The copywriting of consulting

Every deck is a copy problem.
28,121 action titles show the craft.

“Through Vision 2035, Lebanon’s prioritized sectors would grow their GDP contribution by ~6%”

McKinsey · 2018 · slide 672 →

“EXHIBIT 17: DF9 scaled investments by 4x in previous technology wave, while the AI wave will likely require ~8x”

McKinsey · 2020 · slide 32 →

“Chemicals drive almost 60% of liquids demand growth through 2035, while light vehicles and power demand declines”

McKinsey · 2017 · slide 16 →

“Aside from cash discount, 0% financing is consumers' preferred discount type”

McKinsey · 2020 · slide 21 →

“A.2 EXAMPLE: Singapore is a potential market for labor force export in managerial and engineering professions”

McKinsey · 2018 · slide 1032 →

“However, as a % of GDP, VC in Brazil still lags behind mature nations”

McKinsey · 2020 · slide 20 →

“60%+ consumers seek out information about content before deciding to watch”

BCG · 2023 · slide 30 →

“What a $1T GMV SEA could look like: Consumers live and breathe digital”

Bain · 2021 · slide 87 →

“Labor inflation projected to stabilize above historical average at 2% with peaks of 4.5% and 2.6% in 2024 and 2025”

McKinsey · 2025 · slide 19 →

“Action 4: Expand your base of expertise beyond your own people”

Accenture · 2025 · slide 15 →

“Public transportation contributes to only 2% of total completed trips”

McKinsey · 2018 · slide 586 →

“40% of executives feel unprepared for market shocks heading into 2025”

BCG · 2025 · slide 6 →

Action titles are headlines. Callouts are body copy. Frameworks are visual metaphors. What follows is an autopsy of all three — drawn from 26 firms, 45 houses of consulting, and 51,416 slides.

§ 1

The anatomy of an action title

Four dimensions you can feel on every slide: the opening word, the length, the number density, and the hedging. A look at what the corpus actually does — not what the playbooks say it should.

Opening verbs & nouns

First content word, after stripping "we / our / this / while"…

The "lead with a number" myth

2.9% of titles start with a number

The McKinsey convention says lead with the answer. The corpus says the answer rarely leads with digits. Instead: most headlines contain a number (24.2% of them) — but it arrives mid-sentence.

Any digit in title	24.2%
Percentage (%)	5.8%
Money ($ € £)	2.1%
Multiplier (3x / 2.5X)	0.7%

How long is an action title?

Word count

≤4 words 1,854 · 6.6%

5–8 7,740 · 27.5%

9–12 7,094 · 25.2%

13–17 6,248 · 22.2%

18–24 4,129 · 14.7%

25+ 1,053 · 3.7%

Median cluster sits at 9–17 words. Pithy 5-word banners are the minority; so are the 25-word sentences that break into a clause.

The hedge audit

Modal verbs that soften a claim. Each one waters down the action title.

will 1132 4.03%

Accenture · 2023 China is expected to transition to slower growth path as it confronts structural challenges; Japan's resilience is waning and India's will be tested as global growth slows Accenture · 2023 Most of the world's highly skilled workers will continue to live in Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America Accenture · 2024 As 2024 progresses, emerging structural forces will exert increasingly greater pull on the global economy, weighing on growth and renewing inflation pressures and volatility Accenture · 2024 Japan's economy is expected to be sluggish in 2024 while India's resilience will be tested as global growth slows; Brazil's economy is likely to slow but rate cuts may provide cushion

can 858 3.05%

Accenture · 2019 You can't spell personal without persona Accenture · 2019 How can banks and insurers get a head start on building a living business model? By following these steps: Accenture · 2023 Multinational companies can magnify their local appeal to attract talent for new knowledge clusters Accenture · 2024 Companies remain uncertain over how long recent US economic resilience can persist, and increasingly anxious about geopolitical risks

could 414 1.47%

Accenture · 2023 Dissonant perceptions of recession risk continue to drive high uncertainty, and the greater pessimism among consumers and firms could prove more relevant for future spending Accenture · 2023 The implied public spending contraction needed to fund the UK government's recent tax cuts puts pressure on key public services and could further strain household finances Accenture · 2024 Deceleration towards a new, lower structural growth rate is base case for China, though more aggressive policy stimulus could help stabilize growth Accenture · 2023 European banks generally have lower sovereign debt exposure than US banks, but negative confidence effects could still lead to tighter credit standards and reduced lending

should 390 1.39%

Accenture · 2019 They should become key players in ecosystems that deliver integrated propositions around a customer need. Accenture · 2019 They should actively target customers interested in personalized services with experiences that strengthen their brand values at every touchpoint. Accenture · 2019 They should consider creating stronger incentives to encourage customers to share their data. Accenture · 2019 Providers should invest in and communicate clearly on measures to protect customer data.

would 238 0.85%

Accenture · 2019 Consumers feel issues/concerns over data security would lead to them leaving their current provider. Accenture · 2024 With hindsight, all risks are obvious. Yet as we entered 2023, no one foresaw that a bank failure in California would escalate into a regional banking panic and ultimately lead to the merger of Switzerland's last two major banks. Accenture · 2024 42% of C-suite leaders say skills shortage is one of the top 3 challenges that would hold back their organizations' ability to respond to change. It is particularly a major concern in the healthcare industry. Accenture · 2022 Figure 4. Improved information and care provider recommendations would make people more likely to use digital technology to manage their health

must 181 0.64%

Accenture · 2023 Companies must be prepared for a "winter of economic uncertainty" as many economies transition from post-pandemic normalization to structurally-weaker growth paths Accenture · 2024 Companies must be prepared to navigate GenAI, the lagged effects of higher rates, and growing geopolitical risks in 2024 Accenture · 2024 To realize value and top-line growth, firms must move beyond Gen AI pilots to incorporate Gen AI into workflows, with a roadmap to embed and expose more capabilities Accenture · 2023 Europe must close the gap in innovation

may 181 0.64%

Accenture · 2023 Labor markets may be at a turning point as employment growth continues to decelerate in all major geographies Accenture · 2024 Japan's economy is expected to be sluggish in 2024 while India's resilience will be tested as global growth slows; Brazil's economy is likely to slow but rate cuts may provide cushion Accenture · 2020 So how do media organizations do what may seem like the impossible—protect revenue in the immediate term and set a course to revenue growth and differentiation over the longer term, while delivering improved profitability for the ads business? Accenture · 2023 Technology is the foundation for improving agility during disruptive events that may cause critical skills shortages.

