Make presentation evidence easy to understand and check

What this means for your practice

Label the type and source of each important statement. Do not turn an example into implied client proof or present a forecast as an achieved result.

A practical example

For example, a projected enquiry increase should not be shown in the same way as a recorded result without a clear distinction. Ask the presenter to explain where each figure comes from and what assumptions affect it. Your designer can make that context readable rather than burying it in tiny footnotes. A good deck allows someone to understand the strength and limits of the evidence even when the slides are forwarded without the original speaker's commentary.

Keep the evidence labels attached when slides are reused. A forecast can become misleading if someone copies only the chart and leaves its assumptions behind. Ask the designer to make essential context part of the chart or slide, rather than an easily separated footnote elsewhere.

Make the design useful in everyday work

Mark the source and status of important statements while drafting, before design makes them look authoritative. Separate measured results, estimates, assumptions and fictional examples with wording the audience can recognise. Ask a reviewer to identify each type from the slides alone, including captions and speaker-facing context that may disappear when a deck is shared. Keep relevant dates and measurement limits near the claim. If a number cannot be supported, revise or remove it rather than hide uncertainty in tiny notes. The design should help the audience interpret the evidence, not make every statement appear equally established.

How to check the result

Track claims whose evidence cannot be traced.