pitch unfairly

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Winston Churchill, 1940. Pitched unfairly, 2026.

The answer first. The rest in the appendix. Same story, same numbers. Rebuilt the way we'd pitch it today.

Template: Executive briefing

  • 9 August 1940
  • 4 rules
  • 2 woolly phrases
Play the 2026 deck See the original 1940 deck Steal the structure
1940 Executive briefing

Winston Churchill

The answer first. The rest in the appendix.

Legend
Original craft
Unfair

1 slides→10

It's a live deck. Press start, then scroll or use the arrow keys, or play it full screen.

Play the 2026 deck

Winston Churchill's executive briefing, slide by slide

Every slide opens the live deck right where it is.

  1. Winston Churchill deck, slide 1: Cut every report to its main points, starting today. 01Cut every report to its main points, starting today.
  2. Winston Churchill deck, slide 2: We all have to read a mass of papers. 02We all have to read a mass of papers.
  3. Winston Churchill deck, slide 3: Nearly all are far too long, so the point gets lost. 03Nearly all are far too long, so the point gets lost.
  4. Winston Churchill deck, slide 4: How does a report get its point read first? 04How does a report get its point read first?
  5. Winston Churchill deck, slide 5: Put the point in the headline and readers understand more. 05Put the point in the headline and readers understand more.
  6. Winston Churchill deck, slide 6: Figures belong in an appendix. 06Figures belong in an appendix.
  7. Winston Churchill deck, slide 7: Woolly phrases are padding, or one word. 07Woolly phrases are padding, or one word.
  8. Winston Churchill deck, slide 8: It will read rough at first, and the time saved is worth it. 08It will read rough at first, and the time saved is worth it.
  9. Winston Churchill deck, slide 9: We need your initials on the minute, today. 09We need your initials on the minute, today.
  10. Winston Churchill deck, slide 10: Everything long lives here, behind a tab. 10Everything long lives here, behind a tab.

Then · 1940 · 1 slides

The original

See the original 1940 deckThe National Archives, CAB 67/8/11 (W.P. (G) (40) 211)
  1. August 1940: three months as Prime Minister, a month into the Battle of Britain
  2. Every minister is reading a mass of papers, nearly all far too long
  3. Churchill sends the War Cabinet a paper titled "Brevity"
  4. Rule one: main points in short, crisp paragraphs
  5. Rule two: analysis and statistics go in an Appendix
  6. Rule three: often, headings only, expanded orally
  7. Rule four: an end to woolly phrases, with two examples
  8. He admits it will read rough beside officialese
  9. The payoff: time saved, and clearer thinking
  10. Initialled W.S.C., 10 Downing Street, 9 August 1940

Now · 2026 · 10 slides

What we changed

  • The answer is the coverSlide one is the recommendation in one sentence, with the docket typed in and the red "Action this day" label stuck on. Read nothing else and you have read the point.
  • A woolly phrase cutterChurchill's two examples, a 2026 edition, or your own sentence: the red pencil strikes the padding, writes in the single word, and counts the words saved.
  • Bullets or a sentence, you chooseOne toggle flips the same slide between topic-and-bullets and a sentence headline with evidence, with a live word count and the 2013 study that settles it (d = 0.81).
  • An appendix that opensNine short slides and one drawer: sources, the minute rule by rule, the woolly glossary and the template sit behind folder tabs you click open.

Steal the structure

Build your executive briefing like Winston Churchill did.

  1. 01 The answer The recommendation in one sentence, on the first slide. If they read nothing else, they read this.
  2. 02 Situation The one thing everyone already agrees is true. One line.
  3. 03 Complication What changed or is going wrong, shown in one picture.
  4. 04 Question The question the complication raises, with the answer and its three supports drawn as a pyramid.
  5. 05 Point 1 and evidence A sentence headline that makes the first claim, and one exhibit that proves it.
  6. 06 Point 2 and evidence The second claim, with its own exhibit. No overlap with point 1.
  7. 07 Point 3 and evidence The third claim, ideally one the reader can test for themselves.
  8. 08 Risks and the alternative The options you rejected, including doing nothing, and each risk with its answer.
  9. 09 Decision and date What you need, who decides, and by when. Never "Thank you".
  10. 10 Appendix Sources, figures and detail, behind tabs, at about ten to one.

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