might 43 0.15%

Accenture · 2022 Why the impact of digitisation might be even greater Accenture · 2019 Though they might both possess knowledge, talent and ambition to spare, the distance between the Leaders and Laggards is huge: Leaders have twice the revenue growth of Laggards, who could miss out on up to 46% of their annual revenues by 2023 if they don't change. BCG · 2023 Reach vs richness | GenAI might allow Luxury brands to overcome the trade-off, creating scalable solutions for personalized VIC treatment Deloitte · 2023 Brands across industries should start to consider the role the metaverse might play in their marketing strategy in the medium to long term.

ought 2 0.01%

misc · 2011 7 – Secondary users: L.E.K. considers that it would be unreasonable to make financial participation mandatory for secondary users. However, they ought to have the option to participate, subject to a materiality threshold RolandBerger · 2025 Future retirement ages ought to rise in most countries - Demographic challenges increase the need for further retirement reforms

§ 2

The swipe file

Reusable syntactic skeletons extracted from real titles. Variable parts — numbers, metrics, actors, regions — collapse into placeholders. Each template is grouped by what it's trying to do.

Quote the market

{PCT} of respondents · executives say · investors expect.

633× {N} % of

Accenture “But it wasn't always this way. In 1950, just 9% of US households had a TV set. Five years later, a staggering 65% did. And five years after that, adoption reached 87%.” Accenture “Non-bank financial institutions hold nearly 60% of the private sector's total global financial assets.” Accenture “The nbnTM network enriches lives; 91% of surveyed users report the network enables them to do what they value most in life” Accenture “Around 80% of Automotive – OES leaders fear significant escalations in cost (>5%) alongside losing talent (>5%), if they fail to overcome organizational challenges”

430× {N} % of ·

Accenture “The nbnTM network enriches lives; 91% of surveyed users report the network enables them to do what they value most in life” Accenture “Around 80% of Automotive – OES leaders fear significant escalations in cost (>5%) alongside losing talent (>5%), if they fail to overcome organizational challenges” Accenture “For nearly 50% of industries, real upstream hot spots differ from those represented by Tier 1 suppliers” Accenture “83% of Gen Zers interact with brands through social media and websites, even if they don't buy from them.”

319× {ACTORS} are ·

Accenture “Most central banks are pausing further rate hikes while they evaluate evolving conditions” Accenture “Employees are increasingly prioritizing disability inclusion when evaluating employers - measured as average disability inclusion-related mentions per company in Glassdoor reviews” Accenture “Here's how organizations are using the technology lever:” Accenture “Here's how organizations are using the process lever:”

197× · {ACTORS} are

Accenture “Most central banks are pausing further rate hikes while they evaluate evolving conditions” Accenture “US and Euro area companies are increasingly passing on their input costs to consumers, while margin erosion continues in the UK” Accenture “Many companies are still in the early stages of their resiliency transformation and plan to invest heavily, but what stands in the way of success?” Accenture “Pharmaceutical companies are shifting to better engage HCPs but providers want more.”

139× · {ACTORS} are ·

Accenture “Most central banks are pausing further rate hikes while they evaluate evolving conditions” Accenture “US and Euro area companies are increasingly passing on their input costs to consumers, while margin erosion continues in the UK” Accenture “Pharmaceutical companies are shifting to better engage HCPs but providers want more.” Accenture “AUTOMOTIVE – OES COMPANIES ARE SCALING DIGITAL POCs ACROSS BUSINESS FUNCTIONS”

125× {ACTORS} are · ·

Accenture “Most central banks are pausing further rate hikes while they evaluate evolving conditions” Accenture “Employees are increasingly prioritizing disability inclusion when evaluating employers - measured as average disability inclusion-related mentions per company in Glassdoor reviews” Accenture “US and Euro area companies are increasingly passing on their input costs to consumers, while margin erosion continues in the UK” Accenture “AUTOMOTIVE – OES COMPANIES ARE SCALING DIGITAL POCs ACROSS BUSINESS FUNCTIONS”

103× ~ {N} % of

BCG “Social content and digital media draw ~50% of attention; offline creative marketing gaining traction” BCG “Only ~20% of Sweden's top 50 companies have a CV¹ set-up” BCG “Daily cases on the rise | Cases in early July ~1.5x those in June; ~56% of the confirmed cases have recovered globally” BCG “US and China account for ~50% of secondary market sales, but US was main driver of growth from '17-'20”

79× {N} % of the

Accenture “Non-bank financial institutions hold nearly 60% of the private sector's total global financial assets.” Accenture “Even though only 3% of the North American companies surveyed had already implemented responsible AI practices, nearly half (45%) aspire to scale such frameworks by the end of 2024.” Accenture “Even though only 6% of the companies surveyed had already implemented responsible AI practices, 42% of surveyed companies aspire to do so by the end of 2024.” BCG “In 2018 China's luxury market exceeded €110 Bn, 33% of the global market, and is growing at 6%”

