# Executive summary slide template > An executive summary is a short overview that gives the recommendation, the one number that matters and the decision you need, so a busy reader can act without reading the rest. On a slide it is one page, placed right after the title. This template is an eight-slide investment proposal: slide 2 is the executive summary, and the six slides after it carry the evidence a skeptical reader will ask for. - Source: https://ai-presentations.com/templates/executive-summary/ - Updated: 21 October 2026 - Language: English - German version: https://ai-presentations.com/de/vorlagen/management-summary/ For managers, consultants and analysts who need a decision from executives, a board or a client and have one slide to win it. ## Slide by slide ### 1. Title: the decision and who decides Tells the reader what kind of document this is and who has to act on it. The answer is kept for the next slide on purpose, so that it gets a page of its own. - The decision as a topic, such as “Automating order picking in Hannover” - The audience, such as the management board - Authors and date ### 2. Executive summary The one slide a reader may see and nothing else. It has to work alone: the recommendation, the number that carries it and the ask, in that order. - The recommendation as a title, in a full sentence - One big number with its label - The ask and a sentence on what the amount covers ### 3. Situation Gets everyone to the same starting point with five facts the readers already know, then asks the question the decision answers. Facts they know build agreement before the proposal arrives. - Five facts, each with a number the readers recognize - The complication: what changed and why a decision is due - The question, in a box beside the facts ### 4. Reasons Gives the three reasons behind the recommendation, each short enough to remember. A room can hold three; more becomes a list that nobody weighs. - Three columns, each with one big number - A heading that names the benefit, such as cost per order - One sentence with the baseline the number is measured against ### 5. Payback Proves the claim on slide 2 with a chart. A reader who doubts the 3.8 years can see where it comes from without opening a spreadsheet. - A line chart of cumulative savings against the investment - The break-even point highlighted - The assumptions in the source line, such as volume and growth ### 6. Options A recommendation only convinces when the alternatives were tested. A table of the real options, doing nothing included, on the same criteria turns a preference into a conclusion. - Three options as columns, doing nothing included - The same criteria for each: investment, unit cost, capacity and fit with the need - Your verdict on every option in a word or two ### 7. Risks Shows that the risks are known and covered, so the reader approves the amount without asking what could go wrong. - The top three risks, each with a mitigation - The contingency as an amount and a percentage - Mitigations as concrete actions, such as “test a full week of live orders” ### 8. Decision Ends on the single decision, with dates, so it can be taken in the meeting. The ask repeats slide 2, now in the form of a vote. - The decision as a verb and an amount - The dates by which each step has to happen - A named contact for questions ## Example deck The example is about Eichberg Living, an invented company. Every figure in it is invented too. 1. Automating order picking in Hannover. Recommendation to the Management Board. Operations and Finance · 28 October 2026 2. Automated picking pays back in 3.8 years and is the only option that covers the 2027 peak. We ask for €3.0m. 3.8 years Payback on €3.0m. The €3.0m covers equipment (€1.9m), software and integration (€0.5m), building works (€0.3m) and a 10% contingency (€0.3m). Both alternatives miss the 2027 peak. 3. Order volume has outgrown a picking process designed for 0.84 million orders: Orders rose from 0.84m in 2023 to an expected 1.2m in 2026 (+43%); Picking staff grew from 45 to 68 people (+51%), faster than volume; The peak day in November 2025 brought 9,800 orders; today's process can pick 9,500 a day; On-time dispatch fell to 93% in the peak weeks, against a target of 98%; Our forecast for the peak day in 2027 is 11,500 orders. The question: Automate picking now, or keep adding staff and shifts? 4. Three reasons to automate: lower cost per order, capacity for the peak and fewer errors: Cost per order: From €2.80 to €2.14, including maintenance and energy. At 1.2m orders a year that saves €0.79m.; Peak-day capacity: Today the limit is 9,500 and the 2027 forecast is 11,500. Extra staff and shifts alone top out at 10,500.; Pick error rate: Down from 0.9%. Fewer wrong parcels mean fewer returns and re-shipments. 