Ryan Perez · Deck & ebook layouts

A deck controls attention. An ebook builds understanding.

Each slide performs one decision or comprehension job. Each chapter has one learning outcome. Twenty slide layouts and twelve page layouts, rendered below at real proportion — pick from the specimens, not from a description.

The headline test If the headline only names the topic, rewrite it as the slide's conclusion.
Twenty specimens · 16:9

Every slide layout, rendered

Real proportion, real content, real hierarchy. Each carries its formula and the failure it prevents. Type is shown at slide scale — at 1920 these headlines land between 72 and 120px, and nothing on a real slide falls below 24px.
Bow Tie Kreative · 2026
Where the system
forgets you A build manual for the steps nobody designed
Ryan Perez March 2026
Titleonce, at the start
Title + subtitle + author + date. The only slide allowed to carry no argument.
Section 02 What it costs Three consequences of leaving the broken step in place.
Section dividerthe cut
Number + title + orientation statement. The one saturated colour change per deck — use it where the argument changes phase.
Accessibility is not a checklist. It is who can buy from you. Every barrier is a customer who reached the form and could not complete it.
Assertionconclusion as headline
Conclusion + one supporting sentence. Nothing else. For strategic claims and major transitions.
The form field is the org chart Every process has one step that assumes a brain it never met. Rebuild that step, not the department around it. Friction Audit™ · 14 engagements
Image
Text & image splitworkhorse
Headline + explanation | image. Use when the visual carries context the words cannot.
Full-bleed still Diagnosed at 41. The systems were never built for this brain. Calgary, 2023 · photograph by studio
Full-bleed imagerhythm break
Image + short statement + caption. The flood guarantees the type reads regardless of the photograph behind it.
240,720
nodes in the Second Brain Up from 9,400 at first build. 17,336 connections between them. Verified count · August 2026
Big numberneeds a baseline
Value + unit + interpretation + source. A number without a baseline or a period is not evidence.
Three funnels, one constraint
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All three sites lost the same step: qualification before the pitch.
Statistic gridone shared conclusion
Three or four values + labels + a conclusion they all support. If they belong to different arguments, they belong on different slides.
Qualified leads rose only after qualification moved before the pitch
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Change shipped in week 4 (marked) n=14 funnels · 2026
Chartfinding, not data
Finding headline + chart + the insight highlighted + source. One bar is accented because one bar is the point.
Same criteria, two approaches
Criterion Redesign Audit first {{ r.k }} {{ r.a }} {{ r.b }}
Audit first, unless the brand itself is the constraint.
Comparisoncriteria first
Shared criteria + option A | option B + a conclusion you will sign. State the criteria before the options, or the comparison is rigged.
From studio to system
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The turning point was the diagnosis, not the tooling.
Timelinename the turn
Ordered milestones + the turning point + current state. Do not use a timeline for steps with no real time relationship.
Five stages, one week each
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→One rebuilt step, in production, measured
Processthree to seven
Stages + direction + outcome. The outcome is the slide's job — a process with no stated end is a diagram, not an argument.
The LAKA change cell
Conditions ↓
Object → Action → Outcome
↓ Feedback
The action is the only element you control directly. Everything else is read.
Frameworklabelled relationships
Central model + labelled relationships + interpretation. The interpretation line is what stops it being wallpaper.
Effort against evidence
{{ p.t }} High evidence High effort
Start bottom-left. The cheap, well-evidenced fix is nearly always the audit.
Matrixtwo axes, one implication
Axes + positioned alternatives + the key implication. Both axes must be labelled with a direction, not just a name.
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Case studyproof column required
Challenge + action + result + proof. Without the fourth column it is an anecdote.
Not inspiration. Infrastructure.
Conference programme director After the Calgary keynote, 2025 · used with permission
Quoterhythm break
Short quotation + attribution + context. Permission and date belong on the slide, not in a footnote.
Project still
All Inclusive Websites Procurement blocked on an accessibility complaint
6 weeks to cleared
Client-verified · report available
Portfolioresult, not image
Project image + problem + result. If the slide only shows the image, it is decoration in a sales deck.
Who does the work
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Teamdecision-specific
Relevant people + roles + the expertise that bears on this decision. Not the whole org.
Recommendation Run the audit before committing to a redesign
Because One week identifies the blocking step. A redesign takes twelve and may miss it.
Tradeoff The launch slips a week, and the audit may recommend no redesign at all.
Recommendationtradeoff stated
Recommendation + reasons + tradeoffs. A recommendation with no stated tradeoff reads as a sales pitch.
Book the audit
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ryanperez.ca/audit
CTAone ask
Desired action + what happens next + contact path. Every optional element deleted.
Appendix A · Methodology Not presented
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Sources: client analytics exports, Search Console, engagement notes · n=14
Appendixdense on purpose
The one slide allowed to be dense, because nobody presents it. Necessary detail that would otherwise bloat the argument goes here.
Seven structures

