Food Bank, invented

Takeaway headline

Northfield: a reminder text thenight before more than doubled thevolunteers who came backFirst-timers who came back for a second shift, of 10Reminder text7No text3Autumn term, first shifts onlyNorthfield Food Bank, invented

The slide shows for three seconds. Read it the way you would in a meeting.

The three-second test. Each slide shows for three seconds with a topic label as its headline; type what it said. Then the same slide comes back with a takeaway headline that states the conclusion, and you try again. The page counts how many of the slide’s key points you caught each time. Seeing a slide twice helps too, so treat the gap as a rough read, not a measurement. The three companies are invented and every number on the slides is an illustration.

bullet points so i know everything but i can make it flow not like im reading

On preparing to present, 22 May 2026.

The idea

I think every slide’s headline should be its conclusion, in one sentence someone can read in three seconds. The rest of the slide is there to prove it. A topic label like “Q3 subscriptions” tells the room what the slide is about and leaves them to work out what it means, and most of them won’t.

So the goals go first, every number gets explained, and any metric that isn’t tied to a goal gets cut, however good it looks. The detail goes to an appendix for whoever wants it. And when the deck is for a client, the results are theirs: it’s “you” or the company’s name, never “we”.

Where I used it

  • The summary and priorities slides I built for a small merchandise start-up. The closing slide’s headline was the conclusion itself: the company didn’t need a new strategy, it needed its existing one to show. Group work, my section
  • The web-redesign slide and my part of the talk for the UVA Food Assist group project. The line at the top of this page is from getting ready for that talk: I wanted notes I knew well enough to talk from, not a script to read. Group work, my section

What I’d do now

Write the standard down as a checklist short enough to use the night before a presentation. This is it:

  1. Write each headline last, as the one sentence I’d want the room to repeat afterwards.
  2. If a slide has no conclusion, it goes to the appendix.
  3. Goals first, then the numbers that answer them.
  4. Every number gets a line saying what it means and whether it’s good.
  5. Cut any metric that isn’t tied to a goal, however nice it looks.
  6. For a client it’s “you” or their name, never “we”.
  7. Present from bullets I know, not from a script I read.

Presentation lessons as taught in a digital marketing program, 2026.