How to Ace An Executive Summary | SlideUpLift
Nowadays, it is becoming challenging to grab the attention of business executives. With jam-packed schedules, quick decisions to make, and not much time to spare, the executives always look for value for their time. Hence, the Executive Summary needs to capture the attention of the busy audience by providing the gist of the entire presentation engagingly.
What is an Executive Summary?
An executive summary is a vital part of any business presentation. In the broader sense, the executive summary is the brief that precedes a more extended report or presentation and outlines the essence of the entire report.
In business environments, an executive summary presentation summarizes the entire business deck's intent in a concise form.
The purpose of an executive summary is to pique the reader’s curiosity by presenting facts from the larger piece of content. A robust executive summary creates value for the reader as a first impression and generates interest in viewing the rest of the content.
Best practices on how to write an Executive Summary
After dealing with several professional clients, we have found many things to keep in mind while writing an executive summary format. These tips will help you build a winning executive summary.
a) Begin with a bang:
The opening statement of your executive summary needs to be effective. Use the most differentiating plus point of your company and present it as the lead sentence. A few examples:
- List the unique problem you are solving and the impact your solution has.
- Highlight if you have a huge market size, growth opportunity, or high potential investor return.
- Drop known names in the industry if they have collaborated, invested, or endorsed you.
b) Keep it Simple and Short:
The executive summary slides should only be 5% — 10% of the entire presentation's length. Putting too many details in the executive summary is contradicting to its purpose. Make the executive summary focused and simple by using short paragraphs or bullets and subheadings.
c) Placement of the Summary:
The executive summary slide should be the last thing you should write when making the presentation. With every revision, the summary needs an update. However, it should be placed right after the table of contents and before the introduction of the presentation; the audience knows what to expect.
d) The Interest of the Audience:
Do your research and consider your audience's mindset. Tailor the summary to intrigue them with your study and proposal, convincing them to invest more effort in your presentation and read further.
Examples of Executive Summary for different business scenarios:
SlideUpLift has an extensive collection of slide templates to whip up a compelling executive summary instantly. The templates cater to building an executive summary for different types of business presentations. Below are a few examples:
- Executive Summary, which can be used to showcase key initiatives in your strategy presentations.
This executive summary template gives a snapshot of the strategic initiatives you are proposing in your plan. In a single executive summary slide, you can convey the current facts about the market, market trends, key milestones you wish to achieve, and further how you plan to reach those milestones through your initiatives.
View Executive Summary Template
2. Executive Summary, which can be used to showcase your company capabilities in Business Proposal
This executive summary example gives a snapshot of your organization's size and expertise, conveying how you are qualified to take on the prospective client’s business.
View Executive Summary Sample For Proposal
3. Executive Summary, which can be used to summarize your customer profile and his journey
This Executive Summary template showcases a customer’s journey with a brand, company, or organization using creative infographics. This framework allows the brands to summarize factors such as — a customer’s tenure, activity status, demographics, and customer spread across the world. Using an Executive Summary Template to exhibit a customer’s journey, brands can improve their sales efficiency.
View Customer Journey Map Template
4. Executive Summary, which can be used to showcase business update in the review meetings
The following executive summary PowerPoint summarizes the major points an executive needs to know for a business review. The slide covers key milestones, market share and growth, product profile, company strategy, revenue, and profit, all in a structured way.
5. Executive Summary, which can be used to summarize your project update
This Executive Summary is used to outline a project plan in a business presentation. Using this template, you can give a quick overview of a project plan focusing on Team Members, key highlights, and the background of the project. This framework also allows you to compare actions taken and measure the results of a project plan.
6. Executive Summary, which can be used to summarize your project launch
This Executive Summary Template allows you to give a quick overview of the context of your project launch.
7. Executive Summary, which can be used to summarize your Sales Presentation.
View Sales Executive Summary Template
8. Executive Summary, which can help summarize financials in your presentation.
View Finance Executive Summary Template
9. Executive Summary, which can help you highlight your career experiences and achievements and showcase the reasons that make you a suitable candidate.
View Resume Executive Summary Templates
A few other examples of Executive Summary Templates
View StartUp Executive Summary Example
Free Executive Summary Template
View Free Executive Summary Template
Now you don’t have to scour the web to find out the right templates. Download our PowerPoint templates from within PowerPoint. See how?
Conclusion:
In short, having a good executive summary is crucial to capturing the attention and excitement of your audience. An effective executive summary captures your presentation's core message and successfully raises your audience’s intrigue to read further in your presentation.
Build an excellent executive summary to convey to the business executives how you value their time and are worthy of the same, increasing the likelihood of your business presentation's success. Get ideas from 100+ creative ways of building executive summaries from SlideUpLift Library. Check out the complete collection here.
About SlideUplift:
SlideUpLift was created to serve the presentation needs of business professionals. Professionals worldwide are taking advantage of SlideUpLift Templates Library to add amazing visual appeal to their presentations. These templates are 100% editable, instantly downloadable, and conceptualized by alumni from premier consulting companies and executed by graphic designers.
Check out our library of free PowerPoint templates weekly updated to serve the presentation needs of professionals. You will find out the simplicity and ease in downloading the editable template, filling it with your content, and building world-class presentations in just a few clicks.
Originally published at http://slideuplift.com on April 10, 2019.