Choose the spine before the slides

Every deck is one of these. Picking the wrong spine is why a deck feels like a list of facts rather than an argument.
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Slide anatomy

Ten parts, three mandatory

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Deck types

Fifteen purposes

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Five running orders

Slide by slide, with the layout each one uses

Numbered position, the slide's job, and which of the twenty layouts it takes. Accented rows are the ones most often cut and most often needed.
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Same slide, two deliveries

Presentation versus reading

Identical argument. The left one fails when emailed; the right one fails when projected behind a speaker.
Qualify before you pitch
+41% qualified leads
Presentationspeaker carries it
Two elements. The audience reads it in a second and returns their attention to the person talking.
Moving qualification ahead of the pitch raised qualified leads by 41% Across 14 client funnels in Q1–Q2 2026, the pages that asked two fit questions before presenting the offer produced 41% more qualified consultations than the pages that pitched first — while total form submissions fell 12%.
Fewer, better leads. Sales time per closed engagement fell by a third.
Source: client analytics exports, n=14 · qualified = met published fit criteria
Readingno presenter
Self-contained. The headline is a full conclusion, the caveat is present, and the source is complete.
Element Presentation Reading
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Rhythm

Density across twelve slides

Bar height is slide density. The pattern to avoid is a flat wall — three or more dense slides in a row without a break.
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Seven break devices
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If a break adds no narrative value, do not insert it. Consistency beats decoration.
Density & type rules
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Visual & animation

Eleven rules

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LAKA states

Ten deck treatments

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Accessibility Logical reading order, sufficient contrast, meaning that survives without colour, captioned media, and alt text wherever the export format supports it. If the deck exports to PDF, every slide must be understandable with no animation at all.
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Nine page specimens

Every page layout, rendered at page proportion

Field manual · 01
Pain →
Projects Turn the step that keeps failing into the system that replaces it.
Ryan Perez Bow Tie Kreative
Cover Title + promise + author + visual. Must stay recognisable at thumbnail size — check it at 80px before signing off.
Contents
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Contents Linked titles, part organisation, logical numbering. Parts are set heavier than chapters so the structure reads at a glance.
Part two Finding the
broken step Three chapters on diagnosis before repair.
Part divider Number + title + orientation. Same saturated cut as the deck's section divider — one visual language across both formats.
Chapter 04 The form field is the org chart By the end of this chapter you will be able to locate the single step in a process that assumes knowledge the user does not have.
Chapter opener Number + headline + premise. The premise is a learning outcome — a chapter without one gets merged into its neighbour.
Pain → Projects Ch. 04
Start at the smallest unit
47
Standard reading page Running header + one body column + folio. One column by default — two only for reference material.
Diagnose before you build
Key idea The visible problem is almost never the constraint. It is the symptom the constraint produces.
Warning Fixing the symptom hides the constraint and makes the next diagnosis harder.
52
Callouts Ten callout types, each with a fixed colour meaning. If everything is a callout, nothing is emphasised.
Case study 03 Procurement unblocked in six weeks
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88
Case study page Situation + intervention + result + lesson. The lesson is what makes it teaching rather than boasting.
Exercise 04 Locate your broken step
Write the last three times a customer contacted you confused. Name the step immediately before each one.
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Two or more answers naming the same step? That is the one to rebuild.
Exercise page Objective + instructions + writable prompts + how the result maps to an outcome. Enough space to actually write if printed.
Chapter summary
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Do this now Complete Exercise 04 before reading Chapter 05.
Next Ch. 05 — Rebuilding without rewriting
Summary page Key ideas + practical actions + the bridge to the next chapter. The bridge is what keeps a reader moving.
Format

Reflowable or fixed

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Chapter structure

Ten beats per teaching chapter

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Landing page

Ten elements, plus the gating clause

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A gated ebook cannot be evaluated by a search engine. If the content is the SEO asset, it cannot also be the gate.
Accessibility

Twelve requirements

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Prohibited
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Selection engine

Deck, ebook, or both

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Agent contract

Deck specification

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Agent contract

Ebook specification

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Ebook types

Twelve purposes

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The framework ebook Why the existing model fails → first principles → the LAKA object → internal variables → meta-variables → baseline → minor → major → inversions → combinations → new demand curves → application method → case studies → worksheets → agent-readable rules. The strongest format for this body of work.
The governing distinction A deck controls the sequence of attention. An ebook supports the sustained development of understanding. When both are required, build a concise deck plus a complete companion ebook — not one document trying to do both, which reads as a cluttered deck and a shallow book at the same time.