71× · {ACTORS} have

Accenture “Multinational companies have struggled to keep up, but an abundance of talent awaits” Accenture “There are qualified talent pools that multinational companies have yet to discover” Accenture “European banks have been slow to pass on interest rate increases to their depositors, but this dynamic could now change as competition for deposits intensifies” Accenture “In general, banking sectors in APAC are even better capitalized than in the US, and central banks have been able to rely on USD swap lines in times of crisis to mitigate liquidity …”

70× {ACTORS} have ·

Accenture “Multinational companies have struggled to keep up, but an abundance of talent awaits” Accenture “Delivery times and work backlogs for manufacturers have broadly normalized to pre-pandemic averages across major economies” Accenture “By the time banks have executed their generative AI strategy, they will have reinvented and modernized most parts of the bank.” Accenture “NATIONAL BRANDS HAVE POTENTIALLY MISSED OUT ON UP TO 4% IN ANNUAL SALES GENERATED FROM MEDIA SPEND”

68× · {N} % of

Accenture “Non-bank financial institutions hold nearly 60% of the private sector's total global financial assets.” Accenture “Around 80% of Automotive – OES leaders fear significant escalations in cost (>5%) alongside losing talent (>5%), if they fail to overcome organizational challenges” Accenture “For nearly 50% of industries, real upstream hot spots differ from those represented by Tier 1 suppliers” Accenture “A staggering 64% of surveyed companies face significant risks across various domains due to network deficiencies.”

65× ~ {N} % of ·

BCG “Social content and digital media draw ~50% of attention; offline creative marketing gaining traction” BCG “Only ~20% of Sweden's top 50 companies have a CV¹ set-up” BCG “US and China account for ~50% of secondary market sales, but US was main driver of growth from '17-'20” BCG “Export potential — Indian exports poised to be ~25% of GDP at $2 Tn by 2030 driven by strong manufacturing focus”

57× {N} % of {ACTORS}

Accenture “Figure 3: Only 7% of organizations are AI Achievers” Accenture “Figure 3: Only 12% of organizations are AI Achievers” Accenture “95% of workers see value in working with gen AI—but their top concern is that they don't trust organizations to ensure positive outcomes for everyone.” Accenture “Just 21% of companies are fully leveraging technology to shape their business strategy.”

Prescribe action

{ACTORS} must / should · to win · the playbook.

54× {ACTORS} should ·

Accenture “Providers should invest in and communicate clearly on measures to protect customer data.” Accenture “Companies should increase the agility of their future talent supply.” Accenture “Companies should get their highly skilled workers to help them redesign jobs, starting with tasks.” Accenture “Companies should focus on improving business productivity to manage increasing labor costs pressures”

Contrast & gap

Only X vs Y · while this, that · despite A, B.

76× vs . {N}

BCG “Only 1 in 4 women started a business solo (~30% less than men) & only ~1 in 10 partnered with other women (vs. 1 in 2 men partnered with other men)” McKinsey “The sector also witnesses a low digital banking penetration with 27% of adults having made a digital transaction vs. 60% benchmarks” Barclays “Activists continue to launch proxy fights to effectuate change with 13 fights YTD vs. 10 in 2024” JPMorgan “The JPMorgan Growth Advantage Strategy SMA (net of fees) returned 12.77% vs. 18.15% for the Russell 3000 Growth”

65× {N} % vs

Deloitte “RevPAR growth has experienced a consistent growth underpinned by the strong effort on asset repositioning and positioning, specially in 5* segment where RevPAR has increased by 40%…” Kearney “Wind and solar energies are expected to grow faster than advanced biomass by 2040 (+7% vs. +2,5%)” JPMorgan “The JPMorgan Growth Advantage Strategy SMA (net of fees) returned 12.77% vs. 18.15% for the Russell 3000 Growth” McKinsey “New car purchase intent ~-25% vs. pre-COVID-19 in US, UK, IT; markets except IT recovering; CN stable close to pre-COVID-19”

65× {N} % vs .

64× vs . {N} %

McKinsey “The sector also witnesses a low digital banking penetration with 27% of adults having made a digital transaction vs. 60% benchmarks” JPMorgan “The JPMorgan Growth Advantage Strategy SMA (net of fees) returned 12.77% vs. 18.15% for the Russell 3000 Growth” BondCap “AI Retention (ChatGPT as Proxy) = 80% vs. 58% Over Twenty-Seven Months, per YipitData” BondCap “R&D Spend @ Big Six* USA Public Tech Companies = 13% of Revenue...vs. 9% Ten Years Ago”

51× only {N} %

Accenture “Figure 3: Only 7% of organizations are AI Achievers” Accenture “Even though only 3% of the North American companies surveyed had already implemented responsible AI practices, nearly half (45%) aspire to scale such frameworks by the end of 2024.” Accenture “Figure 3: Only 12% of organizations are AI Achievers” Accenture “Even though only 6% of the companies surveyed had already implemented responsible AI practices, 42% of surveyed companies aspire to do so by the end of 2024.”

Place the claim

{REGION} anchors — where the story is set.

