Plan the reading order
Supply the audience, decision, source material and required coverage. Review the outline before generating. For a QBR, keep results, variance, risks and next decisions distinct instead of mixing them into a status collage.
Create Board Deck in Minutes
Build a structured board-deck first pass with financial layouts, strategic updates, risks, and decisions, then review every claim before the meeting. Lumen's no-card 14-day trial includes AI generation and clean hybrid export. Downloads are not gated: a deck you generated stays yours to review, present, and export as PPTX, PDF, HTML, or slide images, unwatermarked, whether the trial is running, paid, or long over. Paid Lumen continues AI generation and AI editing after the trial. Public-link sharing is available during active trial or plan access; sharing with people, comments and Brand Kit controls require Professional or above, and saved brand themes require Business or above. Capacity and team controls depend on the selected tier.
A board presentation template with distinct slide jobs
A board presentation template should separate the requested decision, supporting evidence, options and risks. The deck is a meeting aid; the approved decision and its record remain separate.
| Part | Worked detail |
|---|---|
| Opening | State the requested decision and the scope of the meeting. |
| Evidence | Use a chart or table with period, units, source and a clear comparison. |
| Options | Compare the alternatives on the same criteria, including unresolved assumptions. |
| Close | Name the proposed action, accountable owner and the question for the board. |
Keep the detailed source pack available rather than compressing every qualification into unreadable slide text. Review speaker notes and the downloaded PowerPoint or PDF. The real executive briefing shown above demonstrates a supported output, not a claim that a board approved the material.
A worked workflow
A board deck with options, evidence and an approval request
A fictional leadership team asks for approval of a capped onboarding pilot. The board needs to understand the recommendation and its limits, with the supporting detail available outside the main slide sequence.
Read the complete QBR and inspect its editable charts
This six-slide QBR uses explicitly fictional supplied figures. Q4 revenue is USD 1,150k: USD 30k above Q3 and USD 50k, about 4.2%, below the USD 1,200k plan. The deck also compares the 550/420/180 service-line mix and 93%/94% on-time results against a 95% target. An earlier Q3 edition of this deck, with revenue of USD 920k, 1,010k and 1,120k across Q1–Q3 against a Q3 plan of 1,080k, is where a reviewed Ask Lumen change updated the final slide title and persisted before export.
Sources, earlier exports and audit records
The source figures and scenario are fictional. The capture demonstrates the saved Lumen review/export workflow, not measured customer performance. These previews are pages of the actual exported PDF, not recreated charts. Export is hybrid: the PowerPoint contains five editable slides and one image-based closing slide, and all three charts have native chart parts and embedded spreadsheets. The closing slide retains a text-density finding, so inspect the review notes before reuse; this is not a fully resolved operational plan.
The supplied brief
- Ask
- Approve a six-week pilot capped at GBP 18,000; assign an owner and review date.
- Evidence
- Onboarding is 29 days against a 21-day plan; urgent support backlog must not increase during the pilot.
- Options
- Approve the pilot, reassign existing staff only, or defer.
- Boundary
- The source contains no board decision and no measured improvement from the proposed pilot.
Put the decision in the outline
Supply the board’s role, decision authority, source pack and required coverage.
Inspect: The opening should state what approval is requested and why the question is being brought now.
Separate evidence from the proposal
Use distinct slides for the current position, options, risks and requested action. Keep source IDs and speaker notes where appropriate.
Inspect: A source-number refresh changes the evidence to review; it does not itself authorize the same recommendation for the next period.
Inspect structural edits before applying
Review layout-specific fields, whole-slide refinements or wider Ask Lumen proposals at their actual scope.
Inspect: Check which fields and slides would change. Preserve the requested decision and unresolved evidence after a rewrite.
Present and open the actual export
Use presentation view and inspect the downloaded PowerPoint/PDF, notes and visuals.
Inspect: Readable on-screen slides and editable exported objects are separate checks. The deck does not record formal board approval.
Before approving the result
- Keep the ask, amount, owner and review date consistent.
