Populating Investment Banking Pitch Deck Templates

Reference Files

Read all reference files at task start before beginning any work. These contain critical patterns and anti-patterns that will affect your approach. Do not wait until you encounter issues.

Workflow Decision Tree

What type of task is this?

┌─ Populating empty template with source data?
│  └─→ Follow "Template Population Workflow" below
│
├─ Editing existing populated slides?
│  └─→ Extract current content, modify, revalidate
│
└─ Fixing formatting issues on existing slides?
   └─→ See "Common Failures" table, apply targeted fixes

⚠️ Critical Rendering Limitation

LibreOffice is used for validation but DOES NOT render PowerPoint files accurately. It will mangle fonts, gradients, shape positions, text wrapping, and some table formatting.

What this means: A slide that passes visual validation in LibreOffice may still have issues in Microsoft PowerPoint. The validation loop catches structural issues (missing content, broken tables, placeholder formatting retained) but cannot catch font substitution, subtle alignment shifts, or gradient problems.

Required action: Always include this statement when delivering output:

"This file was validated using LibreOffice. Please review in Microsoft PowerPoint before distribution, as rendering differences may exist."

Template Population Workflow

Copy and track progress:

Pitch Deck Progress:
- [ ] Phase 1: Extract and validate source data
- [ ] Phase 2: Map content to template sections
- [ ] Phase 3: Populate slides with proper formatting
- [ ] Phase 4: Validate → Fix → Repeat until clean
- [ ] Phase 5: Final verification

Phase 1: Data Extraction

1. Create backup of original template before any modifications — copy to [filename]_backup.pptx. Direct XML editing or unexpected errors can corrupt files.
2. Identify all source materials (Excel, CSV, PDF reports, Word documents, databases, web sources)
3. Extract relevant data points from each source
4. Validate all numbers against original sources
5. Standardize units and currency (convert all figures to the primary unit/currency used in the template)
6. Note any calculations that need verification → see calculation-standards.md for formulas

Phase 2: Content Mapping

1. Open and visually review the template — understand its structure, style, and existing content before modifying
2. Analyze template structure — identify all placeholder areas and content boxes
3. Map source data to corresponding template sections → see slide-templates.md for mapping guidance
4. Identify placeholder guidance boxes (colored instruction boxes from task creator)
5. Note any data gaps or mismatches → see slide-templates.md for resolution

Phase 3: Template Population

1. Remove or reformat placeholder boxes — colored instruction boxes show WHAT to create, not HOW to format. Delete them and create properly formatted content in their place. See Critical Anti-Patterns.
2. Populate each section with mapped content (focus on content first)
3. Then apply formatting to match template style → see formatting-standards.md
4. Create tables as actual table objects (NEVER use pipe/tab-separated text) → see xml-reference.md
5. Create arrows/shapes as PowerPoint objects → see xml-reference.md
6. Insert company logo if provided in task files; if not available, flag to user: "[LOGO NOT PROVIDED - please supply company logo]"

Phase 4: Validate → Fix → Repeat

This is a feedback loop. Repeat until all checks pass OR escalation is triggered.

# Convert to images for visual validation
soffice --headless --convert-to pdf presentation.pptx
pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 presentation.pdf slide

Validation checklist (check each slide image):

• Text readable against background?
• Tables are actual objects (columns aligned, NOT pipe/tab-separated text)?
• Charts/tables fill designated areas?
• Bullet formatting consistent within sections?
• Font sizes match across same-level boxes?
• No content beyond slide boundaries?
• No placeholder formatting retained (no large colored boxes with data dumped in)?
• No text-based "tables" (no | or tab separators creating fake columns)?
• Cross-slide consistency: Same metrics/figures identical across all slides where they appear?

Fix cycle protocol:

After 3 cycles, if issues remain:

1. List each unresolved issue with slide number and description
2. Explain what was attempted
3. Deliver the file with explicit disclaimer: "The following issues could not be resolved automatically: [list]. Manual review required."

Do not continue cycling indefinitely. Some issues (font rendering, complex shape alignment) may require manual intervention in PowerPoint.

Phase 5: Final Verification

Run through the Final Quality Checklist before delivering.

Quick Reference Tables

Bullet Symbols

Slide Hierarchy Levels (Typical)

These are typical ranges—adjust based on template specifications:

Font Consistency Matching

Boxes at the same hierarchy level MUST use identical font sizes:

Rounding for Presentation

These are typical conventions — adjust based on the magnitude of values and template style: