The worst place to discover the hole in your argument is live, in front of the exec who found it. This runs your deck through a skeptical reviewer first: Claude attacks the logic, the numbers, and the unstated assumptions, then you walk in already holding the answers. The deck doesn't get prettier — it gets harder to kill.
Who this is for
Anyone presenting a strategy, roadmap, or investment case to a skeptical audience — leadership reviews, board prep, cross-functional buy-in.
What you'll need
- Your deck (export to PDF, or paste the content/speaker notes).
- Claude and a Google Drive folder for the deck + your prep notes.
Feed it the argument, not just slides · 10 min
A deck is a visual aid; the argument lives in the narrative. Write out, in a few sentences, the actual claim you're making and the decision you want. Paste that plus the slide content into Claude.
Have it attack · 20 min
You're a sharp, skeptical executive reviewing this strategy before I present. Your job is to find where it breaks. 1. State my core argument back in one sentence so I know you've got it. 2. Attack it: the 5 hardest questions you'd ask, ranked by how damaging an unprepared answer would be. 3. For each, name what's actually weak — a number that doesn't hold up, an assumption I never stated, a missing alternative, a second-order risk. 4. Flag any place I'm presenting an opinion as a fact. 5. Tell me the one slide a skeptic would attack first. Be adversarial but fair. Don't soften it. The argument and slides: [paste]
Push it — "what else," "be harsher," "what would a competitor say." The questions that make you wince are the ones to prep.
Prep answers and patch the deck · 15 min
For each hard question, draft your real answer (ask Claude to help where you're thin). Some answers belong on a slide; most belong in your back pocket as an appendix or a confident verbal response. Fix the one slide a skeptic attacks first. Now you're ready.
Confusing prettier with stronger. Polishing slides feels productive and changes nothing about whether the argument survives scrutiny. Fix the logic first.
Only prepping the easy questions. You already have answers to those. Spend your prep on the ones that made you wince.
Cramming every rebuttal onto slides. A defensive deck reads as defensive. Keep answers in an appendix or your head; the main deck stays clean.
Do this next
- Do a live dry-run with the hard questions in hand — saying the answers out loud is the real test.
- Build an appendix of the rebuttals and supporting data; reference it only if pushed.
- Note which question actually came up. Feed it back into the prompt to sharpen your next review.