- Make all three options readable on the same decision criteria.
- Retain the actual decision record outside a proposed deck.
Fictional pilot-planning scenario. The linked executive briefing is a separately identified real Lumen export, not evidence that this proposed pilot was approved.
Lumen · inspectable review specimen
A QBR review that keeps source numbers and decisions separate
A QBR deck should connect each conclusion to a defined period, source number and decision. Refresh the source table first, then review titles, charts and notes before exporting the next edition.
Authored fictional instructional sample. The downloadable Word file is rendered through Gixo’s real document exporter. This is separate from the captured product workflows on this page.
Trace the retained Q3 example
The actual captured Northwind QBR uses fictional supplied revenue of 920, 1,010 and 1,120 USD thousands in Q1–Q3, with Q3 plan of 1,080. Q3 mix is installation 560, maintenance 390 and monitoring 170; these sum to 1,120. On-time completion is 93% against 95%, a shortfall of two percentage points, not two percent.
| Slide job | Source check | Reviewer decision |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue scorecard | 1,120 − 1,080 = 40; 40 ÷ 1,080 ≈ 3.7% | Use variance to plan; do not infer a cause |
| Revenue mix | 560 + 390 + 170 = 1,120 | Use parts of the same Q3 total |
| Operating risk | 93% versus 95% target | Assign a review of the two-point gap |
| Board decision | Approved source pack and assumptions | State the requested decision, owner and next review |
Refresh without overwriting the evidence
Keep the Q3 source and exported deck. For a later quarter, provide a new dated table, confirm whether the metric definition changed and review the proposed slide changes. Check that a title, note or narrative still refers to the correct period. A number refresh is not demonstrated by relabelling Q3 as Q4.
Inspect the handoff
Open the retained actual six-slide PowerPoint beside its supplied source pack. Editable text, charts, pictures and flattened artwork are different object types. The withheld original QBR PDF is not replaced here by a separately rendered Prism chart.
Review instructions are authored; the linked QBR deck and source pack are retained product artifacts. No new Ask Lumen, next-period or approved board decision run is claimed.
Lumen · real output
Read the deck before you choose the workflow.
Open an actual exported deck, then compare its outline, source constraints and slide choices with the job you need to finish.
Governing Cybersecurity Risk: An Executive Briefing on NIST CSF 2.0
A 10-slide briefing for an organisation’s leaders on NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework 2.0, built only from the framework document: the six Functions as a set with Govern at the centre, what Govern covers, questions leaders can ask their teams, how Current and Target Profiles show the gap to close, and the four Tiers. It describes no company, so it has no performance data.
Inspect the source brief or data
A briefing for the executive leadership of an organisation of any kind; no company is named and none is described. Cover, in this order: what the framework is and why leaders should care; the six Functions, shown together as a set with Govern at the centre, with no numbering or order because the document says they are addressed concurrently; what the Govern Function covers, using the document's own list of Govern topics; questions leaders can ask their teams, in the document's own terms; what Current and Target Profiles are and how comparing them shows the gap to close; the four Tiers by name; and what to ask for next. Do not show any process as numbered steps. Say executives, leaders or the organisation wherever the document does: it mentions boards of directors only as readers, so do not give a board any role the document does not give it. Give at most one slide to how different kinds of organisation use the framework. Use only the supplied document. Where it gives no figure, date or finding, do not supply one: use no placeholders, no illustrative numbers and no made-up status data. Pictures should show technology, infrastructure or abstract subjects, not people. Workflow: Corporate executive. 10 slides requested. Document supplied as text (NIST, "The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0, NIST CSWP 29 (26 February 2024)", https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/CSWP/NIST.CSWP.29.pdf).
Read the sample review notes
A separate reviewer agent read the deck’s 70 claims, slides and speaker notes, against the framework document: 62 are supported, 8 loosen or go a little beyond its wording, and none is missing from it or contradicts it. 19 of the 70 are advice the deck gives, and all 19 are supported. It is not a person’s review.
