Slides for Briefing Your Commander

The daily briefing slide is a way for each level of command to update their commander. The slide is unique to the command and has information specific to the person receiving the brief. Each level of command utilizes its own briefing slide to update its leader. For example, the crew on the ground at Joint Task Force (JTF) Haiti would brief the JTF Commander, Admiral Pringle, who in turn would brief the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) commander.

These briefing slides follow the periodicity of the commander's update, which may be more often than once daily. Each command uses unique terms, so it's important to understand the vocabulary.

The slide is typically divided into four quadrants.

1. Daily PA guidance (what is the messaging?).
   • Example: What to highlight, what to push to social media.
2. The events of the past 24 hours.
   • Example: What interviews were given, significant operations, the arrival of support units.
3. Planned events and communications in the next 24-48 hours (or longer).
   • Example: Interviews scheduled, planned media embeds.
4. Any predictive analytics the commander needs.
   • Example: Trends, if partners are on or off message, engagement.

Each of these briefs synthesizes the lower level brief as it makes its way up the command chain. While the daily briefing slide starts out in the quadrant format, it may follow a different format later, depending on the needs of the command.