skills/proposal-development/references/pitch-deck.md

# Pitch decks and oral defense

Use the buyer's slot, audience, evaluation criteria, and requested format. Determine what decision the meeting should enable. A ten-minute pitch and a detailed oral defense need different amounts of evidence; there is no standard slide count.

A useful arc is the proposed outcome, understanding of the client's situation, approach, evidence of fit, delivery team, scope and investment, risks and dependencies, and the next decision. Use only the parts the meeting needs. Lead with the answer while supplying enough context for the audience to assess it.

Give analytical slides a supported takeaway, with evidence or a concrete depiction of the approach. Keep content legible at the intended presentation size. A timeline should reflect dependencies and available effort. A benefits chart should separate estimates from achieved client results. Do not turn a proposal into a delivery report or recreate the whole written response on slides.

Give the pitch a coherent visual direction and vary composition with purpose. A client problem may need an annotated exhibit, an approach an editable process diagram, credentials a documented case, and commercials a compact comparison. Keep typography and color meaning consistent. Avoid a succession of equal-sized cards, generic icons, dense bullet pages, or decorative slogans. Use the buyer's template where provided. Review the slide sequence as well as individual pages so the proposal reads as a persuasive argument, with emphasis on supported differentiators.

Prepare for objections about capability, differentiation, staffing, risk, timetable, fees, and client burden. Tie answers to the RFP and actual proposal. If asked about a gap, acknowledge it and state the feasible response. Do not improvise a credential, testimonial, outcome guarantee, or concession.

Use approved named cases where permitted. For anonymized cases, generalize identifying detail without changing the causal context; label composites or hypotheticals. If evidence is missing, mark the needed input in the draft rather than inventing a compelling story.

For a requested presentation file, use available tooling and inspect the rendered deck. Preserve supplied branding, templates, slide count, and mandatory content. Ensure the commercial ask matches the written proposal and that the strongest differentiators are supported. Sending the deck or committing to changes requires the user's authorization.