Managers, programme offices and public funders often ask for information in a fixed shape: “send me a one-pager”, “use the quad chart”, “put it on an A3”. These formats exist so that many projects can be compared at a glance, which means the reader expects each piece of information in its place. A beautiful slide in the wrong structure fails; a plain one in the right structure succeeds.
| Format | Purpose | Typical reader |
|---|---|---|
| One-pager | The whole project or business on one slide | Executives, investors, partners |
| Quad chart | Four fixed boxes, compared across many projects | Programme offices, public funding, R&D |
| A3 report | A problem worked through on one large sheet | Lean and operations teams |
| Action plan | Who does what by when | Project teams, steering committees |
| Scoreboard | Targets against actuals, with status | Management meetings |
The one-pager
A one-pager answers the questions a busy reader has, in the order they have them. Six blocks fit on a 16:9 slide in a 3 × 2 grid:
- The problem — who has it and what it costs them, in one sentence.
- The solution — what you do about it, in one sentence, ideally with a picture.
- Status and proof — what exists today: users, revenue, pilots, milestones reached.
- The numbers — two or three figures that matter, large.
- Next steps — the next three milestones with dates.
- The ask — what you need from the reader: a decision, budget, an introduction.
A one-pager is read, not presented, so it can hold more text than a talk slide — but 11 pt is the lower limit for a printed page and 14 pt for a screen. Put the title as a claim (“Pilot cut processing time by 40%”) rather than a label (“Project overview”).
The quad chart
A quad chart divides one slide into four quadrants with fixed content, so a reviewer can line up dozens of them. Funders and organisations publish their own required headings — always use the template you were given. Two common patterns:
| Quadrant | Proposal or R&D quad chart | Project status quad chart |
|---|---|---|
| Top left | The concept: a picture or diagram of what you propose | Accomplishments since the last report |
| Top right | Objectives and key innovations | Plans for the next period |
| Bottom left | Approach and milestones | Risks and issues, with mitigation |
| Bottom right | Cost, schedule, team and deliverables | Key metrics: budget, schedule, quality |
Build a quad chart in PowerPointWindows and Mac
Start from Title Only
Choose Home → New Slide → Title Only. The title holds the project name and, if required, the reporting date.
Home → New Slide → Title Only Insert a 2 × 2 grid
Choose Insert → SmartArt → Matrix → Titled Matrix or Grid Matrix for a ready grid, or Insert → Table with two columns and two rows for full control of text. A table is easier to fill with bullet lists.
Insert → SmartArt → Matrix Add the quadrant headings
Give every quadrant a short bold heading in the same position. Keep the headings identical across all quad charts of a programme — reviewers read them as a form.
Fill and check density
Use bullet points of one line each, at least 12 pt. If a quadrant overflows, the content belongs in an appendix slide, not in smaller type.
The A3 report
The A3 comes from lean management: a problem is worked through on one sheet of A3 paper (297 × 420 mm), left side first, right side second. The sheet is the conversation — it is updated as the team learns, not written once. The classic sections:
| Side | Section | Question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Left | Background | Why does this matter now? |
| Left | Current condition | What is happening, with data? |
| Left | Goal | What do we want to reach, by when? |
| Left | Root cause analysis | Why is there a gap? (5 Whys, fishbone) |
| Right | Countermeasures | What will we change to remove the causes? |
| Right | Implementation plan | Who does what by when? |
| Right | Follow-up | How will we check that it worked? |
An A3 page in PowerPointWindows and Mac
Set the page to A3
Choose Design → Slide Size → Custom Slide Size… (Mac: Page Setup…), pick A3 Paper (297x420 mm) and Landscape. Do this before adding content; PowerPoint offers to scale existing content when the size changes.
Design → Slide Size → Custom Slide Size: A3 Divide it in two
Use View → Guides to mark the centre and the margins. Place the four left sections in a column on the left, the three right sections on the right, each with a heading bar.
Print it
Choose File → Print, select a printer with A3 paper and check that the preview shows the whole sheet. Without an A3 printer, save as PDF and let a print shop print it at 100%.
The action plan and the scoreboard
An action plan is a table, and its value is in the columns nobody may leave empty: Action (a verb and an object), Owner (one name, not a team), Due (a date, not “Q3”), Status. Add Depends on where tasks wait for each other. Sort by due date, and show at most ten lines per slide — longer plans belong in a spreadsheet that the slide summarises.
