---
name: deck-outline-first
description: "Outline a deck as headline sentences before opening the slide tool — each slide a claim that reads as an argument top to bottom, the audience-and-ask header, and the skim test that catches broken decks while they're still bullet points. Use when asked start this presentation, structure my deck, why does my deck feel like a data tour, or get sign-off before I build slides. Produces the headline outline, the per-slide evidence notes, the skim test result, and the build rules."
---

# Deck Outline First Skill

Decks built slide-first inherit the tool's failure mode: hours of formatting sunk into slides whose *argument* was never designed, discovered broken in rehearsal (or worse, in the room). The outline-first discipline is [outline-before-prose](../outline-before-prose/SKILL.md) for the slide medium: every slide is one **headline sentence** — a claim, not a topic ("Churn concentrates in month two" not "Churn Analysis") — the headlines read in sequence as the complete argument, and the skim test (read only the headlines — does the case hold?) runs before any slideware opens. Slides then become evidence for their headlines, which is all slides were ever supposed to be.

## What This Skill Produces

- **The header** — audience, the decision/ask, the time slot (which caps the slide count)
- **The headline outline** — one claim-sentence per slide, in argument order
- **The evidence notes** — per slide: what will carry the claim (the chart, the number, the quote — noted, not built)
- **The skim test + build rules** — the headlines-only read-through, and the rules that keep the build faithful

## Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:
- **The deck's job** — what the audience should decide or do at the end ([meeting-prep-pack](../meeting-prep-pack/SKILL.md) walk-away logic applies to the presenter too); decks without asks are documentaries
- **The audience and the time slot** — 10 minutes with executives is 6–8 slides; the slot arithmetic caps ambition before the outline overcommits
- **The material** — the findings/evidence available; headlines claim only what evidence can carry ([evidence-grading](../evidence-grading/SKILL.md) keeps the claims honest)
- **The reviewer** — who would restructure this in review; they see the outline, not the finished deck

## Framework: The Outline Rules

1. **Headlines are claims:** every slide title is a full sentence asserting something — "Q3 missed because two enterprise deals slipped" — disagreeable at outline stage, which is the point. Topic titles ("Q3 Results") defer the thinking to the room, live.
2. **The sequence is the argument:** headlines read top-to-bottom as the complete case — context claim → problem claim → cause claim → proposal claim → evidence-of-feasibility claim → the ask. Reordering costs one drag now; one rebuild later.
3. **The skim test is the gate:** read *only* the headlines aloud — a listener who hears just those should get the entire argument and the ask. Where the skim stumbles (a leap, a missing step, two claims in one slide), the outline gets fixed — this test at bullet-stage catches what rehearsal catches at 10× the cost.
4. **Evidence is noted, not built:** each headline gets one line of what will prove it ("the cohort chart, month-2 spike") — slides needing three pieces of evidence are two slides; headlines with *no* available evidence are wishes, and the outline is where wishes get caught ([chart-choice](../chart-choice/SKILL.md) picks the form later, from this note).
5. **The outline gets reviewed, then the build stays faithful:** the five-minute outline review with the key stakeholder replaces the slide-48 restructuring; the build rules — one headline per slide, the evidence note becomes the body, nothing new spawns without re-passing the skim test — keep the deck the outline's child rather than its replacement.

## Output Format

# Deck Outline: [deck] — for [audience] to [ask] · [T] min → ≤[N] slides

## The Headlines (in order)
1. **[Claim sentence]** — evidence: [what carries it]
2. …
[The ask slide explicit at the end]

## The Skim Test
[The headlines read as one paragraph — does the argument hold? · the stumbles fixed]

## Review + Build Rules
[Outline reviewer + the one question · build: headline-per-slide, evidence-as-body, no silent spawns]

## Quality Checks

- [ ] Every slide title is a disagreeable claim sentence
- [ ] The headline sequence survives the skim test as a complete argument
- [ ] Each headline's evidence exists and fits one slide
- [ ] The slide count fits the time slot's arithmetic
- [ ] The outline was reviewed before slideware opened

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not open the slide tool first — formatting is where broken arguments hide from their authors
- [ ] Do not title slides with topics — topics defer the argument to the live room
- [ ] Do not stack claims on one slide — one headline, one slide, or the skim test lies
- [ ] Do not headline what evidence can't carry — the outline is where overclaims are cheap to fix
- [ ] Do not let the build drift from the outline — every silent new slide re-breaks the tested argument