Chapter 26 Exercises: Presentations, Slides, and Visual Communication

These exercises build practical AI-assisted presentation creation skills. They are designed to be completed with real presentations — either ones you're currently building or ones you've recently completed that can be improved.

Foundation Exercises (Exercises 1-5)

Exercise 1: SCQA Narrative Development

Objective: Build a narrative backbone for a presentation using the SCQA framework.

Task: 1. Choose a presentation you need to create (or recently created). It should have a clear audience and a specific ask or recommendation. 2. Before using AI, write your own SCQA: - Situation (1-2 sentences of shared context) - Complication (what has changed or what problem exists) - Question (what question the audience is left asking) - Answer (your key message) 3. Run the SCQA narrative development prompt from Section 26.1 with your presentation context. 4. Compare your SCQA with AI's version. Where do they differ? Which version better represents what you're actually trying to communicate? 5. Merge the best elements of both into a final SCQA statement. 6. Use the final SCQA to generate an audience-centered outline of 6-8 slides.

Reflection prompt: How much did the SCQA framework change how you thought about the structure of your presentation? If you had built the slides first and then tried to articulate the SCQA, would you have gotten the same result?

Exercise 2: Slide Title Conversion

Objective: Practice converting category labels to assertion titles.

Setup: Take a presentation you've created (or a template presentation from your organization). It should have at least 8-10 content slides.

Task: 1. List all current slide titles. 2. Run the assertion title conversion prompt from Section 26.2. 3. For each converted title, evaluate: - Does this assertion title accurately represent what the slide is actually arguing? - Is the claim too strong (overstating the evidence), too weak (not committing to a point), or appropriately bold? - If you read only the assertion titles of the full deck, does the argument hold together? 4. Finalize the titles — accepting, rejecting, or modifying AI suggestions. 5. Count how many of your original titles were category labels vs. assertion titles.

Deliverable: A revised slide title list with annotation explaining each change or decision to keep the original.

Reflection prompt: What percentage of your original titles were category labels? What does this tell you about how you've been structuring presentations before this chapter?

Exercise 3: Bullet-to-Visual Conversion

Objective: Identify where visual formats communicate better than bullet points.

Task: 1. Take any presentation with at least 5 bullet-point slides. 2. For each bullet-point slide, categorize the content type: - A sequence of parallel items (bullets may be appropriate) - Supporting evidence for a single claim (consider: single assertion + visual) - A data comparison (consider: chart or table) - A process or flow (consider: diagram) - An abstract concept (consider: metaphor image or simple diagram) 3. Run the "show don't tell" prompt from Section 26.4 on your deck outline. 4. For the three slides where the visual recommendation is strongest, mock up what the visual approach would look like (describe it in words, sketch it, or generate it). 5. Compare the visual version to the bullet version. Which communicates more effectively and why?

Exercise 4: Speaker Notes as Conversation

Objective: Write speaker notes that function as natural talk track, not slide summaries.

Task: 1. Take 5 slides from a presentation with no or minimal speaker notes. 2. For each slide, write your own speaker notes as if you're explaining the slide to a knowledgeable colleague in conversation. 3. Ask AI to review your speaker notes: - Where does the language sound written/read rather than spoken? - Where are you summarizing the slide rather than expanding on it? - Where could a specific example, story, or statistic make the point land harder? 4. Revise based on feedback. 5. Read the revised notes aloud. Does it sound like something you'd actually say?

Reflection prompt: What's the difference between speaker notes written as "the script" and speaker notes written as "the expanded thinking"? Which produces a better presentation, and which produces better notes for someone who can't attend?

Exercise 5: The "So What?" Audit

Objective: Eliminate information-without-insight from a presentation.

Task: 1. Take any presentation with 8+ content slides. 2. For each slide, answer: "If the audience reads this slide and understands it completely, what do I want them to do or believe?" 3. If you can't answer this clearly, the slide may be missing its "so what." 4. Run the "so what" failures prompt from Section 26.7 on your deck outline. 5. For slides the AI identifies as missing a "so what": - Add an insight line or rewrite the title to make the conclusion explicit - Or decide the slide should be cut or moved to appendix 6. Track: how many slides were cut, how many were rewritten, how many stayed the same?

Reflection prompt: The slides you struggled to defend with a clear "so what" — why were they in the deck? What does their inclusion tell you about how you approach presentation structure?

