Amazon's 6-Pager: Why Jeff Bezos Banned PowerPoint

It’s 9 AM. You walk into a conference room at Amazon for a major product decision.

No one is talking.

Everyone is reading.

For 20 minutes, the room is completely silent. Executives, directors, engineers—all reading the same six-page document.

No PowerPoint deck. No bullet points. No presenter standing at the front of the room.

Just reading.

Then, after everyone finishes, the discussion begins.

Welcome to Amazon’s most powerful cultural practice: the 6-pager.

What Jeff Bezos Realized About PowerPoint

In 2004, Jeff Bezos sent an email banning PowerPoint from Amazon meetings.

His reasoning:

PowerPoint presentations are easy to create and easy to present, but they’re terrible for thinking and terrible for decision-making.

Why PowerPoint fails:

1. Bullet points hide fuzzy thinking - You can say “Improve customer retention” without explaining how
2. Presenters can BS their way through - Confidence and charisma matter more than substance
3. Audiences don’t engage deeply - People zone out, check phones, or pretend to understand
4. No time to digest - Information flows too fast to process critically
5. Optimized for presenter, not audience - Looks good, but doesn’t facilitate understanding

Bezos’s solution was radical: Replace PowerPoint with narrative memos.

What Is a 6-Pager?

A 6-pager is:

• Exactly 6 pages (not 5, not 7)
• Narrative format (full sentences, paragraphs, not bullet points)
• Tells a complete story (context, problem, solution, data, risks)
• Written in advance (distributed before meeting, or read silently at start)
• Stands alone (no presenter needed to explain it)

The format varies, but typically includes:

1. Introduction - What is this about?
2. Goals - What are we trying to achieve?
3. Current state - Where are we now?
4. Proposed approach - What should we do?
5. Benefits and risks - What could go right or wrong?
6. Financial model - What does this cost/earn?
7. Key decisions needed - What are we deciding today?

The Meeting Ritual

Here’s how a 6-pager meeting works:

Phase 1: Silent Reading (20 minutes)

• Everyone sits in silence
• Reads the entire document
• Takes notes
• Marks questions
• No one talks

Phase 2: Discussion (40+ minutes)

• Start with questions
• Go deep on controversial points
• Challenge assumptions
• Debate alternatives
• Make decisions

Why the silence matters:

Everyone enters the discussion with the same information at the same time.

No one can dominate with charisma. The document has to stand on its own merits.

Why This Works

1. Forces Clear Thinking

Writing full sentences is HARD.

You can’t hide fuzzy thinking behind bullet points.

PowerPoint allows:

• Increase user engagement
• Leverage AI/ML
• Optimize conversion funnel
• Drive growth

A 6-pager requires:

We will increase user engagement by implementing
personalized content recommendations using a
collaborative filtering algorithm. Based on A/B
tests, this should increase daily active users by
12% and session length by 8 minutes. The risk is
that cold-start users (no history) will see generic
content for their first 10 sessions.

See the difference? The 6-pager forces you to think through the details.

2. Levels the Playing Field

In a PowerPoint presentation:

• Charismatic speakers dominate
• Quick thinkers interrupt
• Introverts stay silent
• Politics matter

In a 6-pager meeting:

• The document speaks for itself
• Everyone has time to process
• Thoughtful questions emerge
• The best idea wins

Example:

A junior engineer writes a 6-pager proposing a new architecture. A VP reads it. If the reasoning is sound, the VP can’t dismiss it with “I don’t think so.”

They have to engage with the argument on the page.

3. Better Decisions

Studies show that reading is deeper processing than listening.

Reading a 6-pager:

• Engages critical thinking
• Allows rereading key sections
• Gives time to spot flaws
• Encourages questions

Watching PowerPoint:

• Passive reception
• Information flows too fast
• Hard to revisit previous points
• Encourages agreement

Result: Amazon makes fewer bad decisions because bad ideas can’t hide behind presentation skills.

4. Built-In Documentation

After the meeting, the 6-pager is the documentation.

It captures:

• What was proposed
• Why it was proposed
• What was decided
• What the risks were

Three years later, when someone asks “Why did we build it this way?” — the 6-pager has the answer.

5. Respects Everyone’s Time

Writing a 6-pager is EXPENSIVE in time for the author.

But it’s CHEAP for readers.

PowerPoint meeting:

• Author: 4 hours to make deck
• 10 attendees × 1 hour = 10 hours of meeting time
• Total: 14 hours

6-pager meeting:

• Author: 8-16 hours to write document
• 10 attendees × 20 min reading + 40 min discussion = 10 hours
• But discussion is higher quality, fewer follow-ups needed
• Total: 18-26 hours, but much better decisions

The author pays the cost upfront. The organization benefits from better thinking.

The Two Types of 6-Pagers at Amazon

Amazon actually has two document types:

1. The 6-Pager (PR/FAQ)

For new product proposals.

Format:

• Press Release - What would the launch press release say?
• FAQ - Anticipated questions and answers

Why this works:

Writing the press release first forces you to think from the customer perspective.

If you can’t write a compelling press release, maybe the product isn’t compelling.

Example structure:

PRESS RELEASE

[City, Date] - Amazon today announced [Product Name],
a new service that [customer benefit].

"We're excited to [solve customer problem]," said
[Executive Name]. "This will [impact]."

[Product] addresses [problem] by [solution].
Customers can [key action].

FAQ

Q: Who is this for?
A: [Target customer]

Q: Why did you build this?
A: [Problem we're solving]

Q: How much does it cost?
A: [Pricing model]

Q: What's the business model?
A: [Revenue model]

2. The 1-Pager

For smaller decisions or updates.

