The course is designed around the philosophy that slides can be decomposed into three stacking layers: Style, Layout, and Message. In order to have a solid slide, all three layers have to be strong and thoughtful.

• The First Layer: Message - The core concept or idea that is driving the creation of the slide or deck. While seemingly basic, practitioners often attempt to begin their slides without knowing exactly what they want to say.

• The Second Layer: Layout - The layout of the slide intuitively captures the message, often through copy and graphics.
• The Third Layer: Style - The "final touches:" coloring, font sizes, white space, alignments, data labels, etc. The final aesthetic paint job that brings the Layout to life.