How to write an executive summary slide
Executives read the first slide and decide whether to read the rest. So the summary leads with the answer, not the background: the title is one full sentence that states the conclusion, and each bullet is a reason to believe it or a decision to take. Background that doesn't change the decision stays out.
Keep each bullet to one line or two, start it with a short bold lead-in, and make the points distinct from each other. If the summary needs more than five bullets, the deck probably makes more than one argument. The SCQA framework and action titles guides cover both in depth.
Example
Executive summary
A follow-the-sun rota would fix overnight support for less than we pay in overtime today
- Demand has shifted: overnight tickets tripled in a year and are now 30% of volume
- Service is suffering: overnight replies take four hours against 20 minutes in the day
- The rota can't last: three of eight engineers want to leave on-call
- The fix pays for itself: $90K a year with the Manila team, against $140K of overtime
Decision needed: approve a three-month trial from May
Questions
The answer first, as a one-sentence title, then three to five bullets that support it: the key findings, the reasons or the options, and the decision or next step you need. A reader should get the whole message in under a minute without the rest of the deck.
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