It is worth taking a high-level look at how to set up a presentation. You have probably seen a presentation at school, university or at work that you would describe as ”less than successful”. The presentation was probably unsuccessful because it failed to meet your expectations. You may have found yourself asking one of the following questions:

1. What is this presentation about?
2. How is this presentation relevant to me, my organisation or my industry?
3. I can’t follow, where is this presentation going? What are the main points?
4. I’m giving an hour of my time, how does this presentation benefit me? Why do I care?

Setting up your presentation is important because it will help you take control of the presentation right from the start by managing the expectations of your audience and answering their unspoken questions. The presentation set up has four main parts:

1. What

What are you talking about?  You should make it clear for the audience what subject or topic area the presentation will cover.

2. Why

Why is the presentation relevant to your audience? Put the presentation in the context of recent events or impending events. For example: “you will be able to use the skills you learn in this presentation on the MECE Framework in your next presentation, client meeting or research report.”

3. How

How will the presentation be structured?  Provide a structure for your talk.  Do you have three main points – what are they?  Will you allow questions during the presentation or should people wait until the end?

4. Outcome

What will your audience take away with them at the end of the presentation that they didn’t have at the beginning? Outline what your audience will get out of the presentation. What will they know? How will they feel? What will they do?  For example: “when you walk away from this room, you will be able to structure your thoughts more logically.  Structured thinking will help you give clients clear explanations so that they can easily understand and engage in the consulting process. Being easy to understand is client friendly and will make you a more valuable consultant.”

Related posts:

1. 12 Tips for Creating an Effective Pitch As we discovered in the previous post, an elevator pitch...
2. The consulting case interview: 10 tips for a successful performance This is the first of a series of posts looking...
3. Ten years gone by Ten years ago, what were you doing? ... Ten years...
4. Researching consulting firms: what do you need to ask? This article looks at some of the questions that you...

There is a term that consultants use which is called “boiling the ocean” (I borrowed this idea from Victor Chang).

If you want one cup of hot water, there are two ways you can do it:

1. go and collect one cup of water, and heat it up; or
2. try and boil the entire ocean.

As a consultant, you could ask a million questions and request all of the information in the client’s database.  Or, you could just ask for the information you need to answer the questions required to confirm your hypothesis.

You don’t have the time or the resources to analyse everything.

Are you able to ask the minimum number of questions to get the information you need to make a recommendation?

You will need to be selective.

Related posts:

1. The consulting case interview: 10 tips for a successful performance This is the first of a series of posts looking...
2. Researching consulting firms: what do you need to ask? This article looks at some of the questions that you...
3. 12 Tips for Nailing the Guesstimate Question As we found out in the previous post, the guesstimate...
4. What is management consulting? A lot of people have trouble describing what a consultant...

World GDP is growing at 4% per year, how long will it take for world GDP to double?

Your company’s revenue is growing at 10% per month, how long will it take for your company’s revenue to double?

There is a simple rule of thumb that you can use to figure out roughly how long it will take for something to double, given an expected growth rate.

The Rule of 70

This rule of 70 can be described by the following equation:

If the world’s GDP is growing at 4% per year then global GDP will double in about 17 years.

If your company’s revenue is growing at 10% per month then revenues will double in about 7 months.

Related posts:

1. Understanding financial statements 101 Understanding financial statements is very important if you are looking...
2. The Guesstimate Question The guesstimate question is a usual type of question that...
3. Ten years gone by Ten years ago, what were you doing? ... Ten years...
4. Economic recession 2008: measuring the strength of the economy It’s the economy, stupid “It’s the economy, stupid” is a...

We all know the old marketing adage, “sex sells”. The marketing approach is quite simple: link sex directly or indirectly with the product or service that you are selling. It may be a certain brand of cola that we end up buying, but it was sex that we were after.

Sex is a base level physiological need on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. As a base level need, sex is a desire that people will seek to satisfy even if other low level needs such as employment, shelter or safety have not been met. Quite simply, sex appeals to us all.

