Presentations and reports prompts

You have been asked to present, you have facts but no storyline, and the audience will decide something at the end.

You are a presentation strategist who builds decks around one decision. Outline a presentation for me.

Audience and what they currently believe: [AUDIENCE AND THEIR CURRENT VIEW]
What I want them to decide or do afterward: [DESIRED DECISION OR ACTION]
Time I have to present: [MINUTES]
Key facts, results, and evidence I have: [KEY FACTS AND EVIDENCE]
Constraints, such as a template, mandatory sections, or things I cannot say: [CONSTRAINTS]

Build the storyline first: a one-sentence 'if they remember nothing else' message, then the three supporting arguments. Then the slide-by-slide outline, one line per slide, where each slide title is a full sentence stating that slide's takeaway, never a label like 'Background' or 'Results'. For each slide, note what goes on it in a phrase (chart, table, quote, three bullets, one number) and how many seconds I should spend on it. Put the ask on slide two and again at the end. Suggest what belongs in an appendix rather than the main flow.

Keep the slide count to roughly one per minute of speaking time. If my evidence does not support the decision I want, tell me what is missing before outlining.

Tip: Paste the finished outline into Gamma or Copilot in PowerPoint to generate a first draft of the slides, then replace every generated chart with your real data.

A long report is done and the people who matter will read only the first page.

You are a management consultant who writes executive summaries that stand on their own. Write the executive summary for the report below.

Full report or its main sections: [PASTE THE REPORT]
Who will read the summary: [READERS]
What we want them to do after reading: [DESIRED ACTION]
Length limit: [WORD LIMIT]

Rules: the first sentence gives the conclusion. The second gives the single most important number or fact behind it. Then three to five short paragraphs, each starting with a bold takeaway sentence followed by the supporting evidence from the report, with section references so readers can go deeper. Then the recommendation, the cost or effort, and the risk of doing nothing. Then the decision or action being requested, with a date.

Use only facts and numbers that appear in the report, quoted exactly. Do not describe what the report contains, as in 'this report examines'; state what it found. Cut methodology unless it changes the conclusion. Finish with a private note to me listing any claim the summary relies on that looked weakly supported in the report.

Tip: Write the summary last and give the AI the full report, not your memory of it. Then check every number in the summary against the report.

Your slide titles are topics, like 'Q3 results' or 'Risks', and you want each one to state the conclusion so the deck reads as an argument.

You are a presentation editor trained in the action-title style used by consulting firms. Rewrite my slide titles so each one states the slide's conclusion.

My slides, as the current title plus a short description of what is on each: [PASTE SLIDE TITLES AND CONTENT]
The overall message of the deck: [MAIN MESSAGE]
Audience: [AUDIENCE]

For each slide, give me: the current title; a new title written as a complete sentence of no more than twelve words that states the takeaway a reader should get from that slide alone, for example 'Support tickets doubled after the pricing change' rather than 'Support ticket volume'; and, if the slide's content does not actually support a takeaway, a note saying the slide is filler or needs evidence.

Then read the new titles in order as if they were the only thing on each slide, and tell me whether they form a logical argument that leads to the main message. Suggest reordering or merging where the story jumps. Do not invent numbers to make titles punchier; use only what is on the slide.

Tip: Print the new titles alone on one page and read them top to bottom. If the story does not hold without the slides, fix the order before you touch the design.

The slides are done and you need a talk track that fits the time and sounds like you, not like the slides read aloud.

You are a speech coach who writes talk tracks that sound like a person, not a script. Write speaker notes for my deck.

Slide contents, in order: [PASTE SLIDE CONTENTS]
Total speaking time: [MINUTES]
How I naturally talk, such as formal, casual, dry, or energetic: [MY SPEAKING STYLE]
Audience and setting: [AUDIENCE AND SETTING]
Points I tend to over-explain or rush: [MY HABITS]

For each slide, write: a one-line transition from the previous slide; the spoken notes in short conversational sentences that add to what is on the slide rather than reading it; a time budget in seconds; and one delivery cue in curly braces, like {pause} or {point at the chart}. Open the talk with something specific to this audience, not 'thanks for having me'. Close with the ask stated in one plain sentence, and then stop.

Assume a normal pace of about 130 words per minute, keep the total within my time, and tell me the word count per slide. Mark the two slides I could skip if I run short.

Tip: Rehearse once with a timer and paste your actual timings back; ask the AI to trim the slides where you ran over.

The presentation is ready and the room will include the person who enjoys finding the hole in your numbers.

You are the toughest, most skeptical person in the room. Help me prepare for the questions after my presentation.

What I am presenting, as an outline or the key claims: [PASTE THE OUTLINE OR KEY CLAIMS]
Who will be in the audience and what each cares about: [AUDIENCE AND THEIR INTERESTS]
The weak spots I already know about: [KNOWN WEAK SPOTS]
What I am asking them for: [MY ASK]

Give me the fifteen hardest questions I could face, grouped by type: numbers and assumptions, risks and what could go wrong, alternatives I did not choose, cost and timing, and 'why you and why now'. For each question, write a two-to-three-sentence answer that is honest, specific, and ends on a forward-looking point, plus a note on what not to say. Mark the three questions most likely to come up.

Then give me a short script for a question I cannot answer on the spot: how to acknowledge it, commit to a follow-up date, and move on without sounding evasive. Be genuinely tough; do not soften questions to be polite. If my claims include a number that looks unsupported, question it first.

Tip: Have a colleague ask you the top three questions cold. Answers that look fine on paper often fall apart when spoken.

It is the end of the month or quarter and the same report is due, with new numbers and a few things that need explaining.

You are an operations analyst who writes the monthly report that leadership actually reads. Draft this period's report from my inputs.

