How to Craft an OKR Presentation [A Useful Guide]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- Apr 26
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 26
While working on an OKR presentation for Damien (one of our clients), he asked an interesting question.
“What exactly makes an OKR presentation land with both leadership and execution teams?”
Our Creative Director answered...
“When it turns strategic goals into personal stakes.”
As a presentation design agency, we work on numerous OKR presentations throughout the year. Across industries, across cultures. And despite the diversity of companies, one pattern keeps surfacing. Most OKR decks are built like data dumps. Packed with charts, target lines, and timelines. But missing the one thing that gives OKRs their real power - the shift in mindset they are meant to provoke.
So, in this blog, let’s talk about what it really takes to craft an OKR presentation that doesn’t just inform but transforms. One that rallies, not reports. One that turns a corporate framework into a compelling story everyone wants to be part of.
In case you didn't know, we specialize in only one thing: making presentations. We can help you by designing your slides and writing your content too.
What Makes OKR Presentations Tricky
The OKR framework is deceptively simple. Define a bold Objective. Back it up with measurable Key Results. Align the company. Move fast. Measure impact.
But here’s what doesn’t get said enough — OKRs are not the strategy. They are the expression of it.
That’s where most OKR presentations go off-track. They focus on the framework, not the story. They assume alignment just because the numbers are shared. They chase clarity by stripping out context. And in doing so, they lose the narrative thread that holds attention and drives belief.
OKR decks often fall into one of three traps:
The Spreadsheet Deck
Filled with metrics but no meaning. These decks look like someone just pasted their tracking sheet into slides. Data without narrative never moves teams.
The Motivation Deck
All about inspiration, but missing the anchor. These start with vision, maybe throw in a Steve Jobs quote, and then leap straight into initiatives. The “why now” gets lost.
The Mixed Signals Deck
Too many goals. Too many owners. Too much jargon. No one knows what to prioritize, so everything gets half-done.
The goal of an OKR presentation isn’t just to explain the framework. It’s to build belief in where the company is headed — and show how everyone’s role ties back to that direction. It’s not a quarterly status meeting. It’s a moment of shared alignment, where strategy becomes personal.
When done right, an OKR presentation becomes a rally cry.
How to Make an OKR Presentation
Let’s get this out of the way: most OKR presentations are built backwards.
They begin in a spreadsheet. Then move to a slide template. Then get passed around for feedback, slide by slide. Eventually, it becomes a collection of data points rather than a compelling story. Something to get through, not something to rally behind.
But building an OKR presentation that actually lands (one that people remember and act on) requires flipping that process.
It starts with narrative. It’s powered by clarity. And it’s finished with visuals that guide attention, not distract from it.
This section breaks down how to actually make an OKR presentation, from slide zero to send-off.
1. Don’t Open PowerPoint Yet
Before a single slide is made, start with a blank doc. Write down three things:
What has changed in the business environment or team? (This is the inflection point.)
What does the company need to become, starting this quarter? (This is the shift.)
What three signals will prove this shift is working? (These are your Key Results.)
The discipline of writing this down first forces clarity. It also filters out noise. Anything that doesn’t support these three pillars doesn’t belong in the presentation.
This written draft becomes the narrative spine. Everything else (visuals, transitions, even metrics) serves it.
Great OKR presentations are not built slide-first. They’re built story-first.
2. Structure the Flow Before Adding Content
Structure is what separates a great OKR presentation from a random update deck. Here’s a structure that consistently works, especially in leadership, departmental or company-wide settings:
Slide 1: Strategic Shift (Framing the inflection point)
Slide 2: The New Direction (Defining the Objective)
Slide 3-5: Key Results with Rationale and Ownership
Slide 6: Supporting Data or Insights
Slide 7-8: Cross-Functional Dependencies or Commitments
Slide 9: What's Changing in How We Work
Slide 10: Closing Loop (Reinforcing the “why now” and “why this”)
This flow takes the audience on a clear journey. Not from data to more data, but from context to conviction.
Before building the actual slides, map your content into this sequence. Not only does this prevent overload, it helps ensure each slide earns its place.