254× · in {REGION}

Accenture “Japan's property market continues to heat up as investors take advantage of the weak yen, low interest rates and souring property sentiment in China, but rising prices have downsid…” Accenture “Consumer spending continues to moderate in most major economies, though it improved slightly in China” Accenture “Recent consumer spending moderation in US and Europe has been concentrated in goods though services demand is also now softening” Accenture “Disinflationary momentum has stabilized somewhat in the US but continues more forcefully in Europe, mainly on the back of lower energy prices”

152× in the {REGION}

Accenture “Business activity momentum remains weak but generally stable or improving in the US and Europe, while Japan and Australia are seeing further deterioration” Accenture “Talent shortages remain most pronounced in the US while improving in the service sectors across UK and the EU” Accenture “Disinflationary momentum has stabilized somewhat in the US but continues more forcefully in Europe, mainly on the back of lower energy prices” Accenture “Softening demand and ongoing declines in new orders in the UK and Europe have shortened supplier delivery lead times and eased backlogs”

125× the {REGION} ·

Accenture “The implied public spending contraction needed to fund the UK government's recent tax cuts puts pressure on key public services and could further strain household finances” Accenture “The US consumer has been resilient to date, but caution is warranted amid declining excess savings” Accenture “Real wage growth has turned positive in the US amidst recent easing of inflation, but remains persistently negative across Europe” Accenture “The overall number of layoffs in the US edged down in February, but there was a noticeable increase among Media and Telecom companies”

109× · in the {REGION}

101× {REGION} , ·

Accenture “In both US and Europe, worker hoarding remains prevalent and labor market adjustment is happening mainly through channels other than outright layoffs” Accenture “Disinflationary momentum has stabilized somewhat in the US but continues more forcefully in Europe, mainly on the back of lower energy prices” Accenture “In the US, Basic Materials, Financials and Consumer Goods continue to struggle; growth momentum for Consumer Services and Industrials turned positive in February” BCG “The pressure to transform is particularly high in Germany, Austria, and the Nordic countries”

94× {REGION} and ·

Accenture “Business activity momentum remains weak but generally stable or improving in the US and Europe, while Japan and Australia are seeing further deterioration” Accenture “Business activity downturn eased slightly in November across Europe, with UK and Ireland showing signs of expansion” Accenture “Real wage growth is now in positive territory across the US, UK and Euro area amidst subsiding inflation” Accenture “Most major economies closed out 2023 with sluggish activity momentum, though there was some notable improvement in China and the UK and continued resilience in the US”

91× {REGION} · =

BondCap “...China AI = LLMs Achieving Performance with Lower Training Costs, per Epoch AI...” BondCap “...China AI = Industrial Robot Installed Base Higher vs. Rest of World” BondCap “China AI = LLM Performance Catching Up to USA Models, per Stanford HAI...” BondCap “...China AI = Industrial Robot Installed Base Higher vs. Rest of World...”

83× {REGION} ' ·

Accenture “A growth downshift remains the base case for the US as consumer and financial headwinds intensify; Europe's slowdown is further along, especially for manufacturing-led economies” Accenture “China is expected to transition to slower growth path as it confronts structural challenges; Japan's resilience is waning and India's will be tested as global growth slows” Accenture “Japan's property market continues to heat up as investors take advantage of the weak yen, low interest rates and souring property sentiment in China, but rising prices have downsid…” Accenture “Japan's economy is expected to be sluggish in 2024 while India's resilience will be tested as global growth slows; Brazil's economy is likely to slow but rate cuts may provide cush…”

79× {REGION} and {REGION}

Accenture “Business activity momentum remains weak but generally stable or improving in the US and Europe, while Japan and Australia are seeing further deterioration” Accenture “Recent consumer spending moderation in US and Europe has been concentrated in goods though services demand is also now softening” Accenture “A difficult hiring environment (relative to pre-pandemic norms) persists across US and Europe, though labor markets are showing some signs of cooling” Accenture “In both US and Europe, worker hoarding remains prevalent and labor market adjustment is happening mainly through channels other than outright layoffs”

67× {REGION} ' · ·

66× in {REGION} ,

Accenture “Japan's property market continues to heat up as investors take advantage of the weak yen, low interest rates and souring property sentiment in China, but rising prices have downsid…” Accenture “Disinflationary momentum has stabilized somewhat in the US but continues more forcefully in Europe, mainly on the back of lower energy prices” BCG “The pressure to transform is particularly high in Germany, Austria, and the Nordic countries” Accenture “While China currently holds over 40% of current data center capacity in APAC, future capacity growth is expected to be driven by Japan, India, and ASEAN countries”

65× the {REGION} · ·

Accenture “The implied public spending contraction needed to fund the UK government's recent tax cuts puts pressure on key public services and could further strain household finances” Accenture “Real wage growth has turned positive in the US amidst recent easing of inflation, but remains persistently negative across Europe” Accenture “Global employment growth has slowed notably in the services sector and remained in contraction for manufacturing, with the UK showing particularly weak job growth” Accenture “Inflation remains elevated in most major markets but shows easing in the US, Euro area, and Korea, while the UK faces renewed upward momentum”

59× · , {REGION}

Accenture “Looking ahead, the outlook will be driven less by post-pandemic normalization impulses and more by trade policies, US and China dynamics, and domestic capital investments” Accenture “If sustained, US tariffs will be a major headwind for Canada given its existing domestic economic struggles and high share of exports to US” BCG “To identify the right strategic path forward, US natural gas players need to consider their company's fit with the capabilities they need” BCG “In this Deep Tech Environment, France Has a Strong Presence in Photonics & Electronics and Adv. materials”

56× · and {REGION}

Accenture “China is expected to transition to slower growth path as it confronts structural challenges; Japan's resilience is waning and India's will be tested as global growth slows” Accenture “Deceleration towards a new, lower structural growth rate remains base case for China, while Japan's economy is expected to recover modestly and India remains an outperformer” Accenture “Deceleration towards a lower structural growth rate remains base case for China, while Japan's economy is expected to recover modestly and India to remain an outperformer” Accenture “Europe's overall performance shows mixed signals, with Spain and Ireland expanding solidly while France remains a key laggard and UK sees a drastic slowdown in April”

54× in {REGION} ·

Accenture “Most of the world's highly skilled workers will continue to live in Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America” Accenture “Industry analysts expect the growth in US computer and consumer electronics retail e-commerce sales to reach 18% in 2020” Accenture “Global consumer sentiment remains largely pessimistic, especially in the US, China and Japan, while optimism in Brazil remains high” AlvarezMarsal “The price for taking equity risk in Germany continues its downward trend”

52× {REGION} and · ·

Accenture “Business activity downturn eased slightly in November across Europe, with UK and Ireland showing signs of expansion” Accenture “Real wage growth is now in positive territory across the US, UK and Euro area amidst subsiding inflation” Accenture “Most major economies closed out 2023 with sluggish activity momentum, though there was some notable improvement in China and the UK and continued resilience in the US” Accenture “Resurgent food price pressures drove inflation higher again in the UK in February; headline inflation eased slightly in US and Euro area but core inflation remains high”

Other structural templates

Skeletons that don't fit a single goal — often composite.

1207× · {METRIC}

Accenture “The implied public spending contraction needed to fund the UK government's recent tax cuts puts pressure on key public services and could further strain household finances” Accenture “Foreign direct investment in China is turning negative for the first time in 25 years amidst geopolitical tensions, weak domestic demand and yield differentials with other economie…” Accenture “Saudi Arabia's growth continues to flourish while Turkey and Colombia struggle” Accenture “Real wage growth is now in positive territory across the US, UK and Euro area amidst subsiding inflation”

517× · {ACTORS}

Accenture “They should actively target customers interested in personalized services with experiences that strengthen their brand values at every touchpoint.” Accenture “Euro area companies continue to be able to pass on their input costs while US and UK companies appear to be allowing some margin compression” Accenture “Most of the world's highly skilled workers will continue to live in Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America” Accenture “Intensifying demands from highly skilled workers”

483× {N} % ·

Accenture “THERE IS A 5% GAP BETWEEN CURRENT AND OPTIMAL SPEND ON TV” Accenture “LFVC VIEWERSHIP HAS GROWN AT A 20% CAGR, WHILE LFVC AD SPEND HAS ONLY GROWN AT AN 8% CAGR” Accenture “72% of customers say personalization influences their choice of bank, but only 3% use personalized tools offered by their main bank.” Accenture “With the help of the bot, the exchange's employees were able to reduce lead times by over 90%—with a 95% response accuracy rate.”

434× · {N}

Accenture “Non-bank financial institutions hold nearly 60% of the private sector's total global financial assets.” BCG “BCG's effort supported Imperative 5 of Plan NYCHA” Accenture “"You cannot overtake 15 cars in sunny weather... but you can when it's raining."” Accenture “During COVID-19, time spent using work related services over the nbn™ network increased by up to 175%”

364× · {TIMEFRAME}

Accenture “Companies must be prepared to navigate GenAI, the lagged effects of higher rates, and growing geopolitical risks in 2024” Accenture “Against the backdrop of instability, many major geopolitical players will hold elections in 2024, fueling uncertainty about potential shifts in foreign and domestic policy agendas” Accenture “Critical mineral access is a geopolitical, not geological, issue; as tensions build further in 2024, companies should be prepared for access to be increasingly weaponized” Accenture “UK businesses harnessing digital capabilities to augment their workers could unlock £33 billion in additional GVA in 2030”

338× {METRIC} of ·

Accenture “Ramping up sales of traditional banking products” Accenture “Europe lags in the share of AI patents (2010-2021/09)” Accenture “Empathy and Support roles represent the largest share of employment in the US and will also require a major increase in workers over the next 10 years.” Accenture “Physical Manual Labor represents the largest share of employment in China. By 2028, demand will decrease, but it will remain the dominant form of employment.”

335× · ( {N}

Accenture “35% of Achievers in North America have employees with consistently high AI skills competencies, while Innovators (33%) and Experimenters (27%) have fewer such employees, on average…” Accenture “Even though only 3% of the North American companies surveyed had already implemented responsible AI practices, nearly half (45%) aspire to scale such frameworks by the end of 2024.” Accenture “The C-suite survey reveals that more than half (52%) of them don't feel fully prepared to respond to the change they will face in the 2024 business environment.” Accenture “Companies mastering all network maturity drivers gain near-certainty (97-99%) of low-risk classification across all six risk categories”

329× {N} / {N}

BCG “Der foreslås fire konkrete modeller for fremtidens administrative fællesskaber (2/2)” BCG “Der foreslås fire konkrete modeller for fremtidens administrative fællesskaber (1/2)” BCG “Der er identificeret 10 effektiviseringshåndtag ifm. realiseringen af potentialerne for VN I og VN II (3/3)” BCG “Der er identificeret 10 effektiviseringshåndtag ifm. realiseringen af potentialerne for VN I og VN II (2/3)”

282× {METRIC} and ·

Accenture “As 2024 progresses, emerging structural forces will exert increasingly greater pull on the global economy, weighing on growth and renewing inflation pressures and volatility” Accenture “Downside risks for 2024 are already emerging, with recent Red Sea shipping disruptions driving up freight costs and threatening to further slow disinflation momentum” Accenture “In assessing investment and location decisions, companies should factor in the growing risk that government incentives get dialed back over time due to fiscal pressures” Accenture “Every businessperson knows that a small change in price can have an oversized effect on demand, revenue and income.”

