# What is a ghost deck? > **Ghost deck:** A ghost deck is a draft presentation made of slide titles and rough sketches of the charts, built before the analysis is done, to agree on the story and to show which data is still needed. - Source: https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/ghost-deck/ - Updated: 21 October 2026 - Language: English - German version: https://ai-presentations.com/de/glossar/ghost-deck/ Also called: ghost presentation, ghost slides, dummy slides, skeleton deck **A ghost deck** is a draft presentation built before the analysis is finished. Every slide already has its title, a full sentence stating what you expect to show, and a rough sketch where the chart or table will go. The numbers are still missing. Consultants use it to agree on the story with a partner or client first, and then to turn that story into a work plan: each ghost slide says which data and analysis it needs. ## What a ghost slide contains | Part | Example | | -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | | Title (a hypothesis) | ARR is growing fast | | Sketch | Area chart over five quarters, axes labeled, no numbers | | Data needed | ARR and customers per quarter, from finance (owner: CFO) | When the data arrives, the title is either confirmed and sharpened or rewritten. Here is the finished slide for that ghost: the hypothesis became a number. *The ghost title said ARR was growing fast; the data turned it into a measured multiple over twelve months. Example with a fictional company.* 5. ARR grew 4.2x in twelve months to 46 customers ## How to build one 1. **Write the answer first.** One sentence: what you want the audience to decide or believe. 2. **List the slide titles.** One line per slide, each a hypothesis you can prove or disprove. Read them in order: they should tell the [storyline](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/storyline/). 3. **Sketch the evidence.** A rough chart with labeled axes, a table with column headers, a quote box. Do not format anything yet. 4. **Note the data and the owner** on every slide. 5. **Review it with the decision-maker** before the analysis starts, because changing a title costs less than changing a model. 6. **Fill, then rewrite.** Replace the sketches with data and change every title the data does not support. > **Tip: With an AI tool** > > Make the plan your checkpoint. For a new document, the AI shows a page plan with one card per page and a list of its assumptions before it builds anything. You can edit the cards or approve the plan. ## Typical mistakes - **Polishing the ghost.** The point is speed. Formatting comes after the story is agreed. - **Treating hypotheses as findings.** Label the draft “hypotheses” when you show it, and keep titles you can still lose. - **Keeping a title the data contradicts.** A ghost deck that is never rewritten is a wish list. - **No data note.** A sketch without a source and an owner cannot become a work plan. ## Related terms Ghost slides carry [action titles](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/action-title/), and the ordered set of them is the storyline. The answer-first logic comes from the [pyramid principle](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/pyramid-principle/). ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the difference between a ghost deck and a storyboard? In practice the terms overlap: both lay out the slides before the content exists. A ghost deck puts a testable claim in each slide's title and notes the data needed to prove it, so it works as a plan for the analysis as well as a sketch. ### When should you build a ghost deck? Early, once you understand the question and before the analysis begins, and again whenever the story changes. It pays off most when several people work on one deck or when a client has to agree on the direction. ### Should I show a ghost deck to the client? Yes, if you label it as hypotheses. It lets the client correct the direction before you spend weeks on analysis. Do not present the titles as findings. ### Can AI create a ghost deck? AI can draft the titles and suggest charts from a brief. It does not know your data, so every title stays a hypothesis until you have checked it against the numbers. ## Related pages - [Storyline](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/storyline/): A storyline is the logical chain of messages that carries a presentation from its opening to its conclusion. Definition, an example and how to build one. - [Action title](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/action-title/): An action title is a slide headline written as a full sentence that states the slide's conclusion. Definition, before-and-after examples and rules. - [Placeholder](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/placeholder/): A placeholder is a pre-formatted container on a slide layout that reserves a spot for a title, text, picture or chart. Definition, types and common mistakes. - [Structure a presentation](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/how-to-structure-a-presentation/): How to structure a presentation for work: lead with the answer, match the order to your purpose, use skeletons for decisions, updates, pitches and proposals. - [Pyramid principle](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/pyramid-principle/): The pyramid principle by Barbara Minto: give the answer first, group the support and order it. With a worked example and an outline you can reuse for a deck. - [Consulting proposal](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/consulting-proposal/): Propose the work in 8 slides: what you heard, the evidence, the approach in phases, the timeline, fixed fees per phase, the team and next steps. --- ai-presentations.com is published by Slaide (https://www.slaide.de), a sole proprietorship run by Nathalie Scholl in Heilbronn, Germany. [How this site is written, checked and corrected](https://ai-presentations.com/editorial-policy/).