Full SKILL.md

Consulting Deck

name: consulting-deck description: Client-grade deck craft — turning analysis into a presentation that argues one case and survives a partner, client, or board. Covers the whole pipeline: storyline (Pyramid Principle, SCQA, ghost decks, executive summaries), single-slide construction (action titles, MECE bodies, one-message-per-slide, frameworks, 2x2s, callouts, layout), data-visualization (chart selection and the full chart catalog, axis/label/color discipline, data-ink, waterfalls), deck-wide visual system (color, icons, imagery, navigation, partner review and red-team), board-pack pages (executive summary, KPI scorecard, financials, capital allocation, initiatives, risk, ESG, the ask), and brand/template compliance (masters, placeholders, theme colors, fonts, logos, reskin). Use whenever someone is building, structuring, fixing, polishing, or reviewing slides, a chart, a storyline, a board pack, or a deck's brand consistency — even if they don't say "deck" (e.g. "make this slide land", "what chart for this", "tighten the story", "get it on our template", "is this review-ready").

A reusable playbook for building and reviewing client-grade decks. This file is the spine: it carries the principles every slide obeys, and a map to six detailed references. Load a reference only when the task touches that area — do not pull them all in at once.

How to use this skill

  1. Place the task in the pipeline (see the map below). Most deck work is one of: shape the storyline, build/fix a slide, build/fix a chart, enforce the visual system, build a board page, or get a deck on-brand/on-template.
  2. Load the one reference that matches. Each reference is a set of named methods (the original standalone skills), compressed but faithful.
  3. Work top-down: story before slides, message before format. Fix the argument first, then the exhibit, then the polish. A beautiful slide proving the wrong point is worse than an ugly one proving the right point.
  4. Run the relevant review gate before calling it done (partner review for craft, red-team for logic, brand auditor for compliance).

Reference map

A

Storyline

  1. Storyline — the argument before any slide

    1,092 w

    Load when the argument before any slide exists — governing thought, Pyramid, SCQA, ghost deck, executive summary, MECE structure.

    references/storyline.md6 sub-sections
B

Slide craft

  1. Slide Craft — building one slide

    1,458 w

    Load when one slide — action titles & the flip test, lead-with-message bullets, one-message-per-slide, frameworks, 2x2, callouts, exhibit & layout choice, gestalt/grid.

    references/slide-craft.md11 sub-sections
C

Chart craft

  1. Chart Craft — data visualization

    1,552 w

    Load when a chart or exhibit — choosing the type, the chart catalog (bar, line, stacked, scatter, combo, small multiples, waterfall), axes, labels, color, data-ink, native build.

    references/chart-craft.md4 sub-sections
D

Visual system

  1. Visual System — deck-wide consistency, navigation & review

    1,073 w

    Load when deck-wide consistency & finishing — color/brand discipline, icons, imagery, navigation, before/after redesign, partner review, red-team.

    references/visual-system.md6 sub-sections
E

Board pack

  1. Board Pack — the governance reporting deck

    1,581 w

    Load when a board pack — the narrative spine and the standard pages (summary, scorecard, financials, capital, initiatives, risk, market, ESG, the ask, appendix).

    references/board-pack.md12 sub-sections
F

Brand & template compliance

  1. Brand & Template Compliance — getting a deck on-brand and on-template

    1,643 w

    Load when getting a deck onto a corporate template and brand — masters, placeholders, theme colors, fonts, logos, icons, imagery, footers, audit, reskin.

    references/brand-template-compliance.md5 sub-sections

The principles every slide obeys

These run through all six references. Hold them whatever you are building.

  1. The so-what, not the topic. Every title is a full-sentence assertion that could be argued with, never a label. "Revenue by region" is a topic; "North America drives 60% of revenue but is the slowest-growing" is a message. The body only has to prove the title.
  2. The flip test. Read the titles top to bottom, ignoring the bodies. They alone must tell the complete, logical story and match the storyline. If they don't, the titles, the order, or a missing slide is the problem.
  3. The Pyramid. One governing thought at the top, 3–5 MECE supporting arguments below, evidence under each. Each level answers the question the level above raises. Open with SCQA (Situation, Complication, Question, Answer) so the audience accepts the premise before the recommendation lands.
  4. MECE. Every grouping — of bullets, options, segments, drivers, risks — is mutually exclusive (no overlap) and collectively exhaustive (no gap). Group on one dimension; a fat "other" bucket means the dimension is wrong.
  5. One message per slide. If the title needs an "and," it's two slides. One claim, one exhibit, one focal point. Splitting raises slide count but cuts reading time.
  6. The exhibit matches the relationship. Comparison → sorted bars; change over time → line; composition → stacked or 100%-stacked; how-we-got-from-A-to-B → waterfall; correlation/positioning → scatter or 2x2. Forcing the wrong form (a pie for a trend) is the most common chart failure.
  7. Data-ink and one accent. Strip every mark that carries no information (gridlines, 3D, shadows, redundant legends, decimal noise). Most of the slide is neutral; the single accent colour marks the one thing the reader must see. If everything is accented, nothing is.
  8. Evidence and honesty. Every number traces to a source. No claim beyond what the data shows. No invented figures, benchmarks, or company names. Assumptions labelled as assumptions.

Review gates

  • Partner review (craft): story and answer → title chain → MECE/logic → exhibit fit → slide craft → density → consistency → evidence → the ask. Sort findings Blockers / Majors / Minors; fix blockers first. (references/visual-system.md)
  • Red-team (logic): attack the governing thought, the logic, the evidence, the analysis, and feasibility; find the one slide that breaks it; convert each attack into a question + severity + response. (references/visual-system.md)
  • Brand compliance audit (template): structure, color, type, logo, icon/image, furniture; grade Blocker/Major/Minor; ship-or-hold. (references/brand-template-compliance.md)

Note on origin and reuse

Consolidated from five deck-craft skill packs (consulting slide design, McKinsey-style slides, data visualization, board-ready decks, brand & template compliance). Methods are grounded in real practice — Pyramid Principle, SCQA, MECE, the data-ink ratio, RAG scorecards, PowerPoint masters/theme slots. Example figures are illustrative.