268× and · {METRIC}

Accenture “EU gas prices dipped slightly in December and are facing less upward price pressures amidst record storage levels and slowing economic growth” Accenture “Companies should place greater focus on business continuity planning and government engagement to mitigate risk” Accenture “To realize value and top-line growth, firms must move beyond Gen AI pilots to incorporate Gen AI into workflows, with a roadmap to embed and expose more capabilities” Accenture “Boost sales organization effectiveness and enable multiplatform sales”

258× / {N} )

Accenture “Europe lags in the share of AI patents (2010-2021/09)” BCG “Der foreslås fire konkrete modeller for fremtidens administrative fællesskaber (2/2)” BCG “Der foreslås fire konkrete modeller for fremtidens administrative fællesskaber (1/2)” BCG “Der er identificeret 10 effektiviseringshåndtag ifm. realiseringen af potentialerne for VN I og VN II (3/3)”

257× {N} / {N} )

256× ( {N} /

256× ( {N} / {N}

253× ( {N} / {N} )

249× · {METRIC} in

Accenture “Foreign direct investment in China is turning negative for the first time in 25 years amidst geopolitical tensions, weak domestic demand and yield differentials with other economie…” Accenture “Consumer-focused sectors lead growth in Asia-Pacific, with India and China showing strongest growth momentum” Accenture “The shape of future growth in a changing market” Accenture “Figure 5: Simpler and more affordable EVs have captured significant EV market share in China and India”

Full search index of all 450+ templates: copy-pattern search →

§ 4

Do & don't — paired

Action titles from top-scored decks ( Storymakers score ≥ 75) vs bottom-scored ( < 65), matched by narrative function. Read the left column to feel what "done well" sounds like.

Framing the problem

Do · score 92

“Pharmaceutical companies are shifting to better engage HCPs but providers want more.”

Accenture · 2021

Don't · score 63

“Businesses are aware that current networks are becoming a bottleneck to enterprise reinvention.”

Accenture · 2023 · Executives saying AI data demands have outstripped network capacity

Do · score 77

“The status quo limits leadership teams' ability to build sustainable organizations in three main ways”

Accenture · 2021 · number of barriers

Don't · score 63

“Welcome back strategy. You've changed”

Accenture · 2023 · Companies that have integrated technology into strategy in a meaningful way

Do · score 91

“THE RESULT: IT'S ALL A MATTER OF MANAGEMENT!”

Accenture · 2019 · companies successfully scaling digital PoCs

Don't · score 57

“Prepare for what's next with better planning”

Accenture · 2022 · CFOs seeing more demand for insights from financial data

Stating a recommendation

Do · score 81

“Collaborate for supply chain resilience”

Accenture · 2025 · Share of respondents citing measure (Top 3 mentions)

Don't · score 63

“Option III: "Enhanced model with market incentives and an employee commitment"”

BCG · 2008

Do · score 75

“Data is the key to understanding intent”

Accenture · 2023

Don't · score 60

“There is an urgent need to accelerate at all levels”

Accenture · 2023 · EU adults lacking basic digital skills

Do · score 88

“Adopt a "meaningful green product" approach”

Accenture · 2024 · share of world's biggest companies designing new products with lower carbon emissions

Don't · score 63

“Our overall conclusion: Option III provides the best path to long term sustainability, but with near term risks”

BCG · 2008 · Option performance rating (Worse to Better)

Quantifying impact

Do · score 79

“Delivering shareholder value at scale”

Accenture · 2022 · Revenue Step Up

Don't · score 63

“I. Flipping budget toward network modernization”

Accenture · 2023 · Average annual network cost reduction (% of Network Budget)

Do · score 82

“NATIONAL BRANDS HAVE POTENTIALLY MISSED OUT ON UP TO 4% IN ANNUAL SALES GENERATED FROM MEDIA SPEND”

Accenture · 2019 · Foregone revenue opportunity from optimized media allocation

Don't · score 60

“And we found that in more equal cultures, everyone rises:”

Accenture · 2020 · GDP uplift from raising innovation mindset

Do · score 78

“Figure 5. Companies can unlock an additional $10.3 trillion in economic value by adopting responsible, people-centric approaches to gen AI”

Accenture · 2024 · Additional economic value unlocked by 2038 (people-centric scenario)

Don't · score 57

“UK businesses harnessing digital capabilities to augment their workers could unlock £33 billion in additional GVA in 2030”

Accenture · 2022 · UK GVA growth rate in 2030

Illustrating a case

Do · score 78

“Pfizer is doing breakthrough innovation with the "dare-to-try" initiative”

Accenture · 2022 · High-potential innovation proposals funded within one year

Don't · score 63

“Stellantis modernizes network to support innovation, customization, and higher productivity”

Accenture · 2023 · car model variants on assembly line

Do · score 88

“Fighting electronics waste, one phone at a time”

Accenture · 2024 · Capital growth funds raised

Don't · score 58

“Platform adopters are more profitable—and more resilient—than their peers.”

Accenture · 2024 · Foregone EBITDA if non-platform companies matched platform-adopter margins (2019-2022)

Do · score 85

“Reinforcing resiliency through a "shift left" strategy in a biopharmaceutical tech transformation.”

Accenture · 2023 · tech transfer cycle time reduction

Don't · score 54

“Qantas flies above the turbulence with operational interoperability”

Accenture · 2022 · Qantas stock price surge

Benchmarking against peers

Do · score 88

“Talent shortages persist across the US and Europe though some sectors are seeing improvement”

Accenture · 2023 · Difficulty finding labor (relative to long-term average)

Don't · score 63

“The tech-forward group consistently shows a higher portion of companies that perform above peers on a given metric when compared to others.”

Accenture · 2023 · ROIC and revenue growth outperformance multiple (tech-forward vs. peers)

Do · score 88

“Energy and commodity prices are driving input cost increases in sensitive industries”

Accenture · 2023 · LTM YoY input cost inflation

Don't · score 64

“Commercial clients source advanced payments services from a variety of providers.”