5. Cumulative savings overtake the €3.0m investment in year 4. Break-even comes after 3.8 years. After five years the project has returned €1.0m more than it cost. 6. Only automation meets the 2027 peak, and it costs the least per order: Do nothing, Add staff and shifts, Automate picking 7. Three risks remain, each with a mitigation, and a 10% reserve. €0.3m Contingency, 10% of the €3.0m. Warehouse system integration: test a full week of live orders before go-live; Equipment delivery delay: contract penalty and a six-week buffer before the peak; Team acceptance: involve the pickers early and offer retraining 8. One decision needed by 13 November. Approve the €3.0m investment by 13 November. Sign the equipment contract by 15 December. Go live in October 2027, ahead of the peak ## What goes on an executive summary slide? An executive summary slide has four building blocks. If one is missing, the reader has to ask for it in the meeting, and the decision slips to the next one. The table lists them in reading order. | Building block | The question it answers | How much space it gets | | --- | --- | --- | | Conclusion | What should the decision makers believe after ten seconds? | One sentence, as the slide title | | Evidence | Why is that true? | One large number with its unit and a baseline | | Ask | What do you need, and what does it pay for? | One sentence with the amount and a breakdown that adds up | | Decision | Who decides what, and by when? | One verb and one date | ## Executive summary slide example: before and after The example is from the deck of Eichberg Living, an invented company. Before is the executive summary most people write: a topic, a description and no decision. After states the conclusion, the number behind it and the ask, and the breakdown adds up: €1.9m + €0.5m + €0.3m + €0.3m = €3.0m. | Element | Before | After | | --- | --- | --- | | Headline | Executive summary: the warehouse project at a glance | Automated picking pays back in 3.8 years and is the only option that covers the 2027 peak. We ask for €3.0m. | | Evidence | Costs and benefits of several options were analyzed | 3.8 years payback on €3.0m, while both alternatives miss the 2027 peak | | Ask | Next steps are to be agreed | Approve €3.0m by 13 November: equipment €1.9m, software €0.5m, building works €0.3m, contingency €0.3m | ## Tips - **Write it last and put it first.** Write the summary once the rest of the deck is final, then move it to slide 2. Written first, it describes what you hoped to find; written last, it states what you found. - **Put the recommendation in the title.** Make the slide title the recommendation, as a full sentence with a verb. “Automated picking pays back in 3.8 years and is the only option that covers the 2027 peak” can be quoted without the rest of the slide. - **One number is enough.** Choose the number that carries the argument and show it big. Five figures of equal weight leave the reader to decide which one matters, and most will pick none. - **Test it on someone who has seen nothing else.** Show slide 2 alone to a colleague outside the project and ask what they would decide. If they cannot say what you want, the summary needs another pass, not the deck. - **Show what you rejected.** Include the options you turned down, doing nothing among them, with the reason as a number. Executives will ask about the alternatives anyway, and answering before the question builds trust. - **Keep the detail on the other slides.** The summary states the result of the analysis, not the method. If a sentence needs a footnote to be understood, it belongs on a later slide, with a pointer to it. ## Common mistakes - Describing the deck instead of answering: “This presentation covers the market, the options and the risks” gives nobody anything to act on - Leaving out the ask or burying it in the last paragraph, so the reader finishes without knowing what you want - Five or six numbers of equal weight, with no hierarchy - Placing the summary at the end as a recap, after the reader who needs it has already left - Jargon and abbreviations that only your own team knows, when the reader usually sits outside it - Summary numbers that differ from the detail slides, even by rounding, which costs credibility quickly ## Brief for the AI A complete brief for the AI. Replace the [placeholders] with your facts. ```text Create an 8-slide investment proposal with an executive summary on slide 2, for [audience, e.g. the management board] at [company]. Decision: [what should be approved, the amount and the deadline]. Slide 1: title that names the decision and the audience. Slide 2: executive summary with the recommendation as the title, one big number [payback 3.8 years] and a short paragraph on what the amount covers. Slide 3: situation in five facts and the question we are answering. Slide 4: three reasons in columns, each with one number [24% lower cost per order, capacity of 14,000 orders a day, 0.2% error rate]. Slide 5: a line chart of cumulative savings against the investment, with the break-even year highlighted. Slide 6: a table of three options including doing nothing, with investment, unit cost, capacity and our view. Slide 7: three risks with mitigations and the contingency. Slide 8: the decision with dates and a contact. Use action titles and an editorial style with a serif typeface. Use only the figures I give; mark anything missing as a placeholder. ``` [Open this brief in the editor](https://app.slaide.de/registrieren?prompt=Create+an+8-slide+investment+proposal+with+an+executive+summary+on+slide+2%2C+for+%5Baudience%2C+e.g.