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.
| File | Purpose | |------|---------| | [`formatting-standards.md`](reference/formatting-standards.md) | Text, bullets, tables, charts, alignment | | [`slide-templates.md`](reference/slide-templates.md) | Content mapping guidance for common slide types | | [`xml-reference.md`](reference/xml-reference.md) | PowerPoint XML patterns for tables, shapes, arrows | | [`calculation-standards.md`](reference/calculation-standards.md) | Financial formulas for verification (CAGR, consensus) |
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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."
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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 verificationPhase 1: Data Extraction
- **Create backup** of original template before any modifications — copy to `[filename]_backup.pptx`. Direct XML editing or unexpected errors can corrupt files.
- Identify all source materials (Excel, CSV, PDF reports, Word documents, databases, web sources)
- Extract relevant data points from each source
- Validate all numbers against original sources
- Standardize units and currency (convert all figures to the primary unit/currency used in the template)
- Note any calculations that need verification → see [`calculation-standards.md`](reference/calculation-standards.md) for formulas
Phase 2: Content Mapping
- **Open and visually review the template** — understand its structure, style, and existing content before modifying
- Analyze template structure — identify all placeholder areas and content boxes
- Map source data to corresponding template sections → see [`slide-templates.md`](reference/slide-templates.md) for mapping guidance
- Identify placeholder guidance boxes (colored instruction boxes from task creator)
- Note any data gaps or mismatches → see [`slide-templates.md`](reference/slide-templates.md#handling-data-template-mismatches) for resolution
Phase 3: Template Population
- **Remove or reformat placeholder boxes** — colored instruction boxes show WHAT to create, not HOW to format. Delete them and create
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