Format:

• 1 page
• Situation, Complication, Resolution
• Data-driven
• Clear ask

When to use:

• Weekly updates
• Small feature proposals
• Process changes
• Tactical decisions

How to Write a 6-Pager

Step 1: Start with the customer

What problem are you solving? Who for?

Amazon is obsessive about this. Every 6-pager should start with customer pain.

Step 2: Write badly first

Don’t aim for perfection. Dump everything on the page.

First draft goals:

• Get all ideas out
• Don’t self-censor
• Just write

Step 3: Structure it

Reorganize into narrative flow:

1. Context (what’s the situation?)
2. Problem (what’s wrong?)
3. Solution (what do we do?)
4. Evidence (why will this work?)
5. Risks (what could go wrong?)
6. Decision (what are we deciding?)

Step 4: Make it readable

• Use headers
• Short paragraphs
• Active voice
• Concrete examples
• Data visualizations (if needed)

Step 5: Edit ruthlessly

Cut everything that doesn’t serve the core argument.

Amazon’s standard: If you can’t defend every sentence, delete it.

Step 6: Get feedback

Before the big meeting:

• Share with a colleague
• Have them poke holes
• Revise

Amazon practice: Authors often share drafts with trusted reviewers who will be brutal.

Step 7: Format for reading

• 11pt font (readable in silence)
• Clear headers
• Page numbers
• Appendices for supporting data

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Bullet Points

The whole point is narrative writing. Bullet points are a crutch.

Bad:

Benefits:
• Faster performance
• Better UX
• Reduced costs

Good:

This approach will reduce page load time from 3.2
seconds to 1.1 seconds, improving our Core Web
Vitals score and increasing conversion rate by an
estimated 4-7% based on industry benchmarks. The
infrastructure simplification will also reduce our
AWS costs by $12k/month.

Mistake 2: Hiding Bad News

6-pagers that only show the upside are useless.

Good 6-pagers address risks directly:

• What could go wrong?
• What’s the counterargument?
• What are we uncertain about?

Mistake 3: Too Much Jargon

Write for someone outside your team.

If a 6-pager requires tribal knowledge to understand, it’s not self-contained.

Mistake 4: No Clear Ask

Every 6-pager should end with: What decision are we making today?

Examples:

• “Should we launch this feature in Q2?”
• “Should we invest $500k in this initiative?”
• “Should we sunset this product?”

Mistake 5: Written the Night Before

A good 6-pager takes time. Days, not hours.

Amazon executives can tell when you rushed it.

Adapting the 6-Pager for Your Team

You don’t have to work at Amazon to use this.

Start Small

Try it for:

• Major feature proposals
• Quarterly planning
• Architecture decisions
• Process changes

Don’t mandate it for everything. Start where it matters most.

Adjust the Length

“6 pages” isn’t sacred. Find what works:

• 1 page for small decisions
• 3 pages for medium decisions
• 6 pages for major initiatives

Create a Template

Give people a starting point:

# [Title]

## Context
What's the situation? What's changed?

## Problem
What problem are we solving?

## Proposed Solution
What do we do?

## Why This Works
Evidence, data, examples

## Risks and Mitigations
What could go wrong? How do we handle it?

## Alternatives Considered
What else did we think about?

## Decision Needed
What are we deciding today?

## Appendix
Supporting data, mockups, etc.

Make Silent Reading Non-Negotiable

The power is in the silence.

Don’t allow:

• “I already read it, let’s skip to discussion”
• “Can you just summarize it?”
• “I’ll skim while you present”

Everyone reads together. Period.

Culture of Feedback

Encourage harsh feedback on drafts.

At Amazon: “That’s not clear” is a compliment—it means they’re engaging deeply.

The Broader Lesson

The 6-pager isn’t just about meetings.

It’s about thinking.

Writing forces clarity. You can’t hide from bad ideas when they’re written in full sentences.

PowerPoint lets you say: “Increase engagement” (What does that mean?) “Leverage synergies” (Which synergies?) “Drive growth” (How exactly?)

A 6-pager forces you to say: “We will increase daily active users from 50k to 65k by implementing push notifications for personalized content, based on A/B test results showing 18% higher retention in the treatment group.”

See the difference?

One is vague. One is concrete.

One sounds smart. One IS smart.

The 6-pager is a forcing function for rigorous thinking.

Real-World Results

AWS (2006): The proposal to launch AWS was a 6-pager.

It outlined:

• Customer problem: Infrastructure is hard
• Solution: Rent compute/storage by the hour
• Business model: Pay-as-you-go
• Risks: Will enterprises trust Amazon?

That 6-pager launched a $80+ billion business.

Kindle (2007): The Kindle 6-pager started with a press release: “Amazon today announced Kindle, a device that lets you download books wirelessly in 60 seconds.”

The PR/FAQ format forced the team to think about what customers would care about, not just what was technically possible.

Amazon Prime (2005): The Prime 6-pager proposed unlimited 2-day shipping for $79/year.

The finance team thought it was insane. The 6-pager laid out:

• Customer value: Predictable shipping
• Amazon value: Lock-in, higher spend
• Risk: Shipping costs could explode

They bet on customer behavior changing. They were right.

Key Takeaways

• PowerPoint optimizes for presenting, not thinking
• 6-pagers force rigorous, clear thinking
• Silent reading levels the playing field
• Narrative format reveals fuzzy thinking
• The document IS the documentation
• Writing is hard. That’s the point.
• You don’t need to work at Amazon to adopt this

The 6-pager is immediately applicable.

You can try it next week:

1. Pick an important decision
2. Write it as a narrative document
3. Start your next meeting with silent reading
4. Discuss after everyone has read

You’ll immediately see:

• Clearer proposals
• Better questions
• Deeper discussions
• Fewer pointless meetings

Because when you force yourself to write clearly, you force yourself to think clearly.

And clear thinking leads to better decisions.

Which is the whole point.