Slide titles are more than just labels—they’re guiding points in your presentation’s story. With the right phrasing, your titles can become hooks that draw the audience into a narrative, making your message both memorable and impactful.
This is what we call a “story-driven title” approach because the title itself is integral to the storytelling process. Instead of simply summarizing the content, a story-driven title primes the audience for what’s coming next.
For example, instead of using plain, factual titles like “Our Data” or “Key Points,” we can use titles that set the stage and make the audience curious, like “What the Data Tells Us About the Future” or “Three Surprising Takeaways.”
This way, each title doesn’t just label a slide—it gives your audience a reason to care and follow along. The flow feels more natural, and your message feels like a journey they want to stay with, from start to finish.
AI can help us brainstorm these types of titles based on the narrative structure—the overall arc or flow of your presentation—and themes of the presentation, giving each slide a natural flow and sense of purpose. And with the right prompt, you can even have AI suggest multiple angles or language tweaks to make sure the title really resonates.
AI in Action: Story-Driven Title Transformation
Let's look at a step-by-step for using ChatGPT to generate compelling, story-driven titles:
- Outline Your Slide Content: Start by giving ChatGPT a clear summary of each slide. Example: “This slide covers the impact of outdated software on project timelines and employee morale.”
- Set the Tone: Define the desired tone (e.g., urgent, optimistic) and audience. For instance: “The tone is urgent and solution-focused, directed at the management team.”
- Adopt a Narrative Perspective: Apply a storytelling framework to guide ChatGPT. You could specify: “Frame the title with an ‘overcoming obstacles’ narrative.”
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Generate Titles: Ask ChatGPT to suggest titles. Here are some ideas it might produce for the above example:
- “The Hidden Hurdle: Outdated Tech Slowing Us Down”
- “Breaking Barriers: Streamlining Project Delivery with Modern Software”
- “How Upgrading Systems Can Reignite Our Team’s Potential”
Each of these titles goes beyond simple descriptions, framing the slide as a critical part of a larger story.
Why It Matters
Story-driven slide titles tap into the audience's natural curiosity and desire for narrative, making them more likely to connect emotionally with your message. With AI’s help, you can easily elevate each title to guide your audience through a compelling journey.
Try It
Take three slides from an existing presentation and re-frame the titles using this approach. Notice how even subtle changes can shift the tone from purely informational to engaging and narrative-driven.
Until next week,
Meghan
Founder, The Good Deck
