agenda

When to use

• Second slide of the deck. Right after the title, before the first section. Orients the audience and sets the cadence of what's coming.
• Three to six sections. Sweet spot is four. Past six sections the list crowds and the audience stops counting. Roll up or split the deck.
• Reuse with progress variants. Drop the same agenda between sections with progress-N to show how far through the deck the room is. Lightweight wayfinding.
• Pick a style, optionally with page refs. The default ledger reads as a contents page; add circles, rail, cards, or checks to change the structure. On ledger, end an item with an inline-code page ref — e.g. ` p.15 ` — to print a right-aligned page number with a leader; omit it for just number + title.

When not to use

• Sub-bullets per section. The agenda is a wayfinder, not a treatment. If a section needs decomposition, that belongs on a section divider when the section opens — not here.
• Unnumbered list. Authoring with - instead of 1. loses the numbered chrome the layout depends on. Always use ordered list syntax.
• Single-section decks. If the deck has no sections to enumerate, skip the agenda. Empty wayfinding is more friction than no wayfinding.
• More than six sections. A single agenda slide holds up to six sections at a legible row height; beyond that the rows crowd the footer. Group related items under fewer headings, or split the agenda across two slides.

Common mistakes

• Hand-typing the page number into the section title instead of a trailing inline-code page ref. A page reference is a trailing ` p.N ` inline-code chip on the item line — text baked into the title itself doesn't get the right-aligned leader-dot treatment.
• Assuming progress-N alone changes which marker style (circles/rail/cards/checks) is used. progress-N only marks which stop is current — it composes with a style variant but doesn't imply one; the default numbered ledger look still applies unless you also add circles/rail/cards/checks.

Authoring

<!-- _class: agenda -->

## What this deck covers.

1. First section title
2. Second section title
3. Third section title
4. Fourth section title

Slots

Anatomy

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  header                                 │
│  Agenda heading.                        │
│                                         │
│  01  First section topic                │
│  02  Second section topic               │
│  03  Third section topic                │
│  04  Fourth section topic               │
│                                         │
│  footer                           1/19  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Variant decision rule

• default (no modifier) — A contents page with optional page references — the plainest, most document-like agenda look.
• circles — Section markers should read as a track of dots rather than numbers — a more visual, less document-like tone.
• rail — The agenda should read as a vertical journey down a side rail rather than a flat numbered list.
• cards — Each section deserves its own boxed card, with the current one taking the accent — a punchier, more graphic agenda.
• checks — The deck has forward momentum and past sections should visibly tick off as done, with an arrow marking the current one.

Variants

<!-- _class: agenda progress-1 -->

## progress-1 marks stop 1 as the current one.

1. One line per stop, ten words max `p.2`
2. Page references ride as inline code `p.5`
3. Six stops is the soft ceiling `p.9`
4. The progress variants mark the current stop `p.14`
5. Markers come as circles, rail, cards, checks `p.18`
6. Past seven stops, split the agenda `p.22`

<!-- _class: agenda progress-2 -->

## progress-2 marks stop 2 as the current one.

1. One line per stop, ten words max `p.2`
2. Page references ride as inline code `p.5`
3. Six stops is the soft ceiling `p.9`
4. The progress variants mark the current stop `p.14`
5. Markers come as circles, rail, cards, checks `p.18`
6. Past seven stops, split the agenda `p.22`

<!-- _class: agenda progress-3 -->

## progress-3 marks stop 3 as the current one.

1. One line per stop, ten words max `p.2`
2. Page references ride as inline code `p.5`
3. Six stops is the soft ceiling `p.9`
4. The progress variants mark the current stop `p.14`
5. Markers come as circles, rail, cards, checks `p.18`
6. Past seven stops, split the agenda `p.22`

<!-- _class: agenda progress-4 -->

## progress-4 marks stop 4 as the current one.

1. One line per stop, ten words max `p.2`
2. Page references ride as inline code `p.5`
3. Six stops is the soft ceiling `p.9`
4. The progress variants mark the current stop `p.14`
5. Markers come as circles, rail, cards, checks `p.18`
6. Past seven stops, split the agenda `p.22`

<!-- _class: agenda progress-5 -->

## progress-5 marks stop 5 as the current one.

1. One line per stop, ten words max `p.2`
2. Page references ride as inline code `p.5`
3. Six stops is the soft ceiling `p.9`
4. The progress variants mark the current stop `p.14`
5. Markers come as circles, rail, cards, checks `p.18`
6. Past seven stops, split the agenda `p.22`

<!-- _class: agenda progress-6 -->

## progress-6 marks stop 6 as the current one.

1. One line per stop, ten words max `p.2`
2. Page references ride as inline code `p.5`
3. Six stops is the soft ceiling `p.9`
4. The progress variants mark the current stop `p.14`
5. Markers come as circles, rail, cards, checks `p.18`
6. Past seven stops, split the agenda `p.22`

<!-- _class: agenda circles progress-3 -->

## circles swaps the numbers for filled dots.

1. The four marker styles share one anatomy
2. Numbers are the default
3. This variant swaps the marker
4. Progress still tracks the current stop
5. Five stops keep the demo honest

<!-- _class: agenda rail progress-3 -->

## rail runs the progress down a side rail.

1. The four marker styles share one anatomy
2. Numbers are the default
3. This variant swaps the marker
4. Progress still tracks the current stop
5. Five stops keep the demo honest

<!-- _class: agenda cards progress-3 -->

## cards deals each stop its own card.

1. The four marker styles share one anatomy
2. Numbers are the default
3. This variant swaps the marker
4. Progress still tracks the current stop
5. Five stops keep the demo honest

<!-- _class: agenda checks progress-3 -->

## checks ticks the stops already behind you.

1. The four marker styles share one anatomy
2. Numbers are the default
3. This variant swaps the marker
4. Progress still tracks the current stop
5. Five stops keep the demo honest

Related

• dividermarking a section boundary without restating the menu
• listsingle-line takeaways — the takeaway variant
• titlethe slide immediately preceding the agenda