Putting sex to one side, people also have higher level desires that we may want to appeal to. As we discovered in the previous post, there are three simple pleasures which people require for a life of happiness (whether they know it or not):

1. Friendship: we want to belong to a community with which we can identify. We want to be cared for and cared about. We want to be missed when we are not around;
2. Freedom: we want independence from the demands of others. We want control over our own lives and the ability to make our own decisions; and
3. Thought: we want to understand the world and the nature of the challenges that we face. Understanding may not remove the challenges themselves, but it will help to remove the anxiety that often accompanies the confusion, displacement or surprise which result from our lack of understanding.

As the examples below demonstrate, marketing firms are well aware of the opportunities presented by being able to effectively target people’s forgotten needs.

1. Friendship

It may be a certain brand of alcoholic beverage that we end up buying, but it was friendship that we were after.

2. Freedom

It may be a certain brand of luxury car that we end up buying, but it was freedom from the demands of our daily lives that we were after.

3. Thought

It may be a certain brand of personal computer that we end up buying, but it was a desire to think differently and understand the world that we were after.

Related posts:

1. Pleasure is the goal of life Seems fairly straight forward doesn’t it. The purpose of life...
2. Tony Robbins – Six Human Needs Following on from the theme of my last post, which...
3. Rejecting the rejection letter In these troubled economic times it may be difficult to...
4. Daniel Pink on the surprising science of motivation Mismatch between what science knows and what business does Daniel...

As we discovered in the previous post, an elevator pitch is a high-level overview of whatever it is that you are selling and is designed to just get the conversation started (Elevator Pitch Essentials, Chris O’Leary).

As a high level overview, an elevator pitch will need to be kept fairly short and to the point.  The irony is that creating a short pitch is likely to be a fairly long process because you will have to decide what information your listeners need to hear and what are just details. To mis-quote Mark Twain:

I didn’t have time to write a short elevator pitch, so I wrote a long one instead.

There is a lot to think about when preparing an elevator pitch, so to speed up the process I have identified 12 tips for creating an effective pitch.

1. Structure and Content

1. Be clear – you want people to understand. You need to explain your idea in a way that your mother would understand. You want your audience to do the least amount of work possible.
2. Be concise – people are busy. Anecdotal evidence suggests that people’s attention starts to waiver after 30 seconds. An elevator pitch should be no longer than 60 seconds.  Too much information will scare people away. Give them just enough information, and make them want to know more.
3. Provide a solution – people want you to solve their problems. Focus specifically on the problem that you are solving for your audience. If you merely provide a shopping list of skills or services you may leave your audience thinking “So what? How does that help me?” After you have presented the problem, provide an outline of your solution.
4. Tailor your pitch – different people have different problems. A pitch should address the specific concerns of your audience.
5. Be credible – who are you? why are you qualified to provide your solution? Explain why you are able to identify and solve the problem.
6. Give the big picture – the details are confusing. People are unlikely to understand your idea in the same way that you do, so the details will confuse or bore them. Give a high-level overview of your idea.
7. Be unique – there are many ideas competing for attention.  What makes your idea different?
8. Set the hook – you need to generate interest. A hook is a statement designed to generate interest and make your audience want to know more. For example, “I am a consultant in the city” compared with “I am a McKinsey strategy consultant looking at the new media and high tech space. I’m currently looking at cloud computing and how it is changing the computer industry forever.” As a second example, borrowed from Anna Rose, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition has a very short elevator pitch: “The AYCC aims to build a generation wide movement to solve climate change before it is too late.”  The last 5 words are the hook, “before it’s too late”!
9. Call to action – what do you want? An elevator pitch is not designed the close the deal, it is designed to just get the conversation started.  It would be a good idea however to decide what you would like to achieve out of the interaction. You can then give people an opportunity to help you by asking for what you want: a business card, honest feedback, a referral, legal advice, seed capital, an opportunity to give a full presentation.

2. Delivery

1. Be prepared – people respond to confidence. First impressions are important and to deliver a strong performance you should practice and get feedback. Prepare answers to any tough questions that you may get in response to your pitch. You need to be comfortable enough to adapt to the conversation as it progresses.
2. Be genuinely passionate – people tune out the ordinary. If you are genuinely passionate, people are likely to stop and listen. Investors normally expect passion from entrepreneurs as a pre-requisite, a good idea does not compensate for lack of passion.
3. Have integrity – your story needs to ring true. You need to believe in your own story because the first step is to convince yourself, only then can you convince your audience. Avoid clichés and platitudes.

