Writing pages that turn into good slides

Most presentations start life as a page somewhere: a spec, a project plan, a research summary, a weekly update. If you know a page will probably end up on a screen in front of people, a few small writing habits make that step much easier. They also tend to make the page better to read in the first place.

None of this means writing for slides instead of readers. It means a clear structure that works for both.

Make every heading a signpost

Headings are the single biggest factor. When a page becomes a deck, its headings usually become its slide titles, so they’re worth a moment of thought.

Use headings for sections that hold one idea. “Problem”, “What we tried”, “Proposal” each describe one thing. A heading like “Notes and other stuff” doesn’t.

Consider writing headings as statements. Compare:

Topic heading	Statement heading
Customer feedback	Customers want to export to spreadsheets
Timeline	We can ship a first version in six weeks
Risks	The main risk is the payments dependency

Statement headings are more useful to skimmers on the page, and they become ready-made slide headlines. A page written this way already reads as an outline, so a tool that converts an outline to slides has a clear structure to follow.

Keep levels consistent. Use top-level headings for main sections and subheadings for parts within them. Skipping levels, or using bold text as a fake heading, makes the structure harder to read, for people and for any tool that converts the page. If you write in Markdown, turning Markdown notes into slides shows how each element maps to a slide.

Lead each section with its point

Put the main point in the first sentence of each section. The detail and evidence come after.

Busy readers often skim first sentences, and the first sentence is often exactly what belongs on the slide. Everything below it is speaker notes or backup.

For example, a section on user research might begin: “Most of the users we interviewed check the dashboard on their phone, not a laptop.” The interview method, quotes and caveats follow underneath.

Keep sections short

A section that runs to six or seven paragraphs is hard to turn into a slide, because it’s almost certainly making several points. Split it.

A useful habit: if a section has more than about three paragraphs, ask whether it’s one idea or two. If it’s two, give the second one its own subheading. The page becomes easier to scan, and you’ve just made your future slide outline more accurate.

Write lists as parallel, short items

Lists convert well to slides, as long as they’re tidy.

• Keep items parallel. Start each one the same way, for example all with a verb (“Reduce”, “Add”, “Remove”) or all as nouns.
• Keep items short. A list item that runs to three lines is a paragraph in disguise.
• Aim for three to five items. Long lists are hard to present. If you have ten, group them under two or three subheadings.

Put numbers in tables

If a section compares things with numbers, such as options, months, regions or plans, use a table rather than writing the figures into a sentence.

Tables are easier to read on the page, and they’re straightforward to turn into a chart later. A sentence like “Delhi grew from 40 to 65 orders a week while Bengaluru went from 55 to 60” is clearer as a small table with a row per city. (These figures are only an example.)

Keep tables small and give them a clear header row. If a table has more than about six columns, it probably belongs in an appendix rather than in the main flow.

Separate the core from the backup

Many pages mix the main story with supporting material: raw data, meeting notes, links, long lists of edge cases. That’s fine in a working doc, but it helps to keep them apart.

One simple approach is to put supporting material under a final heading like “Appendix” or “Reference”. Everything above it is the story. Everything below is there if someone needs it. When you present, the story becomes the deck and the appendix becomes backup slides or a link.

Use callouts for the bits people must not miss

Most docs tools let you highlight a block of text as a callout, quote or note. Use these sparingly for the one or two things that really matter: a decision, a deadline, a key risk.

On a page, they stop readers missing the important bit. In a deck, they often earn a slide of their own.

Write an opening summary

Add a short summary at the top of the page: three or four lines saying what the page is about, the main conclusion and any decision needed.

It’s the most valuable paragraph for busy readers, and usually your opening slide and closing ask. If you find the summary hard to write, that’s a sign the page’s main point isn’t clear yet, which is worth knowing before you present it.

A page template to try

If you write a lot of proposals or updates, a structure like this works well for both reading and presenting:

1. Summary: three or four lines, including any ask
2. Problem or context: one section
3. What we found or did: one to three sections, each with a statement heading
4. Proposal or next steps: one section
5. Risks and open questions: one short section
6. Appendix: data, notes, links

When it’s time to present, the steps in how to turn a written document into a presentation will go much faster, because most of the structure is already there.

The quick version

Clear headings, one idea per section, the point first, short lists, numbers in tables, backup at the bottom and a summary on top. A page written this way reads well today and presents well whenever someone asks.