Accenture · 2023 · Share of commercial clients sourcing from provider type

Do · score 91

“AUTOMOTIVE – OES COMPANIES ARE SCALING DIGITAL POCs ACROSS BUSINESS FUNCTIONS”

Accenture · 2019 · Scaling intensity (Automotive-OES)

Don't · score 61

“Financial performance and disability inclusion: The gap between Leaders and other participants has grown”

Accenture · 2023 · Leaders' revenue advantage vs other participants

Analyzing data

Do · score 90

“The ability to explore and purchase devices online has become more important for those planning to purchase smartphones, TVs and laptops”

Accenture · 2020 · Share rating 'easy to explore functions/features online' as more important (Laptops)

Don't · score 57

“Some industries exhibit greater variability of performance than others”

Accenture · 2023 · Accenture Resilience Index score

Do · score 88

“Global supply chain pressures have now reverted to pre-pandemic levels”

Accenture · 2023 · Global Supply Chain Pressure Index (standard deviations from long-term average)

Don't · score 57

“Technology strength is related to long-term profitable growth, especially when combined with strong business capabilities”

Accenture · 2023 · Share of profitable growth companies (High-Tech/High-Business segment)

Do · score 88

“As banks' lending standards tighten, risks of a credit crunch and economic slowdown grow”

Accenture · 2023 · Index of weighted net change in credit standards

Don't · score 63

“Figure 8. Banks' cost-to-income ratios have barely shifted during the Digital Age.”

Accenture · 2024 · Cost-to-income ratio

Pairs are chosen at random within each score tier — so reload to see different examples. Score is a Storymakers-framework evaluation of the whole deck, not the specific title.

§ 5

Callout voice

If action titles are the headlines, callouts are the body copy — narrative sentences that translate a chart into argument language. Different register, different shape.

How many callouts?

26,225 narrative sentences accompanying the slide's main visual.

More than action titles — Gemini captures a callout even when the title isn't declarative. This is the true body-copy corpus.

Number density in callouts

Callouts carry the supporting data. Titles the claim.

Any digit	42.2%
Percentage (%)	19.8%
Money ($ € £)	5.0%
Year (e.g. 2030)	12.9%

Titles: 3.3% lead with a number but 28% carry one. Callouts: 42.2% carry a digit somewhere — the data lives here.

Callout length

Character count — different from titles (which scale by words).

≤60 chars 2,999 · 11.4%

61–100 6,608 · 25.2%

101–150 8,007 · 30.5%

151–220 6,582 · 25.1%

221+ 2,029 · 7.7%

Callout openers

First content word. Different vocabulary from title openers — more descriptive, less performative.

§ 6

Who consultants cite

2,560 attributable quotes pulled from the corpus. Executives carry the most weight — research houses less often — and academic voices are rare. Every quote is an anchor of external authority.

763

Executives

CEOs, CFOs, partners — named individuals with authority.

Press

FT, Bloomberg, WSJ — external validation from media.

Research houses

McKinsey, Gartner, Forrester — analyst firms.

Academics

Professors, institutes, papers.

810

Other / unclear

Generic attribution or unnamed source.

835

Unattributed

Quote without a clear source label.

“We can only live our purpose and change the world if we are providing all of our people with the opportunity to achieve their full potential.”

Horacio D. Rozanski, President and Chief Executive Officer BoozAllenHamilton · 2022

“The increasing availability of real-time payment options will fundamentally reshape payment interactions for both consumers and businesses—from how payments are requested to how they are made, received and verified.”

Byron Vielehr, Chief Digital and Data Officer, Fiserv PwC · 2025

“The big shift for us is by bringing in the security discussion before, not after, building the solution. We really want to move into 'security by design' as opposed to what often happens—'security during assessment'—which requires security …”

Director General, Cyber and IT Security, Government and Public Services Agency Deloitte · 2023

“a "platform of platforms”

Prashaant Huria, VP and CTO Unilever for Distributive Trade Accenture · 2025

“No longer are patients okay with waiting as many as 24 days to see a doctor. Solv is putting patients in front of a provider who can treat their symptoms in as little as 15 minutes. The benefit this provides consumers is real.”

Heather Fernandez – CEO / Co-Founder, Solv, 6/19 BondCap

“We believe the internet should be offered as a utility, and this project is another step towards eliminating the digital divide once and for all in this region.”

Shaun Gibson, CEO of Telcom Networks Barclays · 2023

“We have our own claims system we've been building, we have our own clinical management system, we built our networks ourselves – pretty much everything that we do internally to manage people's healthcare was reinvented & rebuilt from a tech…”

Mario Schlosser, CEO / Co-Founder, Oscar Health, 8/18 BondCap

“The price gap between domestic & overseas remains; and with RMB appreciation, consumers are travelling abroad more and buying a lot overseas.”

VP, Luxury watch distributor Bain · 2011

“Even if we analyze risk through our African vision, we do consider pan-African governance, political stability and currency volatility as major KPIs for our decisions.”

Laila AIT EL MKADEM, Deputy Managing Director, Optorg Group Deloitte · 2022

“We ended this year with $900MM in Data Cloud and AI ARR. It grew 120% year over year. We've never seen products grow at these levels, especially Agentforce...”

Salesforce Co-Founder & CEO Mark Benioff, 2/25 BondCap

“The new economy is now about analyzing rapid real-time flows of mostly unstructured data.”

The Economist MorganStanley · 2018

“A diabolical and absorbing experience.”

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times misc

“Bing’s A.I. Chat: ‘I Want to Be Alive.’”

The New York Times AirStreetCapital

“In 140-character bites, the story unfolded: the shock and terror; the sense of human frailty mixed with lifesaving information; the messages of those seeking comfort and those seeing some kind of divine retribution, all mixing at hyper-spee…”

LATimes, 3/11/11 BondCap

“The ICT sector currently employs about 200,000 people and requires another 60,000 in the next three years. However, the education system is only producing 2,400 ICT graduates annually, which is 8,400 over 3 years, leaving a 51,600 shortfall…”

Vulcan Post Kearney · 2022

“I definitely saw excesses close up and personal in the mid-1980s, but I also learned that some of the greatest companies were also grown out of that too...such as Microsoft, Apple and America Online.”

