Create a board deck outline from the materials below. The purpose is to help directors make decisions and oversee the business, not to turn internal updates into marketing copy. Meeting purpose and decisions needed: [MEETING PURPOSE] Company stage and board context: [COMPANY CONTEXT] Metrics, financials, and operating updates: [SOURCE MATERIAL] Risks, misses, and open issues: [RISKS AND OPEN ISSUES] Management recommendation and requested actions: [MANAGEMENT ASK] Ask up to 3 clarifying questions only if a decision, reporting period, comparison baseline, or requested action is missing. Then produce a 10-14-slide deck plan. For each slide, provide: slide title, the single takeaway sentence, recommended exhibit or table, 3-5 content bullets, and speaker notes of 40-70 words. Use this sequence unless the meeting purpose requires a change: executive summary and decisions; progress against prior commitments; KPI and financial performance versus plan and prior period; customers/product; people and operating capacity; risks; forward outlook; management asks; appendix. Put the decision and recommendation before background. Distinguish facts, forecasts, and assumptions. For every metric, retain its period, unit, denominator where relevant, and comparison baseline. Show misses plainly and explain corrective action, owner, and timing. Do not invent metrics, causes, market data, or board approvals. Before answering, check that each requested board action states the decision, options, recommendation, owner, and deadline, and flag any slide where source evidence is insufficient.
Fill in
| Placeholder | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| [MEETING PURPOSE] | The meeting date, meeting type, and decisions the board must make. | Q3 board meeting on October 18; approve 2027 hiring plan and discuss revised cash forecast. |
| [COMPANY CONTEXT] | Company stage, business model, reporting cadence, and what this board already knows. | Series A B2B SaaS; six directors; monthly metric pack already sent. |
| [SOURCE MATERIAL] | The relevant KPI, financial, product, customer, and operating updates with periods and baselines. | Q3 ARR $4.2M vs $4.5M plan; net revenue retention 108%; cash $7.8M; 19-month runway under current plan. |
| [RISKS AND OPEN ISSUES] | Known risks, missed targets, dependencies, and unresolved questions. | Enterprise pipeline slipped two deals; VP Sales search is open; SOC 2 audit due in December. |
| [MANAGEMENT ASK] | The action, approval, or advice management wants from the board. | Approve hiring 6 roles, or choose a 4-role contingency plan if Q4 bookings miss $1.1M. |
How to use
- Use a locked reporting period and paste numbers with their plan and prior-period comparisons.
- State the decisions you want before pasting background material.
- Check every proposed chart for units, date range, denominator, and source.
- Follow up with: “Write the exact decision memo for slide 11, including options and consequences.”
Variations
Pre-read memo
Use when directors receive a written pre-read before the meeting.
Turn [SOURCE MATERIAL] into a board pre-read of 900-1,200 words for [MEETING PURPOSE]. Start with decisions requested, then performance versus [COMPARISON BASELINE], risks, outlook, and management recommendation. Separate actuals from forecast assumptions. For each risk, name the owner, mitigation, and decision needed. Do not add market data or explanations not in the material. End with a one-page decision summary and flag unsupported claims.
Fundraising update
Use for a board discussion about financing or runway.
Create an 8-slide board outline for a financing discussion using [CASH AND FORECAST], [FUNDRAISING STATUS], [OPERATING PLAN], and [DECISION NEEDED]. Cover runway under base and downside cases, capital need, timing, process status, tradeoffs, and management recommendation. Label every scenario assumption and do not invent valuation, investor interest, or probability. For each decision slide, include options, recommendation, consequence of delay, and owner.
Quarterly KPI review
Use when the meeting is primarily performance oversight.
Build a 9-slide quarterly KPI review from [KPI TABLE], [FINANCIALS], [PRIOR COMMITMENTS], and [RISKS]. For each KPI retain current period, plan, prior period, target, unit, and explanation for variance only if supplied. Include a slide tracking prior commitments with status, owner, and next date. Give concise speaker notes and identify data gaps. Do not turn minor movements into causal claims.
Tips
- Make the executive summary a decision page, not a list of departmental updates.
- Use the same metric definitions and comparison periods from one meeting to the next; changing a denominator without notice erodes trust.
- Put detailed pipeline, cohort, and functional tables in the appendix so the main deck can answer the board’s actual decisions.
- Show downside cases with explicit assumptions rather than presenting a single forecast as inevitable.
FAQ
How long should a board deck be?
For many operating meetings, 10-14 main slides plus an appendix is enough. The needed decisions and discussion time should determine the length.
Can AI analyze my board metrics?
It can organize and explain supplied data, but management should validate formulas, metric definitions, and causal interpretations.
Should bad news be included?
Yes. State the variance, why it happened if known, the corrective action, and the decision or support needed.