The executive summary slide is one of, if not, the most important slide in your deck. Your executive summary leads the presentation with the answer, sets the tone for the discussion, and garners alignment on key takeaways before diving into details.

Being able to write a killer executive summary slide is an underrated skill - and it's an easy way to impress your manager and stand out from the get go.

The best executive summary slides follow the Pyramid Principle (a somewhat cliche but critical communication framework). It distills the core message upfront and structures supporting points logically beneath it.

After 6 years in consulting and private equity, here is my best guidance on writing executive summary slides.

What Is an Executive Summary Slide?

An executive summary slide is a one-slide overview that conveys the most critical insights from a presentation. It provides the main conclusion, key supporting points, and a clear next step or recommendation.

What is NOT an Executive Summary Slide?

Before diving into how to write an effective executive summary slide, let’s clarify what it is NOT. 

❌ A Table of Contents

An executive summary is not a list of topics covered in the presentation. It should present the answer and key insights upfront, not just hint at what’s coming.

• Weak: “This presentation will cover market trends, competitive analysis, and financial projections.”
• Strong: “Due to increasing market demand and strong unit economics, we recommend expanding into Germany and France to capture $20M in new revenue.”

❌ An Introduction or Background Section

The executive summary is not the place for context-setting—it is a synthesis of the most important takeaways. If executives need background information before they can understand your main point, include that on a separate slide.

• Weak: “Our company has been exploring various growth strategies and analyzing different markets.”
• Strong: “Market entry into Europe will increase revenue by 35% over three years, driven by strong customer demand and a first-mover advantage.”

❌ A Data Dump

Just because something is important doesn’t mean it belongs in the executive summary. Avoid cluttering the slide with too many statistics, tables, or granular data points. Instead, highlight only the most critical insights that support your recommendation.

• Weak: Listing multiple financial figures, customer segments, or operational details without context.
• Strong: Summarizing only the top 2-3 key metrics that support the decision being made.

❌ A Wall of Text

No one wants to read a dense paragraph. The executive summary should be highly skimmable—preferably using bullet points or a structured layout.

• Weak: A full paragraph explaining every detail of your analysis.
• Strong: A concise, structured slide with a clear conclusion, 3-5 supporting points, and a final recommendation.

The Pyramid Principle: Structuring Your Executive Summary

The Pyramid Principle is the perfect framework for writing an executive summary. If you're not familiar with the pyramid principle, I have another blog post and video dedicated to this topic.  This method, developed by McKinsey, structures information top-down:

1. Start with the Answer → Your main conclusion or recommendation
2. Support with Key Insights → The 2-5 main arguments that justify your answer
3. Provide Supporting Evidence (if needed) → High-impact facts or figures

Example Executive Summary: Cost Takeout

Example Executive Summary: Target Customer Selection

This structure ensures that your audience gets the big picture first.

When to Write the Executive Summary

This might be a hot take, but your executive summary should be the last slide you write.  Your executive summary should mirror the structure of your full presentation. The rest of the slides will drill deeper into the supporting points, but the executive summary ensures alignment upfront. In order to do all that, you need to know your full presentation before you start writing.

Once your presentation is nearly final, you can distill the insights into a clear executive summary. This ensures that:

• The executive summary perfectly reflects the presentation’s content
• The supporting points align with the rest of the deck
• The slide order matches the flow of the executive summary

Writing the executive summary too early can lead to misalignment between your summary and the narrative flow of your slides —forcing last-minute changes or creating a summary that doesn’t reflect the actual presentation.

What to Include in an Executive Summary Slide

A strong executive summary slide typically includes:

1. The Headline (Your Main Answer)

The headline should be your single, most important takeaway.

✅ Good example:
"Adopting AI-driven automation will cut processing time by 40% and save $10M annually."

❌ Weak example:
"AI-driven automation project overview." (Too vague—doesn’t convey impact.)