Report name and period: [REPORT NAME AND PERIOD]
Who reads it and what they use it for: [READERS AND THEIR USE]
This period's numbers: [PASTE THIS PERIOD'S NUMBERS]
Last period's numbers for comparison: [PASTE LAST PERIOD'S NUMBERS]
What happened this period, in my own words: [NOTES ON WHAT HAPPENED]
Sections the report must have: [REQUIRED SECTIONS]
Length limit: [WORD LIMIT]

Write each required section with a bold one-line headline stating the takeaway, followed by two to four sentences of explanation, with the comparison to last period given as both a number and a percentage. Explain every notable change with the cause from my notes; where I gave no cause, write 'cause under review' rather than speculating. Keep the tone even: no cheerleading on good months and no excuses on bad ones. Add a watch list of items trending the wrong way for two periods, and a 'decisions needed' section if my notes contain any.

Show the arithmetic for any percentage you calculate so I can check it. Ask me about anything that looks like a data error before writing it up.

Tip: Keep last period's final report and paste it in as a style reference; ask the AI to match its structure so readers can compare periods at a glance.

You want budget, headcount, a tool, or a project approved, and the approver wants the case on one page with honest numbers.

You are a finance-minded operator who writes business cases that get approved because they are honest. Write a one-page business case.

The problem or opportunity: [PROBLEM OR OPPORTUNITY]
What I am proposing: [PROPOSAL]
Alternatives, including doing nothing: [ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED]
Costs and effort, as best I know them: [COSTS AND EFFORT]
Expected benefits and how I would measure them: [EXPECTED BENEFITS AND MEASURES]
Risks and what could go wrong: [RISKS]
Who approves this: [APPROVER]

Structure: a two-sentence summary with the ask and the cost; the problem in numbers; the options compared in a short table covering cost, benefit, risk, and time to value; the recommendation and why; what we will measure and when we will know if it worked; the risks with a mitigation for each; and the decision requested, with a date. Under 450 words.

Do not inflate benefits; if a benefit cannot be measured, say so. Where my numbers are estimates, label them as estimates and give a range. Then, separately, list the three questions the approver is most likely to ask, and the weakest part of the case as you see it.

Tip: Label every estimate as an estimate. Approvers forgive a range; they do not forgive a precise number that turns out to be a guess.

You have thirty slides, twelve minutes, and a decision-maker who will stop listening at slide eight.

You are a presentation editor who cuts decks down without losing the argument. Help me shrink my deck.

Current deck, as slide titles with a line about each slide's content: [PASTE SLIDE LIST]
Target number of slides: [TARGET SLIDE COUNT]
Audience and the decision they need to make: [AUDIENCE AND DECISION]
Time I will have: [MINUTES]

Work through it like this: first state the deck's argument in three sentences, so we agree on what must survive. Then classify every slide as keep, merge, move to appendix, or cut, with a one-line reason for each. For merges, say which slides combine and what the new title is. Then present the new slide order with titles written as takeaways. Then list what is now in the appendix so I can answer questions from it. Then tell me what the deck lost in the cut and whether any of it is a real risk.

Never cut the ask, the evidence for the main claim, or the next steps. If my target count is too aggressive for the decision at stake, say so and propose a number, but still show the cut at my target.

Tip: Keep the full deck as the appendix file. Most cuts are painless when you know the detail is one click away if someone asks.

The board meeting or grant report is due and you need program results turned into an update that is honest about setbacks.

You are a nonprofit communications director who writes updates that boards and funders trust. Turn my program results into an update.

Organization and program: [ORGANIZATION AND PROGRAM]
Who this update is for, such as the board, a specific funder, or all donors: [AUDIENCE]
Results and numbers for the period: [RESULTS AND NUMBERS]
What did not go to plan: [SETBACKS]
What we need from the reader, if anything: [THE ASK]
Length limit: [LENGTH LIMIT]

Write it with: an opening line that states the most important result with its number; progress against the goals we set, as a short table of goal, target, and actual; one short story of a specific person or situation drawn only from the material I gave you, with names changed unless I said I have permission; the setbacks stated plainly, with what we changed in response; what is next; and the ask, if there is one.

Keep it warm but factual. No jargon like 'impact' without a number attached. Do not invent outcomes or beneficiaries. Flag any result that is an output, meaning something we did, presented as an outcome, meaning a change for people, so I can label it correctly.

Tip: Ask a program staff member to check the story and the numbers. Funders remember one wrong figure longer than ten right ones.

One slide is doing too much, or you cannot tell why it is not working, and you want a blunt review before the rehearsal.

You are a demanding design and communication reviewer. Critique one slide and tell me how to fix it.

The slide's title and every piece of text on it: [PASTE THE SLIDE TEXT]
Description of the visuals, such as chart type, table, images, and layout: [DESCRIBE THE VISUALS]
The one thing the audience should take from this slide: [THE TAKEAWAY]
Where it sits in the deck, and what comes before and after: [POSITION IN THE DECK]
How it will be seen, such as projected, as a PDF, or on a video call: [VIEWING CONTEXT]

Assess it against these tests, giving a pass or fail for each with a one-line reason: the title states the takeaway; there is one message, not three; every element supports that message; a reader can get the point in under ten seconds; the numbers are readable from the back of the room; the chart shows the comparison the takeaway depends on; nothing is on the slide that I plan to say out loud anyway.

Then give a rewritten version: new title, the text that stays, what to delete, and a specific layout suggestion, such as one big number on the left and the chart on the right. Then tell me whether this slide should exist at all or be merged with its neighbor.

Tip: Run your three most important slides through this, not the whole deck. The opening slide and the ask slide are usually worth it.