+the+management+board%5D+at+%5Bcompany%5D.+Decision%3A+%5Bwhat+should+be+approved%2C+the+amount+and+the+deadline%5D.+Slide+1%3A+title+that+names+the+decision+and+the+audience.+Slide+2%3A+executive+summary+with+the+recommendation+as+the+title%2C+one+big+number+%5Bpayback+3.8+years%5D+and+a+short+paragraph+on+what+the+amount+covers.+Slide+3%3A+situation+in+five+facts+and+the+question+we+are+answering.+Slide+4%3A+three+reasons+in+columns%2C+each+with+one+number+%5B24%25+lower+cost+per+order%2C+capacity+of+14%2C000+orders+a+day%2C+0.2%25+error+rate%5D.+Slide+5%3A+a+line+chart+of+cumulative+savings+against+the+investment%2C+with+the+break-even+year+highlighted.+Slide+6%3A+a+table+of+three+options+including+doing+nothing%2C+with+investment%2C+unit+cost%2C+capacity+and+our+view.+Slide+7%3A+three+risks+with+mitigations+and+the+contingency.+Slide+8%3A+the+decision+with+dates+and+a+contact.+Use+action+titles+and+an+editorial+style+with+a+serif+typeface.+Use+only+the+figures+I+give%3B+mark+anything+missing+as+a+placeholder.&utm_source=ai-presentations.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=template%3Aexecutive-summary&utm_content=markdown) ## Frequently asked questions ### What is an executive summary slide? An executive summary slide is a single slide, usually slide 2, that gives the recommendation, the number that carries it and the decision you need. A reader who sees nothing else can still decide. The rest of the deck is the evidence behind it. ### What should an executive summary include? Four things, in this order: the recommendation, the one number that justifies it, a sentence on what the request covers and the ask itself. Add the biggest risk if the audience will care about it. Leave out background, method and anything the reader already knows. ### How long should an executive summary be? One slide in a deck and, in a written report, about one page. The test is whether a reader who sees only that slide or page could make the decision. If it does not fit, you probably have more than one message. ### What is the difference between an executive summary and an introduction? An introduction sets up the topic and tells the reader what to expect. An executive summary gives the answer: the conclusion, the key number and the ask. A reader should be able to skip the introduction and still act on the summary. ### Can the AI write an executive summary from a long report? Yes, as a first version. Attach the report as PDF or Word, say who decides and what you want from them, and the AI plans the pages with you, drafts the summary slide and builds the deck. The AI labels its assumptions, and you stay in charge of every figure, so check the numbers against the report before it goes out. ### Are the numbers in this template real? No. Eichberg Living and every figure are fictional. The arithmetic agrees across the slides, so you can reuse it as a model: the four cost items of €1.9m, €0.5m, €0.3m and €0.3m come to €3.0m, a saving of €0.66 on each of 1.2 million orders is about €0.79m a year, and €3.0m divided by €0.79m is 3.8 years. ## Related pages - [Board presentation](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/board-presentation/): A board presentation template with the 8 slides a quarterly board meeting needs: summary, KPIs, revenue, EBITDA bridge, initiatives, risks and decisions. - [Steering committee](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/steering-committee/): A steering committee presentation template with 8 slides: status headline, key figures, schedule, budget bridge, workstreams, risks and the decisions you need. - [Business plan](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/business-plan/): A business plan presentation template with 10 slides: summary, problem, customers, model, revenue, profit and loss, use of funds, milestones and the ask. - [Consulting presentation](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/consulting-presentation/): A consulting presentation template with 9 slides: executive summary, situation, causes, options, recommendation, roadmap, business case and decision. --- ai-presentations.com is published by Slaide (https://www.slaide.de), a sole proprietorship run by Nathalie Scholl in Heilbronn, Germany. 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