3. Choose One Visual Language and Stick to It
Visual chaos kills comprehension. Yet many OKR decks suffer from competing visual styles — icons in one slide, photos in another, random illustrations in the next.
The solution is simple: pick a single visual language and stick with it. This doesn’t mean every slide looks the same. It means they belong to the same family.
For example:
Use simple, geometric icons for clarity when explaining key results.
Use clean data visuals (like line graphs, bar charts) to show progress or benchmarks.
Use bold, minimal typography to call out tension or shifts.
Avoid overusing animation. Movement should serve focus, not feel like a trick.
The goal is for the visuals to become a silent partner to the narrative — guiding attention where it matters most.
4. Make Ownership Impossible to Miss
One of the most common mistakes in OKR presentations is anonymity.
“Product to improve speed.”
“Sales to close more mid-market logos.”
“Team to enhance NPS.”
Who is “Product”? What does “enhance” mean? How will “more” be measured?
Every Key Result slide must name an owner. Not a department. A person or function. Bonus points for showing faces or team leads — a humanized approach increases connection.
When people see their name next to a measurable outcome, attention shifts. It’s no longer abstract. It’s owned.
That’s why strong OKR decks use simple layouts like:
Key Result: Increase referral conversions from 8 percent to 15 percent
Owner: Amanda (Growth Marketing Lead)
Why it matters: Word of mouth is our cheapest and most scalable channel right now
Short. Clear. Powerful.
5. Use Contrast to Drive Attention
OKR presentations are often delivered in meetings or over screens. Either way, visual attention is limited. Contrast becomes your best tool.
Instead of filling every slide with bullets or equal-weighted content, create slides with high-contrast focal points:
A single bold statement on a dark background
A large metric next to a small supporting insight
A visual of a trend line against a clean white canvas
Every slide should answer: what do you want the audience to remember from this one?
That’s where contrast becomes crucial. It tells the eye where to go — and tells the brain what matters.
Avoid the “everything is important” trap. That’s how you end up with decks no one reads twice.
6. Add One Slide for Behavior Change
OKRs are not just goals. They often demand a change in how people work.
Yet most OKR decks skip this part. They assume that because the goals are clear, the behaviors will follow. That’s rarely true.
Include one slide that explicitly states what needs to change in how the team operates.
For example:
“From reporting activity to measuring impact”
“From isolated product decisions to cross-functional bets”
“From monthly tracking to weekly momentum reviews”
This slide makes the expectations real. It creates a shared understanding of what success will require — beyond just hitting a number.
Without this, OKRs feel like pressure. With it, they feel like purpose.
7. Avoid the “Everything’s Fine” Tone
A subtle but dangerous trap in OKR presentations is forced optimism.
When every slide sounds like things are under control, the audience checks out. They know the work ahead is hard. They want leaders to name that difficulty — and then show how the team will rise to it.
A better tone is confident honesty.
Name the challenge. Name what didn’t work last quarter. Name where things felt stuck. Then, explain how these new OKRs are designed to break through.
This tone builds credibility. It builds trust. It shows that the OKRs are not just made to satisfy a framework — they’re built to create a real shift.
8. Make the Deck Useful After the Meeting
A lot of time goes into creating the OKR deck. But once it’s presented, it often disappears.
Fix that by designing it to live on. Make the deck a reference, not just a presentation.
How?
Include quick links to shared tracking sheets or dashboards
Add a slide with a timeline or key checkpoints for the quarter
Offer a 1-slide summary at the end that teams can screenshot or print
When OKR presentations are designed to be used (not just seen) they stay in circulation. That keeps priorities top-of-mind, even weeks after the meeting.
And that’s how OKRs actually shape behavior.
Why Hire Us to Build your Presentation?
If you're reading this, you're probably working on a presentation right now. You could do it all yourself. But the reality is - that’s not going to give you the high-impact presentation you need. It’s a lot of guesswork, a lot of trial and error. And at the end of the day, you’ll be left with a presentation that’s “good enough,” not one that gets results. On the other hand, we’ve spent years crafting thousands of presentations, mastering both storytelling and design. Let us handle this for you, so you can focus on what you do best.