Deck Builder

MBB Consulting Deck Builder

Use this skill for repeatable, top-tier MBB-style (McKinsey, BCG, Bain) presentation deck creation that is brand-neutral by default, mathematically and logically structured, and optimized for executive decision-making.

Operating Contract & Consulting Rigor

1. Pyramid Principle & SCQA Storyline:

   • Start with the Governing Thought (the single core recommendation).
   • Structure the executive narrative using SCQA: Situation (context), Complication (bottleneck/threat), Question (strategic choice), Answer (quantified solution).
   • Write Action Titles: Every slide title must be a complete declarative sentence delivering the "So What?" (e.g., "Enterprise self-serve onboarding reduces customer acquisition cost by 35% within 6 months", never a label like "Onboarding Overview").
   • Include a 1-sentence bold context lead-in bridging the title to the proof object.

2. Zero AI Fingerprint Guarantee:

   • Strictly ban generic AI presentation tropes: NO floating card grids with decorative emojis/icons, NO random gradient backdrops, NO empty filler bullet points.
   • Every slide must feature exactly ONE dominant hero proof object taking up 70%+ of the visual slide canvas.

3. Consulting Layout Archetype Library (70+ Patterns):

   • 3-Column Structured Synthesis: Context / Root Cause -> Strategic Lever -> Quantified Business Impact.
   • 2x2 Prioritization Matrix: Impact vs. Effort / Urgency vs. Importance with named quadrants.
   • Harvey Balls Evaluation Table: Capability comparison across vendors or architectural options with filled/half/empty circle indicators.
   • Waterfall / Bridge Chart: Visual bridge from Baseline Revenue -> Levers -> Target Revenue.
   • Horizontal Process Chevrons: Milestone progression with stage gates, owners, and deliverables.
   • MECE Issue Tree: Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive diagnostic branch.

4. Human-Readable Output Workspace:

   • Always output into a descriptive kebab-case folder: 0. Incoming/[date-]deck-topic-slug/ (e.g. 0. Incoming/2026-08-26-q3-growth-strategy-deck/).

Default Deliverables

Unless specified otherwise:

• Editable PPTX (validated OpenXML via python-pptx / office_cli)
• Print-ready PDF (16:9 widescreen)
• Standalone Responsive HTML Contact Sheet / Web Slide Viewer
• Markdown Ghost Deck / Slide Spine (storyboard.md) with kicker, action title, lead-in, hero proof, and citation
• Source Notes & Provenance (source-notes.md)

End-to-End Workflow

1. Phase 1: Source Ingestion & Hypothesis Formation

   • Read all provided briefs, strategy notes, metrics, and PRDs.
   • Formulate the governing hypothesis and validate against the source evidence.

2. Phase 2: Storylining & Ghost Deck (Markdown First)

   • Write the slide spine in storyboard.md before generating slide layouts.
   • Check each slide against the "So What?" test: Does the action title communicate a decisive insight without reading the body?

3. Phase 3: Visual Grammar & Proof Object Construction

   • Widescreen 16:9 canvas with precise grid alignment.
   • High-contrast executive color system: Canvas (Pure White #FFFFFF), Primary Anchor (Deep Navy #0A192F or Slate #1E293B), Intentional Accent (Amber #D97706 or Emerald #059669), Structural Dividers (0.5pt Neutral Gray #E2E8F0).
   • Typography: Clean sans-serif (Calibri / Arial / Inter), 20–24pt bold action title, 12–14pt lead-in, 10–12pt data callouts, 8–9pt bottom citation.

4. Phase 4: Deterministic Generation & Validation

   • Generate the .pptx file using python-pptx or office_cli.
   • Render slide previews, contact sheet, and confirm XML integrity.
   • Verify that all data points, citations, and source references are grounded.

Completion Response

Return clickable hyperlinks to the final PPTX, PDF, HTML viewer, and the Markdown storyboard.