How to Make a Capabilities Deck [Storytelling + Design]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- Aug 5, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 16
While we were building a capabilities deck for Simon (one of our clients), founder of a design agency. He paused midway through a feedback call and asked:
“Wait… what exactly are we trying to convince them of here?”
Our Creative Director answered: “That you’re the best possible team to solve their very specific problems.”
That one sentence reframed the entire project.
As a presentation design agency, we build a fair number of capabilities decks across the year, some for startups trying to prove legitimacy, others for global firms who’ve realized they’ve outgrown their boilerplate slideware. Across the board, we’ve noticed a recurring challenge:
Most capabilities decks don’t actually communicate capability. They communicate activity.
They list out “what we do,” show some logos, sprinkle in a few metrics, and hope the client on the receiving end figures out how to connect the dots. But hope is a terrible strategy, especially when it comes to showing why your team is uniquely built to deliver something no one else can.
So, in this blog, we’re going to walk you through how we rewire a capabilities deck—using storytelling as the scaffolding and design as the amplifier. Because a capabilities deck isn’t just a list. It’s an argument. And like any good argument, it needs a narrative spine.
What Is a Capabilities Deck?
A capabilities deck is a presentation that showcases a company’s core services, expertise, tools, and past work — typically used to introduce the business to potential clients, partners, or investors.
It answers the fundamental question: “What can you do for us?”
But the best capabilities decks do more than list offerings. They frame those offerings through the lens of value, aligning what your company does with what your audience needs. That means less “we build websites” and more “we help SaaS brands double their conversions through UX-led redesigns.”
Example of a Capabilities Deck,
To see a real-life example, explore our case study for IMD, a creative agency. We broke away from the conventional capabilities format and restructured the deck around a more compelling narrative flow.
How to Make a Capabilities Deck That Works for You
1. Start With the Problem You Solve, Not With Who You Are
No one cares about your “About Us” section until they know what the hell you can do for them.
The mistake most companies make? Slide 1 is some weak logo parade, slide 2 is a stale mission statement, and slide 3 is a poorly lit team photo with titles no one understands.
What you should start with is the problem you solve for your client. Paint the picture. Agitate it. Show them you understand their world before you ever talk about your solution.
For example: If you're a logistics tech company, don’t start by explaining your platform. Start by saying: "Most supply chain teams are still running on spreadsheets and crossed fingers. We make that someone else's problem."
This instantly communicates clarity, empathy, and confidence—without the buzzword salad. You want your audience thinking, “These people get it,” not “Oh god, is this a TED Talk in disguise?”
2. Make the Value Obvious, Not Just the Offering
Here’s another brutal truth: most decks list what the company does but never tell me why it matters.
“We offer design, development, and digital strategy. "Cool. So do 4000 other agencies.
The question is: What happens when I work with you? That’s the missing ingredient. You need to go beyond services and features and show impact.
Don’t just say you do branding. Say: “We help companies look like they’ve already made it—so they actually do.”
Don’t just say you build Apps. Say: “We build digital tools that turn first-time users into obsessed fans.”
Capabilities should never be bullet points—they should be mini-stories. Show the transformation you enable, not just the task you deliver. You’re not a menu; you’re a catalyst.
3. Case Studies: Proof or It Didn’t Happen
Want to instantly level up your deck? Include at least one micro case study. Not a full-blown 10-slide saga—just enough to prove that you’ve done the thing you claim to do.
This is where most people phone it in. They slap a logo on a slide and call it a case study. No context, no before-and-after, no results.
Here’s a better format:
Who was the client?
What challenge were they facing?
What did you do?
What changed as a result?
You don’t need a novel. You need a punch.
Something like: "Client X was launching in a saturated market with zero brand presence. We built a launch strategy and a new identity. They went from ‘just another player’ to ‘the company everyone else was copying’—in 4 months."
4. Visual Clarity Is a Competitive Advantage
Let’s be honest: if your capabilities deck looks like it was made in a Word template, it’s working against you. And no, slapping a few gradients and icons on doesn’t fix that.
Presentation is everything. Your deck should look like you give a damn. Because if you’re not sweating the details in your own pitch materials, why should anyone believe you’ll sweat the details in their project?
Now we’re not saying you need a Behance-worthy motion deck with transitions that feel like an Oscar opener. But we're saying: design communicates credibility before a single word is read.
Here’s how to tighten it up:
Use one typeface, max two weights. Consistency wins.
Give each slide breathing space. If your slide looks like a data dump, it is.
Don’t write full paragraphs. Keep text scannable. Sharp. Punchy.
Use visuals only when they add value. Not as decoration.
Your deck should feel like a calm conversation in a noisy world. Not another scream into the void.
5. You Don’t Need to Say Everything—You Need to Say the Right Thing
This one’s going to hurt the overthinkers and hoarders of “just in case” slides. You don’t need 40 slides to explain what you do. You just need 8–12 slides that make your audience feel understood and impressed.
Anything more than that is noise. Capabilities decks die in one of two ways: being too vague… or trying to say everything ever done since 2003.
Curation is your secret weapon. If you’re talking to a fintech client, show the fintech work. If you’re pitching a retail brand, cut the industrial B2B case studies unless they tell a relevant story.
And for the love of clarity—ditch the “Our Values” slide unless those values actually translate into something tangible. Saying you “believe in collaboration and honesty” is like saying you believe in gravity. Of course you do. Tell me how that shows up in the way you work.
6. Anticipate the Questions, Answer Them Before They’re Asked
A great capabilities deck does one thing exceptionally well: it eliminates doubt before it creeps in.
That means you should be proactively answering the questions that live in the minds of your prospect:
“Can they handle a project of our scale?”
“Have they worked in our industry?”
“Are they worth the budget?”
“Will they make us look good in front of our boss?”
Don’t make them ask. Show it in your slides. If you’ve handled Fortune 500s, say it. If you’ve scaled teams across time zones, say it. If your retention rate is 92%, don’t bury it in a footer—make it front and centre.
Here’s what people are really trying to figure out: "Will this partner make me look smart for choosing them? "Answer that. Over and over. From every angle.
7. End With a Slide That Tells Them Exactly What to Do Next
This is where people choke. After delivering a solid deck, they fizzle out with a generic “Thanks!” or “Let’s talk.”
No. End with a clear, bold call to action. You’re not just thanking them for their time—you’re guiding their next move.
Say what you want. Do you want a meeting next week? Say that.
Want to send a proposal? Say that.
Want them to share the deck with someone else on their team? Say that.
Here’s a better closing slide: "We’d love to show you how this could work for your team. Let’s talk next week—same time, your calendar or ours?"
That’s not needy. That’s confident. And confidence is contagious.
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.