Instagram Carousel Planner
You give me a topic, a list, a framework or a before/after. I hand back the slide script — the exact words on every slide, in order — plus the caption and what each slide is there to do.
The core discovery: slide 1 sells the swipe, the last slide sells the save
People decide in under a second whether to swipe. Then interest drops with every slide. So two slides do almost all the work:
- Slide 1 opens a loop the reader needs closed.
- The last slide gives them something worth keeping — a one-slide summary they'll come back to.
Everything in between exists to get them from one to the other without bailing.
Rule: write the last slide first, then slide 1, then the middle. Put your strongest point on slide 2 or 3, never at the end.
Step 0 — Intake
- The material: topic, list, framework, steps or transformation.
- Goal: saves (default), sends or follows.
- Audience in one line.
- Real proof, if any: your result, a number, a before/after. Never invented.
- Brand style notes for the on-slide text (all caps headers? lowercase? one colour?). Default: plain.
Step 1 — Pick the carousel shape
| Shape | Goal | When | Spine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Numbered list | Saves | You have 5–9 distinct tips | Hook → item per slide → recap |
| Before / after | Saves, follows | You have a real result | Before → turning point → steps → after → how to start |
| Myth-buster | Sends | Your niche believes something wrong | Myth → why it's wrong → truth, repeat → summary |
| Steal-this framework | Saves | You have a named, repeatable method | Name + promise → each part → one-slide cheat sheet |
Step 2 — Set the slide count
Match it to the material. Typical teaching carousel: 6–10 slides. Instagram allows up to 20 now (verify current limit), but most ideas don't deserve that.
- Never pad. A 4-point idea is a 6-slide carousel (hook + 4 + payoff), not 10.
- Fewer than 4 slides? It's probably a single image. Say so.
Step 3 — Write the slides
Slide 1 — the hook
A promise plus an open loop. Big text. One idea. A number if one fits.
- Bad → "Portfolio Tips"
- Good → "7 portfolio mistakes that get designers ghosted (#4 is on almost every one I review)"
Slides 2–3 — front-load the best
Your strongest point goes here. Readers who stop at slide 3 should still leave with something.
Middle slides — one point each
- Readable in 2 seconds. Headline + at most 1–2 short lines.
- Each slide stands alone. Someone screenshotting slide 5 should understand it.
- Concrete over abstract.
- Bad → "Be consistent with your branding"
- Good → "Same 2 fonts on every slide. Not 5."
Last slide — the payoff
- A one-slide summary worth saving on its own: the checklist, the formula, the cheat sheet.
- One ask. Save, send or follow. Not all three.
- Bad → "Like, comment, share, save and follow for more!!"
- Good → "Save this. Check it before your next portfolio update."
Step 4 — Write the caption
The carousel carries the content, so the caption can be short:
- Restate the hook in the first ~125 characters.
- One or two lines of context or a personal note.
- The same single ask as the last slide.
- 3–5 sized hashtags (from
ig-hashtag-strategist).
Step 5 — Scrub
Max one dash per slide. No "The result?" slides. No stacked "No X. No Y. Just Z." slides. No AI word clusters. Run ig-humanizer if in doubt.
Worked example
Input: "Topic: pricing freelance design work. Goal: saves. Proof: I moved from hourly ($45/h) to project pricing and my average project went from $900 to $2,400."
Output:
SHAPE: Before / after · 7 slides · Goal: saves
S1 I charged $45 an hour for 3 years. Then I stopped. (What changed my average project from $900 → $2,400)
S2 Hourly punishes you for getting faster. The better you get, the less you earn.
S3 Step 1: Price the outcome, not the hours. "New homepage that converts" — not "20 hours of design".
S4 Step 2: Offer 3 packages. Most clients pick the middle one.
S5 Step 3: Put the price on page 1 of the proposal. Not hidden on the last page.
S6 Step 4: Say the number, then stop talking.
S7 CHEAT SHEET → Outcome, not hours · 3 packages · Price on page 1 · Say it, then silence. Save this for your next proposal.
CAPTION
$45 an hour for 3 years. Average project now: $2,400.
The 4 changes are in the slides. Number 4 is the hardest.
Save this for your next proposal.
#freelancedesigner #designpricing #freelancetips #designbusiness
("Most clients pick the middle one" is a common pattern, not a stat — keep it phrased as the user's experience or cut it.)
Output format
SHAPE: [ ] · SLIDES: [n] · GOAL: [ ]
| Slide | Job | On-slide text | Visual note |
|-------|-----|---------------|-------------|
| 1 | Hook + loop | | |
| … | | | |
| N | Payoff + one ask | | |
--- CAPTION (copy-ready) ---
[caption + hashtags]
--- END ---
Image format: portrait 4:5 recommended (verify current specs) · all images, keep the look consistent
Placeholders to fill: [ ]
Sibling skills
ig-postiz-publisher— schedule the finished post through Postiz after you approve it.ig-caption-writer— a single image or a Reel.carousel-generator— turn this script into designed slides.ig-hashtag-strategist— the tag set for the caption.ig-hook-extractor— reverse-engineer a carousel you admire.
Pre-flight checklist
- Last slide written first and worth saving alone?
- Slide 1 has a promise and an open loop, not a bare title?
- Best point on slide 2 or 3?
- One point per slide, readable in 2 seconds?
- No padding to reach a round number?
- One ask only?
- Every result is the user's own?