Dan Case, The Wall Street Journal (Kara Swisher) BondCap

“This month, the European Union will embark on an expansive effort to give people more control over their data online... As it comes into force, Europe should be mindful of unintended consequences & open to change when things go wrong.”

Bloomberg Opinion Editorial, 5/8/18 BondCap

“Ambient Artificial Intelligence Scribes to Alleviate the Burden of Clinical Documentation”

New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst Research Report, 2/24 BondCap

“Clearview AI raises $30 million from investors despite legal troubles.”

The New York Times AirStreetCapital

“Retailers are hooked on the heroin of this promotional money, and even the few who say they need to wean themselves from these payments know it is a difficult and arduous process.”

Competing in Tough Times, Barry Berman (2010) BenedictEvans

“We observe that the demand for technology service vendors to differentiate their solutions for digital transformation is more acute than before.”

Shivani Nagpaul, Technology M&A Leader, EY LLP India MorganStanley · 2023

“The opportunity KPMG gave me to attend the One Young World (OYW) Summit, a forum for young leaders to confront humanity's biggest challenges, transformed my career and the impact I've had through it.”

Safia Mirza, KPMG in Canada KPMG · 2023

“My mentee and I spent a lot of time during her 4 years in high school, talking about her dreams and different avenues to achieve them.”

Amanda Bowker, KPMG in the US KPMG · 2022

“It's not surprising that payments in trade finance face the biggest challenges. Payments here are always contingent upon approval by multiple parties, and trade is the area that has been slowest to automate and digitize. While there have be…”

Kimberly Kacal, North American Payments Lead, Accenture Accenture · 2023

“Receiving free school meals might not be visible, but it can mean feeling different to other people. You can feel excluded from work opportunities and it’s easy to think, ‘this isn’t something for someone like me’.”

Huma, EY Foundation Alumni MorganStanley · 2022

“The hybrid work environment is here to stay. Companies are looking for ways to be more nimble. Digital tools and assets allow global teams to work and collaborate more efficiently, reducing time spent on transaction activities, and ultimate…”

Karima Porter, Principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP Deloitte · 2022

“The message is clear: adopting an active stance towards company values generates practices that pay off in real terms. A commitment to a clearly defined set of values can act as an ‘inner compass’ for a family business as it navigates chall…”

Peter Englisch, Global and EMEA Family Business Leader, PwC Germany PwC · 2018

“Despite the geopolitical and trade uncertainty that prevailed throughout much of the year, Asia-Pacific markets performed reasonably well in 2019. However, as we move into 2020, we expect ongoing geopolitical headwinds and rising investor s…”

Ringo Choi, EY Asia-Pacific IPO Leader MorganStanley · 2019

“The big question in terms of carbon pricing —whether it's in the form of a direct tax or a cap-and-trade system — is what to do with the money you raise? That's really important from a social impact perspective because putting a price on ca…”

Andrew Philips, EY Global Government & Infrastructure Tax Leader MorganStanley · 2023

“The chicken-and-egg scenario right now is that people are not buying EVs because there isn't the charging infrastructure. Yet infrastructure is not being installed because there are not enough EVs.”

Marc Cotelli, EY Americas eMobility Energy Leader MorganStanley · 2023

“History informs us that those who are first to harness once-in-a-generation technologies often have a decisive advantage on the battlefield for years to come”

Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper AirStreetCapital

“I still believe the core of healthcare is a patient and a provider. Then the responsibility of AI is how it supports that relationship.”

Dr. Rhee misc · 2023

“We have failed to 'fix' epidemic obesity not because it is unclear how, but simply because we have never really tried.”

Dr. David Katz McKinsey · 2025

“By the beginning of 2021, we hope to have a couple of hundred million doses. I'm cautiously optimistic with the multiple candidates we have with different platforms.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Member, White House Coronavirus Task Force BCG · 2020

“I still believe the core of healthcare is a patient and a provider. Then the responsibility of AI is how it supports that relationship. I also believe the providers who don't use AI will be replaced by those who do, and that is slowly happe…”

Dr. Kyu Rhee misc · 2023

“It has allowed China to capture a significant chunk of the drone export market, including with U.S. allies and partners.”

Michael Horowitz, University of Pennsylvania AirStreetCapital

Rhetorical types · how each title speaks

28,154 action titles classified

Every action title performs one or more rhetorical moves. Some simply assert a fact. Others prescribe a behavior, contrast two ideas, quote a voice, or pose a question. Click a circle to see real examples of that pure move.

Most common combinations

139

Prescribe + Contrast

0.5% of titles

130

Contrast + Quote

0.5% of titles

Contrast + Question

0.3% of titles

Prescribe + Quote

0.2% of titles

Prescribe + Question

0.2% of titles

Quote + Question

0.1% of titles

Every deck is a copy problem. 28,121 action titles show the craft.

The anatomy of an action title

Opening verbs & nouns

The "lead with a number" myth

How long is an action title?

The hedge audit

The swipe file

Quote the market

Prescribe action

Contrast & gap

Place the claim

Other structural templates

Do & don't — paired

Framing the problem

Stating a recommendation

Quantifying impact

Illustrating a case

Benchmarking against peers

Analyzing data

Callout voice

How many callouts?

Number density in callouts

Callout length

Callout openers

Who consultants cite

Rhetorical types · how each title speaks

Every deck is a copy problem.
28,121 action titles show the craft.