2. Supporting Points (3-5 Key Insights)

Under your headline, include 3-5 bullet points that support your conclusion. These should be:

• Concrete and quantifiable (e.g., “Expected ROI: 150% within 2 years”)
• Ordered logically (match the order of your deck)
• Standalone insights (each point should make sense on its own)

3. Call to Action / Recommendation

End with a clear action item or next step. What decision needs to be made? What’s the ask?

Examples:

• “Based on this analysis, we recommended approving the $5M investment for expansion.”
• “Considering the above, which customer segment should we prioritize in product development?”

Step-by-Step Guide to Writing an Executive Summary Slide

A well-crafted executive summary isn’t something you throw together at the last minute. It takes deliberate effort to ensure clarity, impact, and alignment with the rest of your presentation. Here’s a structured process to help you write an effective executive summary:

Step 1: Start with the Titles of Your Slides

A great starting point is to list out the titles of all the slides in your deck and put them on your executive summary slide. These titles are a natural reflection of the key points you’ll be making throughout the presentation.

Once you have this list, check whether they are in a logical order (the order of the points in your executive summary should broadly reflect the order of the slides, so if it doesn’t make sense, consider if your slides are in the right order).

At this stage, you’re just setting up the structure—don’t worry about writing yet.

Step 2: Add Key Facts, Stats, and Supporting Bullet Points

Now, go slide by slide and pull out the most important data points that support your main message and organize them under its slide title.

Include quantifiable insights where possible (e.g., "Market demand has increased 30% YoY" rather than "Strong market demand"). But don’t neglect qualitative insights as well.

At this point, write as many bullet points as you need—don’t worry about length yet. It’s easier to cut down later than to start with too little information.

Step 3: Focus on the Narrative

Now, step back and read through what you’ve written.

• Does it tell a clear story from start to finish?
• Does every point strongly support the main conclusion?
• Is the order logical, or would rearranging certain points improve flow?

This is the editing phase, but not for wording—just for ideas and structure. At this point, you should lock down the key messages in a logical order.

Step 4: Refine for Clarity and Brevity

Now, trim and tighten. This is where you go from a rough draft to a polished, high-impact slide.

• Make every bullet point as crisp and concise as possible.
• One line is great, two is fine, avoid three-line bullets.
• Use an active voice.
• Weak: "Efficiency improvements were identified in the supply chain."
• Strong: "We identified efficiency improvements in the supply chain."
• Cut anything that isn’t essential. If a point is nice to have but not crucial, remove it.

Note: Some organizations dislike using first person language in slides. This can make active voice harder. I’ve had lots of slides where language like “efficiency improvements were identified” was preferable. Always tailor your slides to the design and communication principles of your organization.

Step 5: Format for Readability

Even a well-written executive summary will fall flat if it looks cluttered. Keep refining until it fits on one slide with plenty of white space (not an overwhelming wall of text).

• If it feels crowded, prioritize ruthlessly—keep only the most critical insights and ensure each sentence has been reduced to its most concise form (without losing meaning, of course)
• Leverage formatting like bold face and bullet points, or a key takeaway box to make reading the slide easier
• Consider alternative layouts to make it more skimmable (more on that below)

Final Check: The Executive Summary Litmus Test

Before finalizing, ask yourself:

✅ Does the slide tell the full story on its own?
✅ Does every point directly support the main takeaway?
✅ Is the wording concise, direct, and easy to scan?
✅ Does the format make it easy to absorb quickly?

If the answer to any of these is “no”, keep refining. A strong executive summary sets the stage for a successful presentation—take the time to get it right.

Pro Tip: Experiment with Non-Text Elements

Not all executive summary slides need to be a wall of bullet points. One of my go-to formats is bringing supporting arguments into boxes on the left-hand side and then organizing bullet points to align with them.

Why this works:

• Forces brevity—boxes limit the amount of text.
• Improves skim-ability—makes it easier to scan the slide.
• Enhances clarity—the structure helps separate key insights.

Example Executive Summary: Market Analysis

This method keeps the slide visually structured, engaging, and easy to digest.

