You don’t need prettier slides. You need slides that perform under pressure.
(And what your slides have to do with it)
In the rooms where high-stakes decisions are made –– funding rounds, board meetings, sales pitches –– your slides do more than display data. They shape how your audience experiences:
And if your slides don’t deliver? Neither does your pitch.
At Adrienne Johnston Presentation Design, we don’t fix broken decks; rather, we build visual infrastructure that scales clarity, accelerates decisions, and builds trust. Clients like Meta, Microsoft, and multimillion-dollar startups partner with us not for decoration, but for outcomes.
We’ve seen what happens when a strong idea is paired with a weak deck - it stalls. We’ve also seen what happens when the slides support the strategy –– investment, alignment, and traction follow.
Most presentations don’t fail because they’re ugly. They fail because they’re unclear.
They ask too much of the audience. They bury the story. They turn decision-makers into detectives. And in a room where decisions are made in minutes? That’s all it takes to lose the room.
Good slides aren’t art. They’re architecture, built to guide the audience from insight to action.
If you’re ready to move from decorative to decisive, this is for you.
You’ll find:
Let’s get to work.
Slide one is your trust fall. Don’t waste it on “About Us.” Start with the problem and the stakes. Get attention early and earn the right to explain.
Investors and decision-makers don’t want detours. Guide them: Problem → Proof → Path → Ask. The goal is momentum, not more information.
Your data should not whisper. Show traction, inevitability, and clarity without drowning in decimals.
Rule: If a claim can’t be seen in 3 seconds, it isn’t a slide - it’s a delay.
Text-heavy slides dump the cognitive load onto your audience. They don’t inform, rather, they fatigue.
When every segment is equally emphasized, none of it lands. Design with contrast and intent.
Split the slide…or lose the point. If your slide is doing two jobs, it’s doing neither well.
Heuristic: One idea per slide. One purpose per chart. No exceptions.
Let’s be clear: slides aren’t cosmetic. They are decision-making tools.
Research shows:
Poor design undermines clarity. Undermined clarity erodes trust. Eroded trust delays or derails decisions. Even strong ideas lose steam when they aren’t presented with confidence and clarity. And confidence isn’t just in the presenter. It’s in the design that backs them up.
High-performing decks do three things exceptionally well:
That’s why we created The Sliding Scale - an ROI Calculator for Presentations.
It helps founders, consultants, and professionals quantify the real business impact of optimized slide design. Because when presentations are a portal to what’s possible, it helps to know what’s probable.
Try it in under 60 seconds.
Most presentations fail on cognitive load and signal clarity, not content. Dress your data with intention Give your facts a job Let your design turn comprehension into conviction
Your audience doesn’t need more slides. They need better ones.
Try our ROI Calculator to uncover hidden performance potential
Book a Free Slide Review to identify your top opportunities
Because no one ever changed the world with PowerPoints that miss the point.