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Report to slides: before and after the one-idea rule
Five real rewrites, across five different kinds of documents — plus the four habits behind every one of them. No signup required; skim it, use whichever parts are useful, and build your own deck with them if you'd rather do it yourself.
Quarterly sales report
Before (the paragraph)
Revenue grew across all three regions this quarter, with the Nordics up 14%, the DACH region up 9% and the UK roughly flat at 2%, while overall customer churn declined slightly from 4.1% to 3.6% compared to the prior quarter, which the team attributes mainly to the new onboarding flow introduced in week 3.
After (the slide)
Nordics led growth this quarter: +14% revenue, churn down to 3.6%.
Why it works: One sentence carries the one number a reader needs. The DACH and UK figures, and the onboarding theory, move to the speaker notes — they support the point, they are not the point.
Project status update
Before (the paragraph)
The migration workstream is currently on track against the revised timeline, although the team flagged that the authentication module slipped by about a week due to an unexpected dependency on the vendor's API rate limits, and this may push the final testing phase into the following sprint if not resolved soon.
After (the slide)
On track overall. One risk: auth module is a week behind.
Why it works: A status slide needs the verdict first and the one risk that matters, not the full chain of cause and effect — that belongs in the notes for whoever asks.
Research summary
Before (the paragraph)
Across the 212 survey respondents, 68% reported that they had changed their purchasing behaviour in the last twelve months in response to price increases, with the most commonly cited category being groceries, followed by transportation and then entertainment, though the effect was notably weaker among respondents over 55.
After (the slide)
68% changed how they shop because of price increases — mostly groceries.
Why it works: The slide keeps the headline finding and the one supporting detail a reader will actually remember. The age breakdown is real and useful, but it is a notes-page fact, not a slide fact.
Training material
Before (the paragraph)
When handling a customer complaint, staff should first acknowledge the issue without immediately offering a solution, then ask clarifying questions to understand the full scope of the problem, and only after that move to proposing a resolution, since jumping straight to a fix often makes the customer feel unheard.
After (the slide)
Three steps: acknowledge → ask → resolve. Never skip to step 3.
Why it works: A training slide is a cue card, not the manual. The reasoning behind the order is worth keeping — in the speaker notes, where the trainer can explain it out loud.
Client proposal
Before (the paragraph)
Based on our review of your current workflow, we believe there is an opportunity to reduce manual data entry by introducing an automated intake form, which our estimates suggest could save the team approximately six hours per week, though actual savings would depend on adoption across the three departments currently handling intake manually.
After (the slide)
Automating intake could save an estimated 6 hours a week.
Why it works: The client needs the number and the idea on the slide; the adoption caveat is honest and important, so it stays — spoken, in the notes, not competing for space with the headline.
The four habits behind every rewrite above
One idea per slide, not one paragraph per slide
If a slide needs two sentences to make its point, it is probably two slides. Each slide should survive being read in about three seconds.
Put the point in the headline, not buried in the body
A reader skimming the deck should get the conclusion from the title alone — "Nordics led growth," not "Q3 regional performance."
Move supporting detail to the speaker notes, not the slide
The context, the caveats and the second and third numbers are often worth keeping — just not on the slide itself. Speaker notes are where the full story still lives.
Cut every number down to the one that matters
A paragraph of statistics becomes slower to read, not more convincing. Pick the single figure that proves the point and let the rest support it off-slide.
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