Intermediate Exercises (Exercises 6-10)

Exercise 6: SCQA for a Difficult Communication

Objective: Use SCQA to structure a presentation around a message you find difficult to deliver.

Setup: Choose a presentation where the message is genuinely difficult — you're asking for resources you might not get, delivering bad news, recommending an unpopular change, or making a case that runs against the audience's current thinking.

Task: 1. Write the SCQA for this presentation. Pay particular attention to the Complication — this is often where difficult messages are weakest, either over-softening the problem or presenting it too bluntly. 2. Run the SCQA prompt and audience-centered outline prompt with full context including the difficulty of the message. 3. Review AI's suggested structure for how it handles the difficult message. Does it bury it, lead with it, or frame it in a way that makes it easier to receive? 4. Write two opening slides: one for a version where you lead with the difficulty (high directness) and one where you build more context first (more indirect). Compare them. 5. Ask AI: "Given this audience and message, which opening approach is more likely to result in the audience receiving and accepting the message?"

Exercise 7: Executive Deck Adaptation

Objective: Convert a detailed presentation to an executive version.

Setup: Take a presentation of 15-20+ slides designed for a working-team or operational audience.

Task: 1. Run the executive version adaptation prompt from Section 26.5 with the goal of reaching 8 slides maximum. 2. Review AI's suggested cuts. For each suggested cut: - Do you agree the cut is appropriate for an executive audience? - Is anything being cut that an executive audience genuinely needs to understand? 3. Implement the cuts and restructure. 4. Apply the assertion title check to the executive deck. 5. Run the "so what?" audit on the executive deck. 6. Compare the original and executive versions side-by-side. What was kept? What was cut? Does the executive version actually tell the complete story in fewer slides?

Deliverable: Both the original and executive versions, with a one-paragraph explanation of the structuring decisions.

Exercise 8: Audience Adaptation

Objective: Create multiple versions of the same core content for different audiences.

Task: 1. Take any presentation you've created or would create. 2. Identify three distinct audiences for the same content (e.g., technical team, executive sponsor, external customer, board of directors, new employees). 3. Run the audience adaptation prompt for each audience. 4. Create a 3-slide "teaser" version for each audience — just the opening, key message, and ask. 5. Compare the three versions: what changed? What stayed the same? Which slide content was most sensitive to audience?

Reflection prompt: How much of most presentations is actually audience-specific vs. universal? What does that suggest about the value of modular presentation content?

Exercise 9: Full AI-Tool Workflow

Objective: Experience the end-to-end workflow using one AI presentation tool (Gamma.app, Canva, or PowerPoint Copilot).

Task: 1. Create a brief (5-7 sentences) for a presentation: topic, audience, key message, and ask. 2. Use your chosen AI tool to generate an initial presentation from this brief. 3. Review the output. Identify: - Slides where the AI narrative structure is strong (keep) - Slides where the content is generic and needs customization (modify) - Slides where the AI chose an approach you'd never use (replace) 4. Using the prompts from this chapter, generate: assertion titles for all content slides, speaker notes for 3 key slides, and image prompts for 3 slides needing visual content. 5. Finalize the presentation with AI-generated scaffold + your customizations. 6. Time yourself: how long did the AI-assisted workflow take vs. your typical presentation creation time?

Exercise 10: Q&A Preparation Session

Objective: Build a comprehensive Q&A preparation document for a high-stakes presentation.

Task: 1. Take a presentation you're preparing for a challenging audience. 2. Run the "anticipating questions" prompt from Section 26.6 with your full presentation content and audience description. 3. Review the 10 questions generated. Evaluate: - Which questions are you most prepared for? - Which questions are you least prepared for? - Are there questions your specific audience would ask that aren't on the list? 4. Add 3-5 questions that AI missed but you know this specific audience would ask. 5. For your 5 most-feared questions, develop full responses (not just the 3-4 sentence drafts). 6. Do a verbal walkthrough of all 15 questions and responses. Which responses feel weak? Strengthen them.

Deliverable: A Q&A preparation document with 15+ questions and full responses, annotated with your confidence level for each.

Advanced Exercises (Exercises 11-15)

Exercise 11: Data Visualization Redesign

Objective: Transform a data-heavy, chart-cluttered slide into a clear visual story.

Setup: Take a slide with multiple data points or a complex chart that "has the data but not the story."

