6 Steps to Creating Compelling Business Presentations

Presentations in Consulting A Practical 6-Step Approach That Works

How to Develop Business  

One of the most frequently used tools in consulting is…

PowerPoint

Whatever important message we need to express, we will likely put it on slides.

Forget the “death by PowerPoint” notion.

Presentations, if structured correctly, can be effective communication vehicles.

And here’s an easy process to develop top notch business presentations. (according to experienced consultants)

#1 Message

Define the purpose and single out the key message. What is the purpose of the presentation? What is your key message? The more specific you can be here, the more concrete your first draft of the presentation will be.

#2 Storyboard

Much of what we do in consulting is about telling a story. The best message can fail to be received – or even backfire – if not properly presented in a convincing, logical fashion. To accomplish that, consultants usually work with “storyboards.”

Basically, we structure our presentation like a book with multiple chapters. Each chapter is represented by at least one slide and one meaningful headline, a strapline.

As a complete “narrative,” the storyboard should make sense. Thus, it should be clear, coherent, and ordered in a logical manner, such as chronologically (think phases or process steps), departmentally (think business units or functions), or geographically (think markets).

#3 Content

With your storyboard in place, you will have to add more content. Be very selective in terms of what to include. Whatever text box, image, graph, etc., you use should clearly add value. There should be a reason for having everything in there.

Also, ensure that each slide really has one key message. If you can’t convincingly answer your client’s “So what?” question, then amend or remove that slide right away.

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#4 Formatting

Rigorously abide by presentation standards. At the very least, ensure that you are in line with the following: •  Clear overall message of the presentation •  Meaningful titles •  Most important messages come first

•  One key message per slide, and certainly no more than two (unless your client has a liking for cluttered pages in font size eight)

•  Consistent structure of text, e.g., all bullet points to start with a verb (same tense)

•  Text and images/graphs support each other, (e.g., readers may be pointed to specific aspects of the visuals)

•  Minimal amount of text •  Consistent structure of slides, i.e., similar layout •  Repetitive phrases should be avoided •  Pages that are similar in nature may be combined;

repetition should be avoided

#5 Iteration

No matter how hard you try when structuring your first draft, you will inevitably change your presentation numerous times. You will combine slides and toss out others.

#6 Stakeholder Prep

Prepare your stakeholders. Once you have completed your presentation, liaise with key stakeholders and share your work. It is crucially important that you not surprise your clients. Even if you assume that they will likely agree, chances are they won’t if they’re caught off guard.

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CONSULTANT & AUTHOR

MORITZ DRESSEL

Moritz Dressel is the author of The Aspiring Advisor - Strategies and Tools for a Successful Consulting Career.

He can be reached via Twitter @MoritzDressel  or at his blog www.MoritzDressel.com

He is also a management consultant specializing in post-merger integration, joint ventures and strategic alliances.