Deck Versioning

The same recommendation is presented at different densities depending on the audience. The board version is maximum compression: 8-10 slides, headlines do all the work, no body copy longer than two sentences. The management version is standard: 12-15 slides, full four-element structure, evidence in the body. The technical audience version may expand to 20 slides with architecture diagrams and methodology detail in the main deck rather than the appendix. Three audiences, three versions. The core argument is identical. The density and emphasis shift.

1. Board version: strip to the essential argument Remove all evidence slides that are not the single strongest piece. Remove the implementation path — the board approves; management implements. Move risk and methodology to appendix. Keep: the situation (1 slide), the recommendation (1 slide), the strongest evidence (1-2 slides), the risk and mitigation (1 slide), the ask (1 slide). That is a board deck.
2. Management version: the standard deck Full arc, full evidence stack, full implementation path. This is the 12-15 slide version described in the arc module. The management team needs the evidence to feel confident in the recommendation and to answer questions from their own teams after the meeting.
3. Technical audience version: depth in the main deck Move the methodology and architecture from the appendix into the main deck. The technical audience is the evidence producer — they want to validate the claim, not just accept it. More slides, more technical detail, same arc structure. The recommendation still leads; the technical evidence is just deeper and broader.
4. Email version: one-page plus chart The recommendation, the single strongest evidence point, the ask, and one chart. Sent as a PDF or formatted email. The email version is not a substitute for the live meeting — it is the pre-read that makes the live meeting a decision session. Write it last, after the main deck is final.