Task: 1. Describe the data and what you're trying to communicate. 2. Run the chart and visualization selection prompt from Section 26.4. 3. For the recommended visualization approach: - Build the visualization (or describe it in detail) - Add an annotation or callout that makes the key insight visible - Write an assertion title that states the conclusion 4. Compare: does your redesigned slide communicate the same information more clearly? 5. Test with someone unfamiliar with the data: can they state the key insight after 10 seconds?

Exercise 12: The Image Strategy Workshop

Objective: Build a complete image strategy for a presentation using AI image prompts.

Task: 1. Take a presentation with 8-10 slides. 2. For each slide, categorize: needs photo / needs illustration / needs chart / needs diagram / no image needed. 3. For slides needing photos or illustrations, run the AI image prompt generation from Section 26.4. 4. For 3 slides, actually generate images using an AI image tool (Midjourney, DALL-E, Adobe Firefly, or similar). 5. Evaluate: how well do AI-generated images serve the presentation? Where do they enhance? Where do they distract or feel generic? 6. Write guidance for your team: when AI-generated images work for presentations and when stock photography or custom graphics are better choices.

Exercise 13: Pitch Deck Structure Sprint

Objective: Build a complete investor/stakeholder pitch deck structure in under 60 minutes.

Task: Using a real or realistic business concept: 1. Develop the SCQA narrative for a funding or partnership pitch. 2. Generate the classic 10-slide pitch structure (Problem, Solution, Market, Product, Business Model, Traction, Team, Competition, Financials, Ask) using AI. 3. For each slide, generate: assertion title, 3 key points, visual recommendation. 4. Identify the 3 slides where customization is most critical (where generic content would hurt the pitch most). 5. Develop those 3 slides fully with specific, authentic content.

Deliverable: A complete 10-slide pitch structure with full content for 3 slides and skeleton content for the remaining 7.

Exercise 14: Presentation Coaching Session

Objective: Use AI as a comprehensive presentation coach.

Task: 1. Write out your full talk track for a presentation (not just speaker notes — the actual words you'd say for each slide). 2. Run the talk track review prompt from Section 26.6. 3. For each coaching point: - Accept (I agree and will change this) - Reject (I disagree, and here's why) - Defer (valid point but not worth addressing for this presentation) 4. Revise your talk track based on accepted points. 5. Record yourself presenting once with the original talk track and once with the revised version (even just audio). Note the differences.

Reflection prompt: What did AI catch that you wouldn't have noticed on your own? What did AI suggest that, when you read it back, didn't apply to your specific presentation or audience?

Exercise 15: The Story-First Deck

Objective: Build an entirely narrative-first presentation with no bullet points.

Constraint: No slide may contain more than one bullet point. Every slide must have an assertion title. At least 40% of slides must use visuals rather than text as the primary content.

Task: 1. Choose a topic you know well (don't need to research). 2. Build the SCQA narrative. 3. Generate an outline using AI, explicitly instructing it to follow the "one idea per slide" and "no bullets" constraints. 4. Generate content for each slide within the constraints. 5. Create the actual presentation (in any tool). 6. Present it to a colleague or record yourself presenting it. 7. Reflect: how did the story-first constraint change the quality of the presentation?

Deliverable: A finished no-bullet presentation of 8-12 slides.

Capstone Exercise

Exercise 16: The 4-Hour Deck

Objective: Build a complete, presentation-ready deck for a real, upcoming presentation in exactly 4 hours using AI assistance throughout.

Rules: - Track time in 15-minute blocks: what are you doing in each block? - AI must be used at each major phase: narrative development, slide content, visual strategy, speaker notes, Q&A preparation - No phase may be skipped — even if it feels unnecessary - Every AI output must be reviewed and edited; nothing goes into the final deck unreviewed - At the end, rate the deck quality on a scale of 1-10 vs. what you'd produce without AI

Time allocation suggestion: - 0:00-0:30 — Narrative development (SCQA, audience-centered outline) - 0:30-1:30 — Slide content generation (titles, bullets/visuals, speaker notes) - 1:30-2:00 — Visual strategy (chart recommendations, image prompts, visual mockups) - 2:00-3:00 — Editing and refinement (so what audit, title assertions, cutting) - 3:00-3:30 — Executive version adaptation (cut to shorter version if needed) - 3:30-4:00 — Q&A preparation (10 questions + responses)

Deliverable: The completed presentation, the Q&A document, and a time-allocation log with reflection on where AI was most valuable.