Slide architecture: the 8-block sequence

The 8-block sequence below is the reference architecture for an activist or short-seller deck. Breaking it is a sign of inexperience; following it builds credibility by association.

The blocks

 1  Cover
 2  Thesis headline          (the claim in one sentence)
 3  Executive summary        (the three reasons)
 4  Situation                (the neutral frame)
 5  Complication             (the gap / problem / lie — with evidence)
 6  Question                 (the single pivot slide)
 7  Answer                   (demands + valuation + precedent)
 8  Closing ask              (the call to action)

Plus appendices (methodology, peer-set definition, source citations).

Block 1 · Cover slide

The first ten seconds sell the thesis. A cover slide must answer three questions the reader asks before reading anything else:

Who is making this argument? (Fund logo + name)
About whom? (Target company logo or ticker)
What is the thesis? (One-sentence provocation)

Typography: target name as the visual anchor — big, serif. Thesis headline below in smaller, heavier weight.

Anti-pattern: decorative stock photography. Top-tier decks never use generic imagery on the cover.

Exemplars:

Canadian Pacific 2012 — huge CP logo, "Nominees for Management Change"
Restore the Magic 2024 — Disney castle + "Back to the Future"

Full detail: slides/cover-slide.md

Block 2 · Thesis headline slide

One slide, one sentence. Serif, large, centre-weighted. No charts. No bullets.

Examples:

"McDonald's real estate is worth more than half the company's market cap. The market values McDonald's as a restaurant operator. It shouldn't."
"CP is the worst-operated Class I railroad in North America. We will replace the CEO and close the operating-ratio gap to peers."
"Herbalife is a pyramid scheme. The equity is worth zero."

This slide is shocking on purpose. It commits the fund to the thesis publicly, which accelerates the social-proof cascade.

Block 3 · Executive summary — the three reasons

One slide listing three numbered reasons that support the thesis. Each under 15 words. Each quantified.

Structure:

1. [Gap / problem / claim] — quantified.
2. [Why the market hasn't priced it] — quantified.
3. [Path to realisation + reward] — quantified.

Example (McDonald's 2005):

McDonald's real estate is worth ~$46bn, ~94% of enterprise value
Separating McOpCo reveals a 60% EBITDA-margin real estate business that re-rates to 12.5–13.5×
Leveraged recap + buyback unlocks $45–50/share (+37–52% from $33)

Full detail: storytelling/three-reasons.md

Block 4 · Situation — the neutral frame

5–8 slides. Establish the target's business and current position in the industry using facts the target itself would agree with. You're building the platform from which the accusation will be launched.

Typical slides:

Business overview (segments, revenue mix)
Market position (share, geography, categories)
Recent history (management tenure, prior strategy)
Financial snapshot (last 5 years key metrics)

Do NOT editorialise here. Even one loaded word and the reader becomes defensive.

Block 5 · Complication — the bulk of the work

15–30 slides. This is where the Peer-gap, Sum-of-parts, CEO-quote contradiction, Before/after, Villain-naming and other patterns live.

Sequence matters:

Establish the primary gap (peer comparison or SoP reveal)
Show the trend (not a snapshot — a trajectory over 3–5 years)
Attribute causation (why has this happened?)
Name who's responsible (if villain-naming applies)
Pre-empt the standard rebuttals (context, market conditions, one-off adjustments)

Use the patterns library (patterns/*.md) to select the 4–6 devices you'll deploy.

Block 6 · Question — the pivot

One slide. Full page. Serif. A single sentence ending with a question mark.

The Question is mechanical, not rhetorical. It must follow inescapably from the Complication you've built:

"What is Darden's real-estate portfolio worth, and why isn't the market valuing it?"
"If Fred Green has failed to close the operating-ratio gap in five years, what will the next five years look like?"
"If 80% of Herbalife's distributors churn every year, who are the new recruits?"

Block 7 · Answer — specific demands + valuation

10–15 slides. The prescription.

Core structure:

Primary demands — 3–6 bullets, each specific enough for a board vote
Valuation bridge — current price → SoP / DCF / multiple-expansion target, step by step
Precedent transactions — "X did this, Y happened, Z is the delta captured"
Execution roadmap — who, by when, in what sequence
Reward quantification — $ per share, % upside, IRR to shareholders

Full detail: valuation/ and storytelling/primary-demands.md

Block 8 · Closing ask

The final slide is not a thank-you. It is a call to action with a specific verb. See storytelling/closing-ask.md.

Typical closing asks:

"Vote the GOLD proxy card to elect all 7 of our nominees."
"We urge the Board to commit publicly to separating [segment] within 24 months."
"The market should price this equity at zero. We remain short."

Appendices (important, often neglected)

After Block 8:

Peer-set definition and justification (why THESE comps)
Full source citations for every quoted figure
Methodology notes for valuation
Biographies of proposed director nominees (if proxy context)
Regulatory filings referenced
Counter-arguments considered and rejected

How to tell a good deck from a bad one at a glance

Flip through:

First 3 slides: is the thesis on slide 2? If not, skip — it's a research memo, not an activist deck.
Middle section: is there a single chart you remember 10 seconds after closing? If not, the Complication is weak.
Last 2 slides: is there a specific, dated demand with a proposed action? If not, it's a letter, not a campaign.

Exemplars of clean 8-block structure

Use these as reference when building yours:

Pershing Square · Canadian Pacific (Feb 2012) — 72 pages, every block clearly delineated.
Starboard · Darden Restaurants (Sep 2014) — 294 pages; the 8-block applies fractally at section level.
Pershing Square · McDonald's (Nov 2005) — 149 pages, the "hidden real estate" thesis is visible from slide 2.
Trian · Disney "Restore the Magic" (Mar 2024) — 133-page white paper version of the same architecture.
Hindenburg · Nikola (Sep 2020) — short-seller variant; Answer is "short the stock" not "vote the proxy".

Find anything