How To Create an Effective Product Strategy Deck in 6 Steps

A detailed, practical guide to delivering a clear and impactful product strategy deck in just 6 slides

Developing a product strategy can quickly become an overwhelming task and I’ve found this to be a real pain point for many PMs. My goal here is to help you simplify this process with a streamlined 6-slide approach that should help you stand out and build a strategy deck that truly delivers.

A strong deck should do more than look visually appealing — it should showcase your clear, elegant thought process, which is key to tackling any strategy task. I’ve seen plenty of PMs take the wrong approach with developing decks, so I hope you’ll share this with every PM you know. I’ve kept it generic enough to apply across different contexts.

First, some housekeeping rules.

A list of tactics with a timeline attached is a plan. A strategy is much more than that. It’s how you convince your audience that your plan is great so they’ll buy-in to your approach.

Think of the tactics as the “what” and the goal as the “why”. The strategy is the “how”. It’s the guiding principle — the elevator pitch for your tactics, backed by research and data whenever possible.

You can have a plan filled with tactics but lacking strategy and it will fall flat with your audience. Present the exact same list of tactics, but preface…