Refine at the right scope
Edit structured slide fields, preview field alternatives or review a whole-slide rewrite. Ask Lumen can propose wider changes; inspect and select the changes before applying them to the saved deck.
Inspect the actual handoff
Check charts, speaker notes, images and contrast in presentation view and the downloaded file. A new-period deck is a separate draft with changed values and sources to review.
Outline planning and field alternatives
Choose a creation mode and workflow profile, supply source material and review the planned coverage. Slide fields have layout-specific budgets. Field assistance offers alternatives with rationale and word counts; whole-slide refinement shows field-level changes. Ask Lumen can propose wider structural edits, which require a reviewed preview before application.
Data, themes and the next reporting period
Paste spreadsheet rows, choose header handling and preview replacement chart data. Where offered, select Business metrics explicitly and inspect their source receipt. Review changes in values and sources before accepting a next-period draft. Theme controls cover brand colors, type, logo placement, background and contrast choices; a custom theme still needs visual review.
Presenting and the exported deck
Inspect full-screen and audience views, speaker notes, next-slide preview, navigation and timer. Check PDF and PowerPoint separately. Supported elements can become native editable shapes or charts; complex visuals can use a flattened fallback. Speaker notes and per-slide handoff choices should be inspected in the actual file.
PowerPoint export is hybrid: supported content may remain editable while complex visuals can be flattened. Conversion between a responsive story and slides requires a preview; it is not lossless.
Board-ready deck previews with executive formatting, strategic updates, and leadership-focused slide output.
The Board Deck Problem
Board presentations demand the highest quality but consume the most preparation time.
Board Decks Take Days to Prepare
Between gathering inputs from every department, structuring the narrative, and designing slides, board deck preparation easily consumes a full work week for senior staff.
Executive Polish Expectations
Board papers compete for attention with everything else in the pack, so a cluttered deck costs you the time you wanted for the discussion. Design will not carry a weak recommendation, and nothing here suggests it will.
Data-Heavy Content Is Hard to Present
Board decks are filled with financial data, KPIs, and metrics. Presenting this information clearly and visually without design expertise is a major challenge.
How Gixo Solves It
AI that assembles a board-deck structure with the usual sections, data layouts and a consistent theme, for you to fill and check.
AI Generates Executive-Quality Decks
Describe your board agenda and Gixo builds a complete presentation — executive summary, financial overview, strategic updates, operational highlights, and action items.
Premium Executive Themes
Corporate themes with clean typography and restrained palettes, and layouts sized for the dense tables a board pack carries.
Financial and Data Layouts
Built-in slide layouts for P&L summaries, revenue dashboards, KPI scorecards, budget comparisons, and financial projections — the data formats boards expect.
Fast Iteration and Updates
When inputs change, request edits to specific slides and review the proposed changes. Check updated data and messaging before exporting a new version; processing time depends on the request.
How to Create a Board Deck
1
Provide the board meeting context
Enter the meeting agenda, key topics, financial highlights, and strategic updates. Gixo arranges it into the sequence a board pack conventionally follows.
2
Select an executive theme
Corporate and executive themes with restrained palettes and clean typography, switchable after the deck exists.
3
AI generates the board deck
Gixo creates a complete presentation with executive summary, financial slides, strategic updates, operational metrics, and discussion items — all consistently themed.
4
Add data, refine, and distribute
Insert your proprietary data, customize messaging, then export to PDF for pre-meeting distribution or present directly in the boardroom.
Title, Agenda, Executive Summary: The Three Slides a Board Deck Opens With
These three slides do the orienting work: what this is, what is in it, and what you are asking for. Get them right and the rest of the pack is read in context.
1. The title slide
Company, meeting, date, and period covered — plus who prepared it. A board deck title slide is a filing label as much as a cover: these documents get forwarded, archived, and referenced months later, and a slide that just says "Q3 Update" is useless in a board portal. Keep the styling restrained; the cover sets the tone for whether the rest reads as governance-grade.