Pro Tip: Take Time When Presenting the Executive Summary

When you're presenting, it can be tempting to gloss over the executive summary since everything on it will be covered later in the presentation. I distinctly remember the last time I made this mistake—I had surveyed thousands of clients for a portfolio company and was presenting the findings. The deck was already long, so I rushed through the executive summary in under a minute and jumped straight into the details.

After the meeting, the main piece of feedback from the Operating Executive was to spend more time on the executive summary:

• Spend more time on the executive summary. Give the audience a chance to absorb the conclusion and supporting arguments.
• Let the audience ask questions early. The goal of the meeting isn’t to cover every slide—it’s to ensure alignment on the findings and next steps. This will help you know which sections of the analysis to spend more time on.
• If the executive summary alone is enough to drive a decision, that’s a success.

The executive summary is not just a preview—it’s the foundation of the discussion.

Common Failure Modes

1. Too Dense / Too Much Text

Each organization has different preferences for how much detail is too much, but a common mistake is overloading the executive summary with excessive text.

Personally, I find executive summary slides from MBB consulting firms (including ones I wrote) to often be too dense. But as always, follow the best practices of your organization. Regardless, a good rule of thumb:

• The executive summary must fit on one page without reducing font size (typically 12pt or 14pt).
• Keep adequate spacing between paragraphs—a wall of text is hard to scan.

An executive summary should be clear and digestible at a glance.

2. Omitting the Key Takeaway or Call to Action

While supporting arguments take up most of the space, they are not the most important part of the executive summary. The key takeaway or call to action should be explicitly stated.

• What decision or next step is needed?
• What is the primary conclusion?

Align the key takeaway with the objective of the conversation and make sure it’s clearly visible on the slide. If the audience leaves the meeting uncertain about what to do next, the executive summary has failed.

3. Including Information That Isn't in the Main Presentation

I see this mistake often with junior analysts: including statistics, insights, or conclusions in the executive summary that don’t appear in the main deck (excluding the appendix).

Golden rule: Every argument, statistic, and data point in the executive summary must be present in the main presentation.

• If your team moves a slide from the main deck to the appendix, ensure the executive summary reflects this change.
• If a point is important enough to be in the executive summary, it must be in the core deck—not buried in an appendix.

An executive summary should mirror the deck’s logic and content—no surprises.

4. Overloading the Executive Summary with Too Many Data Points

Conversely, not every important stat or data point in your presentation needs to be in the executive summary.

• Avoid turning your executive summary into a data dump that overwhelms the audience.
• Too many figures can dilute the impact of your most critical takeaways.
• Instead, highlight only the most important metrics that directly support the key conclusion.

If your slide takes too long to read or process, you’ve included too much. The goal is to streamline insights, not replicate the full analysis.

5. Mismatched Figures Between the Executive Summary and the Main Presentation

You’ve finalized your slides, and the executive summary is done. Then, at the last minute, your team refreshes the data—now one of the key figures has changed slightly. You update the main slide but forget to update the number in the executive summary.

I’ve come so close to having a 75% figure in the executive summary and 78% in the main deck. While a small discrepancy may not change the outcome of the conversation, it hurts credibility.

• Before finalizing the deck, double-check that every number in the executive summary matches the main presentation.
• A small mismatch signals a lack of attention to detail—which can cast doubt on the rest of the analysis.

Action Items

Here is an exercise you can start using immediately to improve your executive summary slides (even if you don’t have one to do for work right now). Choose a topic you know a lot about. Now think of an opinion you hold strongly about that topic. For me, I’ll do: Canada is the best destination for expedition canoe trips (I really like canoeing).

You don’t need to make the slides or find data to back it up, but for a moment, pretend you’re making a full presentation to argue your opinion. Create an executive summary for this fictional presentation. Here is a quick slide I put together in 15 minutes. Sometimes it’s easier to practice skills when you’re applying them to a topic you enjoy and you’re already knowledgeable in. Try it out!