Board Deck Narrative Skill

This skill builds the complete narrative and slide structure for a board presentation — from opening framing to closing asks. It produces slide-by-slide content guidance, not just a list of topics.

Required Inputs

Work from what is given. If any of these is missing, still produce the complete output: fill each gap with a reasonable assumption marked (assumed, confirm) and list those assumptions at the end. Ask a question first only when the core subject itself is missing (there is nothing to write about).

• Company stage and context (Seed / Series A / Growth — and where you are in the year)
• Board meeting type (Regular quarterly / Annual / Special / Fundraise-related)
• Key themes for this meeting (e.g. strong growth quarter / pivoting strategy / hiring challenge / fundraise update)
• Key metrics to feature
• Decisions needed from the board (if any)
• Time available (e.g. 60 min / 90 min)
• Audience (investors only / investors + independent directors / mixed)

Output Structure

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Board Deck Narrative: [Company] — [Quarter/Period]

Meeting type: [Regular quarterly / Special] Time: [X minutes] Narrative theme: [The one-sentence story of this quarter — e.g. "We hit our revenue target, but activation is the problem we need to solve together."]

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Opening Frame (Slide 1–2)

Slide 1: Title

• Company name, quarter, date
• One-sentence framing of the meeting's narrative arc

Slide 2: Agenda

• List of sections + time allocation
• Flag which sections need board input vs. are informational

Presenter note: Board members are busy. Tell them in the first 2 minutes what you need from them today. It changes how they listen.

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Business Performance (Slides 3–6, ~15 min)

Slide 3: Scorecard / KPI Dashboard

• Content: Key metrics vs. targets for the quarter. No more than 6 metrics.
• Format: Traffic-light table (Green / Amber / Red against plan)
• Narrative: [1–2 sentences — the headline story of the quarter in numbers]
• Don't hide reds. Boards lose trust when they discover hidden problems later.

Slide 4: Revenue / Growth Deep Dive

• Content: Revenue breakdown by segment, cohort retention, growth drivers
• Key message: [What the data shows about the health of growth]
• Call out: [Any trend that needs board context or discussion]

Slide 5: Unit Economics

• Content: CAC, LTV, payback period, gross margin — vs. last quarter and vs. plan
• Flag: Any metric moving in the wrong direction and what's causing it

Slide 6: Operational Highlights

• Content: 3–5 bullet points of the most significant things that happened this quarter
• Format: Each bullet = outcome, not activity. ("Signed 3 enterprise contracts worth £400K ARR" not "Continued enterprise sales motion")

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Strategic Update (Slides 7–9, ~15 min)

Slide 7: Strategy Snapshot

• Content: Where you said you'd be vs. where you are against the annual plan
• Narrative: [Honest assessment — what's on track, what's shifted and why]

Slide 8: Key Strategic Decision or Update

• Content: The one strategic topic that most needs board input this meeting
• Format: Context → Options considered → Recommendation → Question for board
• This is the highest-value 10 minutes of the meeting. Frame it as a real question.

Slide 9: Product & Roadmap (if relevant)

• Content: Top 3 product bets this quarter — what shipped, what's coming, why these bets
• Tailored for: What the board needs to understand to support strategic decisions, not a sprint review

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People & Organisation (Slide 10, ~5 min)

Slide 10: Team Update

• Content: Headcount (start vs. end of quarter), key hires made, open roles, any org changes
• Flag: Any people risks or leadership gaps the board should know about
• Don't skip this slide. Board members often have network value here.

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Financial Update (Slides 11–12, ~10 min)

Slide 11: P&L Summary

• Content: Revenue, gross margin, opex by category, EBITDA/net burn — actual vs. budget
• Include: Year-to-date vs. annual plan

Slide 12: Cash & Runway

• Content: Cash on hand, monthly burn rate, runway at current burn
• Include: Scenario if burn increases (e.g. key hire made), scenario if growth accelerates
• Flag immediately: If runway is < 18 months — this needs board awareness and planning

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Closing & Asks (Slides 13–14, ~10 min)

Slide 13: Priorities for Next Quarter

• Content: Top 3–5 priorities and what success looks like for each
• Format: Priority | What we're doing | How we'll know it worked
• Keeps board accountability consistent across meetings

Slide 14: Board Asks

• Content: Specific things you need from board members before next meeting
• Format: Each ask = specific, named if possible ("Looking for an intro to [Company] — [Board member X], do you have a connection?")
• A board meeting without specific asks is a missed opportunity

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Appendix (Optional)

• Detailed cohort analysis
• Competitive landscape update
• Full P&L
• Team org chart
• Any supporting data referenced in the main deck

Appendix slides are available but not presented. Board members who want detail can ask.

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Narrative Principles

• Lead with honesty. If it was a hard quarter, say so in the first slide. Don't bury bad news after the wins.
• One slide = one idea. If a slide has two messages, split it.
• Fewer slides, more depth. A 14-slide deck presented well beats a 35-slide deck rushed through.
• Every slide has a "so what." A slide that just shows data without a takeaway wastes board time.
• Leave time for discussion. Board value is in the conversation, not the presentation. Aim to spend 40% of the meeting presenting and 60% in discussion.

Deeper Materials

• references/what-boards-actually-read.md — the pre-read reality, in-room dynamics, and the asks discipline

Quality Checks

• Opening frame states the meeting's narrative theme
• Scorecard slide uses traffic-light format (not just green metrics)
• Strategic decision slide frames a real question for the board
• Financial slide includes runway explicitly
• Board asks are specific and actionable
• Deck is ≤ 15 slides (excluding appendix)

Anti-Patterns

• Do not bury bad news after slides full of good news — boards lose trust when they discover problems were de-emphasised; lead with the honest narrative
• Do not include slides without a "so what" — a chart that shows data without a takeaway wastes board time and signals the presenter hasn't done the analysis
• Do not exceed 15 slides in the main deck — a longer deck usually means the presenter hasn't decided what matters most
• Do not attend a board meeting without at least one specific ask — a board meeting with no asks is a missed opportunity to leverage the room
• Do not report metrics without comparing them to plan or a prior period — a metric shown in isolation gives the board no basis for judgement

Example Trigger Phrases

• "Build a board deck structure for our Q[N] board meeting"
• "Help me create the narrative for our board presentation"
• "Write the slide structure for our annual board review"
• "Design a board deck for [specific context — e.g. fundraise update]"