Reference · Storyline

Storyline — the argument before any slide

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

Part of the Consulting Deck skill · loaded on demand from SKILL.md

Build this first, before designing a single slide. The output is the spine the whole deck hangs on: a governing thought, the supporting arguments, and an agreed flow. Each method below is a named move; run them roughly in order.

Pyramid storyline (pyramid-storyline / pyramid-storyline-builder)

Produce a storyline tree so the deck argues one case instead of reporting many. Applies the Pyramid Principle (Minto): ideas are grouped and summarized, each level answers the question the level above raises, and ideas in a group are MECE.

  1. Frame SCQA (see below) and promote the Answer to the governing thought — one declarative sentence that takes a position. Test it: if the opposite is also plausible it's a real assertion; if the opposite is absurd it's a platitude — sharpen it.
  2. Build the key line: decompose into 3–5 supporting arguments (the section titles). Two rules: MECE (test each pair for overlap, test the set for gaps), and one logic type per group — deductive (premise, premise, therefore) or inductive (a set of like reasons), never mixed. Induction is usually clearer for executives.
  3. So-what test on every node: each box states a conclusion, not a topic, and answers the question the box above raises.
  4. Question test: at each box, does it raise a question the boxes beneath it answer? A lower box answering an unasked question is misplaced.
  5. Order the arguments by an explicit logic — degree (most→least important), structure (by part of business), or time — and name it.
  6. Attach evidence under each argument; flag any argument with no evidence as [needs analysis], not a proven point.

Output: an indented tree (governing thought → arguments → evidence), all full-sentence claims; the SCQA in four lines; the ordering logic. No slides yet — this is the argument, not the artifact.

SCQA opening (scqa-opening-framer)

The first 1–3 slides (or the exec-summary framing). Earns the recommendation by making the audience nod on the way to it.

  • Situation: only facts the audience already accepts. No claims. If they'd dispute it, it's a finding, not a situation. 1–2 sentences.
  • Complication: what changed / what's at risk — the tension that makes the deck worth hearing.
  • Question: the single question the complication forces, phrased as the audience would ask it. It must be exactly what the deck answers.
  • Answer: the recommendation in one sentence (the governing thought).

Order for the room: supportive audience → lead with the Answer (SCQA as backup logic); skeptical audience → walk S-C-Q first so they reach the Question before the Answer. Same content, different order to manage resistance. Pressure-test the join: each of S→C→Q→A follows from the last with no gap. Whole opening readable in under 30 seconds.

MECE structure (mece-body-builder / mece-layout-architect)

Restructure a flat, overlapping, or gappy set of points into clean groups, then express it spatially.

  1. List the raw points stripped to their underlying claim (so duplicates surface).
  2. Find the one grouping dimension — by process step, business part, financial line, stakeholder, time. Mixing dimensions is the usual cause of a non-MECE list.
  3. Mutual exclusivity: for every pair of groups, could a point sit in both? If yes, redraw the boundary. (Classic trap: mixing "what" categories with "why" categories.)
  4. Collective exhaustiveness: what's missing? Check against a known structure (a process has start/end, a P&L has all cost lines). An honest "other" only if genuinely small.
  5. Cap at 3–5 groups (working-memory limit). Seven → roll up; two → grouping may not help.
  6. Order the groups (size, time, importance) and say which.
  7. Label groups as assertions where possible ("Channel costs, the largest and fastest-growing block" beats "Channel costs").

Map the MECE set to a layout: list (simple set), columns (parallel categories), 2x2 (two binary dimensions), process flow (sequence), tree (hierarchy). Add a spanning summary band/callout if the groups ladder to one point.

Ghost deck (ghost-deck-builder / ghost-deck-skeleton)

After the storyline, before any real slide. A low-fidelity storyboard so the argument is reviewed and rearranged when changes are cheap. The standard MBB de-risking move.

  1. One slide per evidence leaf, plus exec summary, section dividers, and a recommend/next-steps slide. Presentation order.
  2. Draft the action title now for every slide — the title chain is what's being reviewed. Assertions, not labels.
  3. Sketch the exhibit, don't build it: one line naming chart type + variables ("waterfall, FY22→FY24 EBITDA"; "2x2, reach vs effort"). No data entry, no styling.
  4. Check horizontal logic: read titles in order — they must tell the whole story and follow one thread. Reorder until they flow.
  5. Check vertical logic: each sketched exhibit actually proves its title (a "trend" title with a single-snapshot sketch is mispaired).
  6. Mark status / data gaps: tag each slide ready / [analysis needed] / [sharpen]. The flags double as the work plan.
  7. Keep it ugly on purpose — no color/icons/alignment — so reviewers critique logic, not polish. Review the title chain first, lock the page count, then build.

Output: a numbered storyboard (title, exhibit sketch, status per slide) + a horizontal-logic read of all titles with breaks flagged.

Executive summary (executive-summary / executive-summary-builder)

Build last, from the storyline — the one page read if nothing else is. The pyramid apex rendered as a slide.

  1. Lead with the answer: the title is the governing thought as a full sentence (not "Executive summary").
  2. Compress SCQA into one framing line (period + lens), cutting anything the reader already knows.
  3. 3–5 reasons = the key-line messages, each a tight assertion with its headline number, parallel in grammar, MECE in content. Three is strong; more than five dilutes.
  4. One number per reason (a reason without a number is an opinion); at most one short proof phrase under each — the summary points to proof, the body slides hold it.
  5. State the trade — the prize (value/savings/growth) and the ask (investment/time/risk); executives decide on the trade.
  6. The ask in its own block: the decision and what approving it commits to. If no decision, label "For information."
  7. One slide, no spill — if it doesn't fit, the story isn't sharp enough. Reconcile: every reason has a body slide that proves it; every body section ladders to a reason.

Note on board decks

Board packs use this same Pyramid+SCQA spine but with a governance-specific opening and a fixed page set — see board-narrative-scqa and the page recipes in references/board-pack.md.