Overview
A narrative defines the story arc of your presentation — the sequence of slide types that guide your audience from opening hook to closing action. The pptx.dev API provides 10 built-in narrative structures, each optimized for a different presentation purpose.
How Narratives Work
A narrative records the intended story arc. It guides the slides you author; the generation API renders the supplied slides array without generating or reordering it. A narrative describes:
- Slide types — title, text, list, chart, or number slides
- Slide order — the logical flow from setup to conclusion
- Content prompts — what each slide should communicate
{
"narrative": "venture-pitch",
"title": "Series A Pitch Deck",
"colorScheme": "bold-red",
"fontScheme": "segoe-ui"
}
Available Narratives
Classic Story
Slug: classic-story
Best for: All-hands meetings, keynotes, any topic that benefits from storytelling
Follows a movie-style narrative: cinematic hook → setup (protagonist, context, stakes) → resolution. Makes any topic engaging through story structure.
Challenge-Resolution
Slug: challenge-resolution
Best for: Problem-solving presentations, strategy reviews, operational meetings
Opens with the business challenge and evidence, then presents recommended actions with expected outcomes. Structured for decision-makers who need diagnosis and solution.
Persuasive Sales
Slug: persuasive-sales
Best for: Sales pitches, prospect meetings, customer presentations
Describes the customer's problem in their language, then explains how your offering uniquely solves it. Built around empathy and alignment.
Venture Pitch
Slug: venture-pitch
Best for: Fundraising decks, investor meetings, Series A/B pitches
Shows traction metrics and growth curves, then highlights the founding team. Optimized for what investors want to see.
Company Intro
Slug: company-intro
Best for: First meetings, partnership discussions, onboarding decks
States the company mission, then lists key value propositions. Clean, concise, and designed to make a strong first impression.
Rags to Riches
Slug: rags-to-riches
Best for: Inspirational talks, brand origin stories, leadership presentations
Describes the low point and obstacles, then celebrates the eventual success with proof. Powerful for building emotional connection.
Strategic Advisory
Slug: strategic-advisory
Best for: Consulting engagements, management presentations, board advisory
Summarizes diagnostic findings, then presents prioritized recommendations. Structured like a management consulting deliverable.
Failure Analysis
Slug: failure-analysis
Best for: Post-mortems, incident reviews, lessons-learned presentations
Outlines the failure timeline and impact, then identifies root causes with evidence. Turns setbacks into learning opportunities.
Marketing Strategy
Slug: marketing-strategy
Best for: Marketing plans, go-to-market presentations, campaign briefs
Defines target segments and ICP, then lists acquisition channels with KPIs. A structured framework for marketing teams.
Quarterly Review
Slug: quarterly-review
Best for: QBRs, executive updates, operational reviews
Shows quarterly KPIs vs. plan, then summarizes risks and mitigations. The standard format for recurring business reviews.
Choosing the Right Narrative
| Scenario | Recommended narrative |
|---|---|
| Pitching investors | venture-pitch |
| Sales call | persuasive-sales |
| Team all-hands | classic-story |
| Board meeting | quarterly-review or strategic-advisory |
| Incident debrief | failure-analysis |
| New customer meeting | company-intro |
| Marketing planning | marketing-strategy |
| Strategy session | challenge-resolution |
| Inspirational talk | rags-to-riches |
Combining Narratives with Layouts
You author the slide sequence and each slide's layout using the narrative as guidance. For example, in a venture-pitch narrative, you might override the traction slide to use a specific chart layout:
{
"$schema": "https://openpresentation.org/schema/opf/v1",
"name": "Presentation example",
"slides": [
{
"layout": "chart",
"title": "Revenue Growth",
"chart": {
"type": "line-with-markers",
"data": {
"columns": [
"Series",
"Q1",
"Q2",
"Q3",
"Q4"
],
"rows": [
[
"ARR ($K)",
120,
340,
780,
1200
]
]
}
},
"design": {
"titleAlignment": "center",
"contentAlignment": "center"
}
}
],
"narrative": "venture-pitch",
"catalogs": {
"default": {
"source": "https://www.pptx.gallery",
"narratives": {
"venture-pitch": {
"name": "Venture Pitch",
"summary": "Series A/B fundraising arc structured around the canonical investor questions.",
"audienceFit": [
"investors",
"venture-capitalists",
"series-a",
"series-b"
],
"duration": {
"min": 10,
"max": 30
},
"tags": [
"startup",
"fundraising",
"pitch",
"investor",
"series-a"
],
"beats": [
{
"id": "opening",
"name": "Opening",
"instructions": "Establish identity",
"type": "text",
"layout": "text"
},
{
"id": "purpose",
"name": "Purpose",
"instructions": "State your mission",
"type": "text",
"layout": "text"
},
{
"id": "problem",
"name": "Problem",
"instructions": "Present the challenge",
"type": "text",
"layout": "text"
},
{
"id": "solution",
"name": "Solution",
"instructions": "Propose your idea",
"type": "text",
"layout": "text"
},
{
"id": "why-now",
"name": "Why Now",
"instructions": "Explain timing importance",
"type": "text",
"layout": "text"
},
{
"id": "market-size",
"name": "Market Size",
"instructions": "Demonstrate potential",
"type": "text",
"layout": "text"
},
{
"id": "competition",
"name": "Competition",
"instructions": "Analyze competitive landscape",
"type": "text",
"layout": "text"
},
{
"id": "product",
"name": "Product",
"instructions": "Showcase features/benefits",
"type": "text",
"layout": "text"
},
{
"id": "business-model",
"name": "Business Model",
"instructions": "Detail revenue streams",
"type": "text",
"layout": "text"
},
{
"id": "team",
"name": "Team",
"instructions": "Highlight key members",
"type": "text",
"layout": "text"
},
{
"id": "financials",
"name": "Financials",
"instructions": "Show projections/needs",
"type": "text",
"layout": "text"
},
{
"id": "closing",
"name": "Closing",
"instructions": "Reinforce brand",
"type": "text",
"layout": "text"
}
]
}
},
"layouts": {
"chart": {
"name": "Chart",
"summary": "One to six charts, with an optional note.",
"tags": [
"Visuals"
],
"direction": "column",
"regions": [
{
"name": "title"
},
{
"name": "charts",
"accepts": [
"chart",
"group"
],
"role": "primary",
"flow": "grid"
},
{
"name": "note",
"size": "auto",
"accepts": [
"text"
],
"role": "supporting",
"flow": "none"
}
],
"description": "Give a chart enough space to show its evidence. Use the title to state the conclusion and labels to explain the measures.",
"preview": {
"vectorSrc": "https://www.pptx.gallery/layout-previews/chart.svg"
}
}
}
}
}
}
Next Steps
- Deep dive into building a venture pitch deck
- Learn about quarterly review presentations
- Browse all narratives in the gallery