ConsultingPowerPointPresentations:

4Steps
PostedonDecember5,2012
Onecolleaguejokedthathegetstotheclientsites,turnsonthecomputerandjustopensup
PowerPointevenbeforeopeningemailoranythingelse.Likeabakerwhoturnsonthe
ovenassoonasheentersthekitchen.Itsalargepartofwhatwedo.
Tobeclear,itismorethanjustmakingfancygraphs.Thereistonsofhypothesisbased
consulting,excel,interviews,benchmarking,industryresearch,andanalysis.The
presentationisjustwhereitalltogether,likethefinalsofatournament.Itisgameday.
Presentationdevelopmentusuallycomestowardtheendoftheproject(phase).Inthe
diagrambelow,itisassumedthatyouhavealreadycollectedthedata,analyzedit,comeup
withsomepotentialsolutions,andreallygottensmartonthetopic.Now,youareputting
thosegreatideasonpapersoitcanbecommunicatedeffectively.Thepresentationshould
besogoodthatyourclientcanuseitoverandoveragainwhentheysellitinternallytotheir
peersandbosses.

1a.Definethenarrative.Whatisthestoryline?Ifyouweretryingtoexplaintheproject
andrecommendationstoyourteenageniece,orthewaiteratyourlocalrestaurant,how
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wouldyoutellthestory?Wouldthepunchlinebeatthefront,orthebackofthestory?How

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importantisthebackground?Whatisthebigtakeaway?

Consultants
1b.Definethepresentationstructure.Thinkofthislikechaptersintheabook.Ifyou
Mind
haveasenseofthenarrative,howmanysectionsdoesthepresentationhave?Isit

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chronological?Isorganizedbygeography?Sortedbyfunction?Italldependsonwhatyou
to your Inbox.
aretryingtosayandhowtheaudiencethinksaboutthetopic.
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Chronology:Largerprojectstypicallyfollowthisstructuresinceitiseasytofollow.For
example,alargeprojectmighthaveaseparatedeliverableforeachphase(1,2,3)andthe
finaldeliverablewouldsimplybethesumofthepreviouspresentations.Nosurprisethese
tendtobeverylong,abitboring,butdemonstratealotofrigor.Goodthudfactor.(the
soundofthedensestackofpageshittingthetable,impressingyourclient)
Geographic:Youseethistypeofpresentationwhentheclientitresponsibleforageography
(e.g.,USsales,Europeanmanufacturing,AsiaPacificHR).Thislenshelpstheclient
comparebetweenregionsandweightthepro/conofcentralizingordecentralizingactivities
andcomparingacrossgeographies.
Asacorollary,itcanalsobeafunctionalreviewwhenyouarelookingattheentire
companyorenterprise.Forexample,ifitwerecostreductionacrosstheentirecompany,it
wouldonlymakesensetoreviewthingsmethodicallyfromonedepartmenttoanother.
Prioritization:Mostexecutivepresentationsfollowthisformat.Theyareshorter
presentationwhichareverydirect,andusuallytargetaresponsefromtheaudience.
Consultantsusethepyramidprinciplealotwiththistypeofapproach.Ibelieve80%ofmy
presentationsfollowthisapproach.Startwiththeconclusiononanexecutivesummary
whichhelpstheexecutivesfinetunetheirthinkingastheyhearthesupportingdata.
2.Draftthecontentoftheslides.Thereareentirebookswrittenonthistopic,butthekey
pointisthatyouneedtoputmeaningfulstuffonthepage.Dontputcraponthepage.If

yourcontentisobviousorblahblahmarketingtalkdontbotherputtingitonthepage.The
questionyouneedtoconstantlyaskisSOWHAT?.Ifyoudontaskit,yourbosswill.
Thepresentationmustanswerthekeyquestionsandscopeoftheproject.
3.Refinetheslides.Duringthistime,alotofslidesgetcombined,thrownawayorre
invented.Apresentationisalivingdocument,editandrefineasyougo.
Iftheslideslackaccuracy,logicororganization,youhavesomeseriousproblemsthatneed
addressing.Inthesamevein,youwantittobepersuasive,briefandprofessional.
Itisabitcathartic,butyouactuallydevelopastrongerpointofviewthelongeryourefinethe
slides.Youcutawaythefatthatneedstobeeditedaway.
Thisiswherecollaborationcomesin.Apartner,orseniormanagerwillreviewbecausethere
aredifferentwaystomaketheslideseasiertounderstand.Itmightseemtrivial,butclients
pay$$$$$fordeliverables,andexpectationsarehigh.Itpaystolistentofeedback.
Forcollaboration,Ibelieveyouneed3ingredients:
Diversityofskills:Afterall,whatistheuseifyouhavetheexactsameskills
Trust:Ifyoudonttrusteachother,anyfeedbackwillseemlikenitpicking
Mutualunderstandingofthegoal,theirinputwillbeuseful.Beopentothefeedback
4.Socializefindingswithkeypeople.Thelastthingyouwanttodoisgointoakey
meetingandsurprisetheclientwithanoffbaserecommendation.Allgoodconsultantspre
selltheirrecommendationswithkeypeoplebeforethekeymeeting.Japanisthehomeof
consensusbaseddecisionmakingandtheJapanesewordforthispresellingofthedecision
iscallednemawashiwhichliterallymeansdiggingaroundtherootstoprepareaplantfor
transplant.
Executivesareoftenveryvisualpeople.Theyhavebusyschedulesandshortattention
spans.Theywanttoseeanexecutivesummaryof1015pagesinPowerPoint,nota300
pagenovelfullofwords.Sometimes,youonlyhave2hourswithaCXO(CEO,CFO,COO,
COO,CIO,CMO)attheendof4monthprojectsoyouneedtomakesurethatyour
presentationmakesanimpact.
Storytelling.Consultantsaregoodatalotofdifferentthings,butintheenditalwaysends
withapresentationthattellsastory.Therehastobeanarrative.Soundsidealized,butits
allaboutstorytelling.Businessdevelopmentandsalesprofessionalstellsstoriesverbally.
Marketerstellstorieswithpublicrelations,brandingandadvertising.
Therewasaprojectwherewespentalmost2dayscraftingasingleslidethattheteam
notoriouslynamedthe$10,000slidebecausethatwasourfacetiousestimationofhow

muchconsultingtimewasspentputtingittogether.Sometimesitisthatimportant.
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