Structure reference

A counted set of items. The most forgiving structure because each slide stands alone — a reader who drops at slide four still got value.

1. 1

   Hook

   State the count and the payoff. The number sets the contract.

2. 2

   Item

   One item, named in the first three words. Detail underneath.

3. 3

   Item

   Next item. Keep the same shape as the last so the rhythm holds.

4. 4

   Item

   One item, named in the first three words. Detail underneath.

5. 5

   Item

   Next item. Keep the same shape as the last so the rhythm holds.

6. 6

   Pick

   Name the one you would actually choose, and why.

7. 7

   Close

   One line of what to do next. No hard sell.

Where this goes wrong: Promising a number in the hook and delivering fewer. The count is a contract — under-deliver once and the next carousel gets scrolled.

Two options weighed against each other. Works when the reader is already choosing and wants the decision narrowed, not widened.

1. 1

   Hook

   Name both options and the question that separates them.

2. 2

   Frame

   State the criteria you are judging on before any verdict.

3. 3

   Criterion

   One criterion, both options, a clear winner on that axis.

4. 4

   Criterion

   Next criterion. Let each option win at least one.

5. 5

   Split

   Who should pick A, who should pick B. Both answers must be real.

6. 6

   Close

   The single question that decides it for the reader.

Where this goes wrong: One option winning every criterion. If it did, the comparison was not worth making and the reader assumes you were paid.

A sequence the reader can repeat. The only structure where slide order is load-bearing — steps out of order are worse than no steps.

1. 1

   Hook

   Name the outcome, not the process. Nobody wants steps; they want the result.

2. 2

   Setup

   What the reader needs before step one. Keep it short or they leave here.

3. 3

   Step

   One action and its visible output. If there is no output, it is not a step.

4. 4

   Step

   Next action. Reference the previous output so the chain is obvious.

5. 5

   Result

   What it looks like when done correctly.

6. 6

   Pitfall

   The step people get wrong, and the tell that you got it wrong.

Where this goes wrong: Steps that skip the boring setup. The reader who cannot complete step one never reaches the payoff and remembers the carousel as wrong.

A single narrative across slides. Highest completion rate when it works because each slide owes the next — and the highest drop-off when the middle sags.

1. 1

   Hook

   Open at the most interesting moment, not the beginning.

2. 2

   Context

   The minimum backstory needed to care. One slide, not three.

3. 3

   Escalation

   Something gets worse or more surprising than the slide before.

4. 4

   Turn

   The moment the situation changes. This is why they kept swiping.

5. 5

   Escalation

   Something gets worse or more surprising than the slide before.

6. 6

   Resolution

   How it actually ended, including what did not work.

7. 7

   Lesson

   The transferable part. Without this it was an anecdote.

Where this goes wrong: A middle that only adds detail rather than escalating. Detail is not tension, and tension is the only reason anyone reaches slide six.

Named beliefs, taken apart one at a time. Structurally a listicle with conflict, which buys more attention per slide.

1. 1

   Hook

   Signal that widely-held advice is about to be contradicted.

2. 2

   Myth

   State the belief fairly, in the words its believers would use.

3. 3

   Correction

   What is actually true, and the reason the myth persists.

4. 4

   Myth

   State the belief fairly, in the words its believers would use.

5. 5

   Nuance

   Where the myth is partly right. This is what makes it credible.

6. 6

   Close

   The one belief worth keeping.

Where this goes wrong: Strawmanning the myth. State it weakly and anyone who holds it stops reading, which is exactly the audience the carousel was for.

One example examined closely. Narrow by design — fewer readers, but the ones who stay convert hardest.

1. 1

   Hook

   Name the subject and the verdict. Withholding the verdict wastes a slide.

2. 2

   Baseline

   What the subject was trying to do, on its own terms.

3. 3

   Observation

   One specific thing it does, with the evidence visible.

4. 4

   Judgement

   Whether that choice worked, and what it cost.

5. 5

   Observation

   One specific thing it does, with the evidence visible.

6. 6

   Verdict

   The overall call, consistent with the hook.

7. 7

   Transfer

   What the reader should copy or avoid in their own work.

Where this goes wrong: Describing without judging. A teardown that never commits to a verdict reads as a summary, and summaries do not get saved.