The Headline Discipline

Every slide headline is the point of the slide, not a label for the content below. This is not a preference — it is a structural requirement. An executive scanning a ten-slide deck reads the headlines. If the headlines read as labels, the executive must read the body copy to understand what the deck is arguing. If the headlines read as points, the executive can scan the entire argument in ninety seconds and walk in with a position.

A label describes the content: "Q4 Results." "Market Analysis." "Options Considered." Labels communicate topic. They do not communicate point. A point delivers the conclusion: "Q4 AI Pilot Reduced Processing Time by 34%." "Three Competitors Have Already Deployed at Scale." "Option B Reduces Implementation Risk by $2.3M." Points communicate argument. The executive who reads ten point-headlines understands the recommendation and the reasoning that supports it without reading a single bullet.

HEADLINE REWRITES: LABELS TO POINTS

Label:  "Market Overview"
Point:  "The market for AI claims processing has matured — three of our five
         largest competitors have deployed in the last 18 months."

Label:  "Pilot Results"
Point:  "Pilot reduced per-claim processing time from 8.2 hours to 1.4 hours
         — a 83% reduction across 847 claims."

Label:  "Financial Impact"
Point:  "Full deployment generates $1.8M in annual savings against a $250K
         pilot investment — 7.2x return in year one."

Label:  "Implementation Timeline"
Point:  "Q2 launch is achievable with current resources — no new hires
         required in Phase 1."

Label:  "Risk Assessment"
Point:  "Primary risk is data quality, already mitigated by the parallel
         processing approach in the first 30 days."

Label:  "Recommendation"
Point:  "Approve $250K Phase 1 funding by March 15 to maintain Q2 timeline."

Label:  "Next Steps"
Point:  "Three decisions needed today: funding approval, data access,
         and executive sponsor assignment."