2. The agenda slide
An agenda slide is a contract with the room about time. The version that works lists each item, its owner, roughly how long it takes, and — the part most people leave out — whether the item is for information, for discussion, or for a decision. Marking the decision items up front tells directors where to spend their attention and stops the meeting spending forty minutes on a status update before it reaches the vote.
3. The executive summary slide
The executive summary slide answers the question a director would ask if they only had one minute: what happened, what it means, and what you need from them. A workable pattern is three or four lines of performance against plan, the one or two decisions being requested, and the risks that changed since the last meeting. Write it last, after the rest of the deck exists — an executive summary written first tends to summarise intentions rather than findings.
Features for Board Presentations
Everything you need to deliver board-quality presentations on a tight timeline.
Source Grounding & Evidence Checks
Keep decks grounded to source material and approved web research when needed. Gixo extracts key claims, highlights what needs verification, and surfaces citations, attribution, and trust status inside the deck viewer.
Financial Data Layouts
Pre-built slide layouts for P&L summaries, revenue trends, budget vs. actual comparisons, and KPI dashboards formatted for executive review.
Executive Summary Slides
AI generates executive summary slides that distill key updates, decisions needed, and strategic highlights — the opening slides boards expect.
Premium Executive Themes
Sophisticated themes with refined typography, corporate color palettes, and clean layouts that convey professionalism and authority.
Strategic Roadmap Slides
AI generates timeline and roadmap slides for strategic initiatives, project milestones, and forward-looking plans that keep boards informed.
PDF for Pre-Distribution
Export high-quality PDFs for pre-meeting board packages. Send materials ahead of time so directors arrive prepared for informed discussions.
Present Mode
Full-screen presentation mode with speaker notes and keyboard navigation. Present directly from the browser in the boardroom — no additional software needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can AI create a board-quality presentation?
Yes. Gixo generates professionally structured presentations with executive themes, clean data layouts, and the visual polish boards expect. You add your proprietary data and strategic insights to complete the deck.
What sections does a board deck typically include?
Gixo generates board decks with executive summary, financial overview, strategic updates, operational highlights, key risks, and discussion items. You can customize the sections based on your specific board agenda.
How quickly can I create a board deck?
The AI generates the full deck structure in minutes. Adding your proprietary data and final refinements typically takes 30-60 minutes — compared to days of work when building from scratch.
Can I reuse the deck template each quarter?
Yes. Generate a new deck each quarter with updated data, or edit your existing deck to refresh metrics and strategic updates while maintaining the same professional structure and theme.
How do I distribute the deck to board members?
Export to PDF for email distribution and board portal uploads, share via link for online viewing, or present directly from the browser during the board meeting itself.
Is there an AI slide builder for executive presentations and board meetings?
Yes. Gixo is an AI slide builder that generates board-ready decks — executive summary, financial overview, strategic updates, operational highlights, key risks, and discussion items — using premium executive themes built for boardroom presentations. You add your proprietary data, then export to PDF or present directly from the browser.
What goes on an executive summary slide?
Answer what a director would ask if they had one minute: what happened, what it means, and what you need from them. A workable executive summary slide is three or four lines of performance against plan, the one or two decisions being requested, and the risks that have changed since the last meeting. Write it last, once the rest of the deck exists — an executive summary drafted first tends to summarise intentions rather than findings.
What should a board deck agenda slide include?
Each item, its owner, roughly how long it takes, and whether the item is for information, for discussion, or for a decision. That last column is the one most agenda slides omit and the one directors use most: marking the decision items up front tells the room where to spend attention, and stops a meeting spending forty minutes on a status update before it reaches the vote.
What belongs on the title slide of a board deck?
Company, meeting, date, the period covered, and who prepared the deck. A board deck title slide is a filing label as much as a cover — these documents get forwarded, archived, and referenced months later, so a slide reading only "Q3 Update" is hard to find again in a board portal. Keep the styling restrained: the cover sets the expectation for whether the rest reads as governance-grade.
Updated
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