Here’s a genericized executive summary slide based on material provided by a recent client. (Important reminder: the slides you present to audiences live should not contain a lot of text!)Īny time you are planning to circulate your presentation, consider creating a summary view. Since they are meant to be read, rather than presented, they generally include more text than a traditional slide. Executive summary slides often retain the horizontal orientation of the rest of the slide deck. The goal is to provide a reader with the main messages, so they don’t have to read the entire communication. In this article, I’ll aim to ease some of that pain by exploring executive summary slides through an example, sharing best practices, and offering alternative layouts so that the next time you need to build a one-page, data-driven recap, you are set up for success! What is an executive summary slide?Īn executive summary slide is a one- or two-page overview of a much longer presentation added to the start of a deck. Despite their ubiquitous presence in business settings, summary documents that are clear and concise can be challenging to design. This is commonly referred to as an executive summary (although many audiences beyond executives will benefit from one). Business communications often require a brief, at-a-glance overview.