An action plan table that stays sortedWindows and Mac
Keep the list in Excel
PowerPoint tables cannot sort. Keep the plan in Excel with the columns Action, Owner, Due, Status, enter the dates as real dates, and sort with Data → Sort by Due, oldest to newest.
Excel: Data → Sort by the Due column Paste it as a PowerPoint table
Copy the rows (Ctrl+C / Cmd+C), click on the slide and paste. From the paste options choose Use Destination Styles: the rows become a native table in the deck’s theme, editable like any other.
Paste options: Use Destination Styles Set the column widths
Give Action the most room, then drag the column borders until Owner and Due fit on one line. Under Layout → Cell Size you can type exact widths, which keeps the plan identical from one status meeting to the next.
Mark the status
Select the status cells and give each a light fill with Table Design → Shading, and write the status as a word as well — see the note on colour below.
A scoreboard shows targets against actuals: one tile or row per measure, the target, the current value and a status. Status colours — red, amber, green — should never stand alone: one reader in twelve men and a smaller share of women has some form of colour blindness, and red and green are the colours most often confused. Write the status as a word or symbol too (“On track ✓”, “At risk !”).
A scoreboard slide is quickest to build as a table: one row per measure with the columns Measure, Target, Actual, Trend and Status. In PowerPoint insert it with Insert → Table, format the status cells with Table Design → Shading, and add small arrow icons for the trend. For a more visual board, use tiles instead: one rounded rectangle per measure with the actual value large, the target small underneath, and the status as a coloured bar along the bottom edge. Keep the order of measures the same from month to month, so the slide can be compared at a glance.
Mistakes in planning formats
- Changing the template. A funder’s quad chart with your own headings will be sent back. Keep their boxes and order.
- Shrinking text to fit. If it does not fit at a readable size, it is too much. Move detail to backup slides.
- Owners as teams. “Marketing” owns nothing; a named person does.
- Vague dates. “Soon” and “Q3” cannot be checked. Use dates.
- Status by colour only. Add words or symbols, as above.
- A3 as a slide show. An A3 is a document; presenting it on a projector makes everything unreadable. Print it or share the PDF.
Designs for this kind of deck
Every design brings its own colours, fonts and layouts to the whole deck.
Planning slides in ExpertSlides
The ExpertSlides library contains these formats as slides of their own: matrices in four fields, SWOT analyses, roadmaps, checklists, KPI dashboards, executive summaries, goals, risks and tables — each in many arrangements. Describe the project or attach your notes, a status report or a spreadsheet, and the AI chooses the fitting formats and fills them from your content without inventing numbers.
In the editor, a short instruction adds one: “Add a matrix slide”, “Add a KPI dashboard slide”, “Add an executive summary slide”. Add slide from layout… lets you pick by hand. Charts and tables take their data from Upload Data (a spreadsheet or CSV) or from the data table in the side panel. Decks are 16:9; for an A3 print, export the deck and print the PDF scaled up, or build the A3 in PowerPoint as described above.
More business slides on our business presentation page; for tables that read well, see table borders and colours; for structure around these slides, agenda and appendix slides. All looks are in Design Templates.
Questions, answered
What is a one-pager in PowerPoint?
A single slide that summarises a project or business: the problem, the solution, status and proof, key numbers, next steps and the ask. It is usually read rather than presented.
What goes into a quad chart?
Four fixed quadrants. For proposals often the concept, objectives, approach and milestones, and cost, schedule and team; for status reports accomplishments, plans, risks and metrics. Always use the headings your organisation requires.
How do I make an A3 slide in PowerPoint?
Choose Design, Slide Size, Custom Slide Size, pick A3 Paper (297x420 mm) and Landscape, ideally before adding content. Print it on an A3 printer or as a PDF at 100%.
What should an action plan slide contain?
One line per action with the action, one named owner, a due date and a status; add dependencies where tasks wait for each other. Keep it to about ten lines per slide.
Should I use red, amber and green for status?
Yes, but never colour alone: add a word or symbol, because red and green are the colours people with colour blindness most often confuse.
Can ExpertSlides make these formats?
Yes. The library has matrices, SWOT, roadmaps, checklists, KPI dashboards and executive summaries; the AI picks and fills them from your notes or documents. Decks are 16:9, so build an A3 page in PowerPoint.
