Making Meetings into Masterpieces with Agendas

Updating "High Impact Documents" powerpoint template. Beta version 24th August 2024. Adding Agendas and a few new consulting slides.

Sigh. I’ve put off updating the deck as Agenda slides are pretty dull. So I’ll get right to it. My point of view on Agendas are:

1. Agendas are important. It is easy to always include one;

2. Agenda's are a bit dull, so I like to align them with Section Breaks; and

3. Just do it.

Agendas are important for a couple of reasons, for both you and your audience. If you spend some time on an agenda:

• Your audience will know what to expect, what you’re going to cover and what comes next;

• You will find it easier to stay on track and not be derailed;

• You will be able to work out timing beforehand .. and tune your deck; and

• You will look more professional than many of your peers with one slide.

If you are not convinced, try asking Reddit’s r/Consulting How important is an "Agenda" slide? Some great responses include:

“Really important. Otherwise everyone will sit there not knowing what you are going to cover, for how long and when they can ask questions.”

“No one reads the pre-read.”

“Who cares, it takes 5 minutes to make and 30 seconds to present, just do it. If they’re really that pressed for time, put it in the meeting description. But they won’t read it.”

“Just do it. Why do we debate such things?”

“Absolutely essential.”

“It also allows them to manage their expectations.”

My advice: Use a simple agenda slide. Make your Agenda slide similar to your section breaks. I like to have a map at the start, and then show people how you are progressing through the map. Here’s a few examples of this:

In the deck (below) I’ve included more example Agendas. Some have descriptive text (good for a report you send out) and some have times (very useful for longer sessions or workshops.

You have options, but simple is often best with agendas.

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What’s new in Business Template Deck : 24th August 2024

I’m getting closer to a “complete” example / template deck. My original plan is that Version 1.0 would have examples of:

A core Basic Slide; Cover Pages; and Executive Summaries. Then slides to answer “questions” for Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How questions. Section Breaks and Agenda Slides would complete the example deck.

This little project is getting pretty close to a Version 1.0. Once complete I plan to create some tutorials and look at other topics to help new managers and consultants.

Bonus Slide: Stakeholders Engaged With

This is a power slide… but only in some industries. I’ve used this slide the few times I’ve worked in Health and Education. I’d also consider it for other complex Public Sector organisations like: Public utilities, Police, Transport and bigger Departments.

I would include this one slide before or after your agenda. It’s a “more is more” slide. This slide works because it makes it clear which departments and people you’ve sought input from. This is important when making changes in organisations that have a complex outcomes to consider like Health, Education etc. They want to know you have engaged for support, and have a chance at a comprehensive view.

Download the latest Business Template for High Impact Documents…

Please leave any comments below. Below is a .PPTX version of the template and a PDF for easy viewing. I’m sharing them via Google Drive which means you’ll need to download as a Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx) to use it.

Please see the example below:

POWERPOINT .PPTX editable template (via Google Drive): High Impact Documents PowerPoint template (BETA 23/08/24)

PDF Version for viewing online:

Mark Nold Business Template Beta V0.19

11.4MB ∙ PDF file

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Free "High Impact Documents" template for managers and consultants. This is just the PDF version for online reading.

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