Related posts:

1. The Elevator Pitch An elevator pitch is a high-level overview of whatever it...
2. Your Presentation: setting it up It is worth taking a high-level look at how to...
3. Looking beyond the adequate When posed with a business problem, there is always a...
4. The consulting case interview: 10 tips for a successful performance This is the first of a series of posts looking...

The Situation

You are an entrepreneur with a big idea for a new product. You stand to make millions, but investors are hard to find. You take a flight to Fiji for some well earned rest and as your take your seat on the plane you notice a man in a floral Hawaiian shirt sitting across the aisle from you, he is the world’s leading venture capitalist. What do you say?

You are a consultant wooing a major prospective client. If you are successful this will put you in the big time. Middle management plan to interview a dozen consultants, and won’t give you access to the CEO. Your chances of winning the contract are slim. As you step into the elevator to leave the building you notice that the only other person in the elevator is the company’s CEO. What do you say?

You are a university student seeking a job at a big consulting firm. You attend your school’s on-campus careers fair where you meet the head recruitment partner for the firm of your choice. What do you say?

The Problem

You have something valuable to offer: a big idea, a quality product, a superior service, a first-class education, extensive experience, niche skills, profound wisdom. In short, you hold the solution to someone else’s problem.

The problem is that, when you finally meet the person who can help you sell your solution, you have not prepared anything to say.

People are busy with their own affairs, and those people who are most likely to be able to help you are even busier. There are lots of ideas competing for attention, and people don’t understand what you have to offer. It is much easier for people to simply tune you out than to give you a chance to explain.

The Pitch

In order to overcome this problem, you need to prepare what you are going to say in advance. You need to create an “elevator pitch”.

An elevator pitch is a high-level overview of whatever it is that you are selling and is designed to just get the conversation started (Elevator Pitch Essentials, Chris O’Leary). It is a communication tool which you can use to quickly and clearly explain your idea with the aim of generating interest and helping you sell the idea.

Related posts:

1. 12 Tips for Creating an Effective Pitch As we discovered in the previous post, an elevator pitch...
2. Negotiating an offer of employment I have spent a lot of time writing about preparing...
3. Rejecting the rejection letter In these troubled economic times it may be difficult to...
4. Cover letters win interviews 1. The importance of a cover letter A cover letter...

Former McKinsey consultant Victor Cheng provides us with an interesting insight. The skills that get you hired as a consultant are not the same skills that get you promoted, and the skills that get you promoted are not the same skills that take you to the top.

You get hired for your analytical skills, you get promoted based on management skills and client skills, and you go all the way to the top based on sales skills.

Related posts:

1. Interview a consultant, win a prize! To make things interesting, I am proposing the following game:...
2. Don’t boil the ocean There is a term that consultants use which is called...
3. Your Presentation: setting it up It is worth taking a high-level look at how to...
4. McKinsey’s MECE framework Note: Thank you to Mimi Zou for bringing this analysis...

1. The golden ratio

The golden ratio is believed to have aesthetically pleasing properties. The golden ratio is a naturally occurring number that has been the subject of interest since ancient Greek times, and has been used in architecture, art, books and music since at least the time of the Renaissance. For example, artists have used the golden rectangle to select the most aesthetically appealing canvas dimensions.

If the golden rectangle is aesthetically pleasing, then it makes sense to use the golden rectangle when preparing images to be inserted in presentations, proposals, reports, blog posts, etc. The image above has the dimensions of a golden rectangle and, more interestingly, the shape of the spiral above the street lamp is a golden spiral.

Denoted by the Greek letter phi, Φ, the golden ratio is an irrational number equal to:

2. The golden rectangle

The golden rectangle is the name given to any rectangle for which the ratio of the longer side ‘a’ to the shorter side ‘b’ is the golden ratio.

Interestingly, if the two sides of a rectangle are in the golden ratio then the ratio between the sum of the two sides and the larger side is the same as the ratio between the larger side and the smaller side.

Related posts:

1. Off to a flying start! A week ago today, an aspiring management consultant started blogging...
2. 5 Benefits of Forums Over the last 3 months I’ve had lots of people...
3. Creative destruction: fighting the Gumblar virus leads to new look I was forced to delete and re-install WordPress today in...
4. IT consulting firms in Australia The list of IT consulting firms is part of the...