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āThink Different." - Steve Jobs
Hi,
How was your last week?
āCan you prepare a small deck?ā
If I had a dollar for every time I heard that in corporate, I could retire earlier than planned.
PowerPoint is a great tool but itās become an epidemic. We now have decks for everything, even when theyāre not needed.
Youāre handed a ātemplateā to follow:
Slide for title.
Picture left, bullet points right.
Picture right, bullet points left.
Graph slide. (Sometimes two!)
Every deck ends up looking the same.
The average professional burns 261 hours a year in PowerPoint, thatās roughly 15% of your work time. About 79% of those decks are internal updates for the very people who asked for them.
Five hours crafting slides for an audience that stops paying attention after 9 minutes and 59 seconds (Forbes) or for someone who scrolls through your PDF in under a minute.
Somewhere along the way, the deck became THE goal.
And thatās why meetings feel predictable, unproductive, and painfully boring. And creating a presentation feels like a dĆ©jĆ vu: update bullet points, shift boxes, change the title - no creativity, no meaning, no fun.
Why share this?
Because if we want to be good busy (busy producing value), we have to focus on the real goal of those decks: the message.
Start a conversation, spark ideas, inspire, motivate, influence, collaborate, make people laugh, make them care, move them to act.
the why
During my 15 years in corporate, I created over 1,000 presentations - strategy decks, training decks, pitch decks, you name it.
Iāve seen every kind of presentation imaginable⦠mostly boring. No one dared to go beyond the template, except the CEOs.
Maybe because no one asked them to āprepare a small deck.ā Or, maybe because they understood the real goal.
When I worked for Gucci, I remember watching the CEO present. It was different. No endless bullet points, no cluttered graphs, just storytelling. I didnāt need to read, I could feel the message.
The person and the slides were one.
Maybe thatās why I became a PowerPoint ārebelā (sometimes quietly, sometimes not, and sometimes I was ānot allowedā⦠$#&!)
My goal wasnāt to make slides look complex to prove how long I worked on them. My goal was to use them to start a conversation or to inspire action.
My decks often didnāt have my name on them, but people still knew they were mine. Not because I was a PowerPoint expert, but because they were different.
I was inspired by Steve Jobsā mantra: Think Different. Being āthe bestā is relative and exhausting. Being different is easier and memorable.
Thatās why today, Iāve completely replaced PowerPoint in my work with Parta.io. Itās the tool that lets me bring out the storytelling, create engagement, and saves me hours of formatting ājust another deck.ā
the how
A friend introduced me to Parta.io when I started TheGoodBusy.com. Iāve used it since for my online programs, workshops, and custom projects.
Almost every time, someone asks: āWhat tool did you use to build this?ā
Because it feels different. It looks fresh and grabs attention.
Hereās why I love it (and wish I had it back in corporate):
Shareable links
As someone who once shared guidelines and trainings across 17 markets, this feature alone wouldāve saved me hours of work and headaches.
No more PDFs or worrying about access to shared folders. One link works for everyone - your team, management, clients. Once updated, everyone sees it instantly. Mobile friendly too (just like an app).
Interactive elements
Flip cards, quizzes, interactive maps, voice notes, embedded videos - they not only elevate your presentation and storytelling, but also turn passive PDF scrolling into an immersive experience.
Built-in, customizable templates
At one company I worked for, design teams built every exec presentation. It pulled them away from their actual work creating a massive backlog for everyone.
Iām no a designer, Iām generally bad with tech. But in Parta.io, I feel like a pro - super creative and fast. Itās plug & play, easy to build my story.
Other features youād love:
Team collaboration: real-time co-creation, comments, task management, and version history (no more panic or āwho deleted this?ā)
Instant rebranding: update colors, logos, or styles across all presentations in one click (imagine doing that in PowerPointā¦)
AI translation: instantly translate content into 100+ languages (itās a dream come true for any global team.)
I call Parta.io my presentation revolution. And yes, I discovered it before cool companies like Miro, Notion, Okta joined in.
Not sponsored - Iām just a fan. (Though, to be fair, they did gift me a lifetime subscription. Thank you, Parta.io team).
your play of the week
Think different šø
This week, experiment. If youāre tired of lifeless decks and meetings:
Try Parta.io (thereās a free trial)
Or reach out to Andrew Matsiavin (the co-founder) for a quick demo
Or join my next free workshop where I use it live. Youāll also leave with a goal to stop trading your personal time for another āsmall deck.ā
The alternative is more āsmall decks,ā more boredom, and more overwork. You deserve better slides and better work-life balance.
Iām helping 50,000+ leaders master Good Busy.
If The Good Busy Newsletter helps you, refer it to a friend and get rewards.
I know productivity - not illustrations. Stickman figures by Zdenek Sasek.
See you next Monday,
Kate
Founder, TheGoodBusy.com
PS: Want to reset your work-life balance for good?
These are a few ways I can help you master Good Busy:
Set (and test) your balance goal in a free workshop
Free up 8+ hrs/week from bad busy work inside The Good Busy Reset
Bring a custom workshop or The Good Busy Reset to your team








I need to check out Parta.io! Sounds like a tool Iād like, thanks for sharing!