Pip Decks®

About us

Charles Burdett

Hey, I’m Charles Burdett - Designer & Founder of Pip Decks.

I used to work as a user experience designer - I helped make stuff easy for you to use.

Like ATMs. You don’t need an instruction manual to know how to get cash out. You only need to think about how much money you need.

What makes it so easy? ATMs show you exactly what to do at the exact time you need to know - so you never need to learn how to use them.

This is good design. The sort of design I strived for. Invisible and frictionless.

But good design is not a solo effort. I didn’t sit in a corner creating designs on my own. I worked collaboratively with other people. And that’s hard!

And harder still, sometimes we had to bring voices from around the company together.

This meant having meetings. Countless boring meetings. Held hostage by someone droning on about something that could’ve been an email.

“When is this going to end?!” I’d scream inside my head. It was draining.

So when I had a chance to run one of these meetings, I wanted to make it fun and engaging.

I wasn’t going to take any hostages. I didn’t want people wishing my meeting would end!

But I had a secret up my sleeve.

In my previous job, I had a friend called Tom who ran amazing meetings. It was like being in a theatre production. Everyone had a part to play and it was seamless. Not only was it fun, but we got so much valuable work done too.

Tom made everyone feel valued. Even if we didn’t always agree. He knew that people just wanted to be heard, and he made that happen.

He taught me a secret: the secret power of workshop facilitation.

So instead of holding people hostage in a boring meeting, I ran “workshops”: engaging, fun, and highly productive sessions that actually got stuff done.

Then a funny thing started to happen after my workshops.

People kept asking me:

“How did you do that?”

“How do you know what kind of workshop to run?”

“Can you teach me?”

They could see how valuable a great workshop is. But they didn’t know how to do it themselves.

This was my lightbulb moment.

I put all the most useful and productive workshops into a deck of cards. I called it Workshop Tactics.

And channelling my UX design skills, I created a format and a system that removes all the guff and barriers, and gives you the essentials.

The clarity of Workshop Tactics gives you confidence. Confidence to engage your team when you work together. Knowing you won’t be holding people hostage (and no internal screaming either.)

Why is this important?

Because no one wants to run a bad meeting.

When your team is engaged, you’ll get a better end product, no matter what you are working on.

And anyone can run a great meeting. There is no more wondrous thing than getting into the flow and leaving people feeling empowered. It just takes having the right tools to hand, and the willingness to give it a go.

The crazy thing about Workshop Tactics

It’s now sold hundreds of thousands of copies all around the globe.

To consultants, managers, professors and doctors. Designers, engineers, managers and CEOs.

It’s trusted by folks at the BBC, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Meta, Stanford University, and Ogilvy. The list is endless. Read why our customers love us.

So what was a little side project has now grown. The Pip Decks library is expanding as we work expert operators in their field (like a world-renowned hostage negotiator) to bring you distilled, timeless knowledge that primes you for action.

Pick up a deck and let me know what you think. We’re always looking at how we can improve our products!

— Charles Burdett

Say Hi on LinkedIn.

When I’m not creating tools to help teams and entrepreneurs thrive, you’ll find me training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, watching Formula 1 (Go Lewis!) - or hiking through the Lake District with my wife and two boys. YNWA.

Trusted by teams at

AppleDisneyBBCStanford UniversityMicrosoftTEDxNikeOgilvyIKEAMeta

132 customers on camera

Hear it from our customers

  • You’re not paying for the cardboard, you’re paying for the genius that was stuffed into the box and believe me it’s worth every single penny and so much more.

    Jessika Jake

    Facilitator, BetterAndBetterer.com
  • I have all this information in my head, but the Storyteller Tactics helped me frame it and able to frame it in an easy way…

    Jordan Schroeder

    Cyber Security Professional
  • It is well worth the investment in terms of the time that you can save…

    Don Carter

    Transformational Executive Coach at doncarter.co LLC
  • It’s kind of like a book, but it’s framed in a way where you can use it much more effectively than a book…

    Dane Sanders

    VP of Employee Development and Performance, CEO of Men & Women Of Discomfort
  • I thought storytelling was more an art than a science.

    Ruy C Aguilar

    Tableau Evangelist, Keyrus
  • If you just make 1% improvement in whatever you’re focusing on, the cost is basically nothing.

    Brandon Gould

    Tektronix
  • I knew what story to tell in what moment and why and it led to the cleanest, fastest sales process I ever had with a new client.

    Renee Ostertag

    CEO Green Tree Mind
  • Things like this save you so much time.

    Michael Crabb

    Head of Computing Learning and Teaching, University of Dundee
  • We went off, we found this problem, we found this solution, this worked, this didn’t, remember this.

    Christopher Eyre

    Software Engineer, Prima It
  • I could come up with dozens of stories just from this card... So if you’re contemplating getting a Pip Deck, do it.

    Beth Lambert

    Founder, Fuzzy Face Media
  • It gets to the point of the story and really helps you focus on telling a very impactful story.

    Karen Tilstra

    Educational Psychologist & Innovation Consultant
  • I was really worried that as an experienced presenter, would there be any new material…

    Rob Stringer

    Youth Coach Global

Our best sellers

View all
The Storyteller Tactics deck in its box
Best seller
Storyteller Tactics

Tell great stories that stick.

$149
The Team Tactics deck in its box
Team Tactics

Become a manager who knows how to manage.

$139
The Workshop Tactics deck in its box
Workshop Tactics

Run meetings and workshops with confidence.

$139
The Idea Tactics deck in its box
Idea Tactics

Ditch creative block and find your best ideas.

$139
The Productivity Tactics deck in its box
Productivity Tactics

Ditch procrastination. Get stuff done.

$139
The Strategy Tactics deck in its box
Strategy Tactics

Make strategic decisions you can stand behind.

$139
The Brand Tactics deck in its box
Brand Tactics

Build a brand worth talking about.

$139
The Innovation Tactics deck in its box
Innovation Tactics

Remove guesswork from your product strategy.

$139

Whatever the challenge, there’s a Pip Deck® for it.

Answer a few questions and we’ll point you to the deck that fits.

Over half a million Pip Decks® sold worldwideRead our reviews