Convincing decision makers with presentations: A format to follow

A critical step to think about throughout the format below is who’s your audience? Not all presentations meet the same requirements and not all audiences are the same. Think of who you’re presenting to and why they’re actually there before you approach any of the steps below.

There isn’t a single presentation that you’ll take around, there is only a presentation format that you’ll keep.

Section 1: Conclusion

Be clear about why you’re there, what are you expecting from them, and what problem are you solving.

You’re there to articulate your point as soon as possible, as clear as possible, and to get a clear decision at the end of it. You don’t want to lead your executive leadership team to the conclusion, you want to present it and then explain why it matters to them. Many executives have little time or patience to follow through not knowing your end goal.

Section 2: What’s the problem you’re solving and why does it matter?

If you can’t get people in the room on the same page about why this problem is critical to the company, it’s going to be difficult for you to move forward.

You want agreement that this is a problem that matters.

How you describe the problem depends on the problem itself. However, make sure you’re considering the points of view of the audience you’re talking to.

Section 3: What are you do currently ?

Don’t skip this part. There is likely something that the company is doing now to solve this issue. Even if you disagree with it, mention it.

Make it clear you understand what is our current approach.

Many times, it’s worth it to divide this into two simple sides: what are we doing well? And what can be either improved or needs to be done differently?

Section 4: What are our competitors or industry leaders doing?

If other companies in your industry are solving this issue better, highlight that.

This is powerful. Nobody wants to fall behind and highlighting how others are doing better is a powerful motivation to do more.

Section 5: What’s your solution?

Now that we’re clear on the problem and have similar context, what is your solution?

If this is a slight repeat of slide #1, that’s okay. You want to highlight it within the context you’ve just provided.

Section 6: What’s the cost?

Solutions cost money and resources. What are you asking for? You want to be clear and articulate about the overall cost of this solution.

This is not just about money, it’s about the overall cost of time, possible change of direction, resourcing, etc.

Section 7: What’s the cost of inaction?

Do not skip this part.

There is a cost to doing nothing. This is a killer way to showcase how the cost of doing something is *better* than the cost of doing what we’re doing today or to not improve.

Section 8: What’s your high-level execution plan?

Depending on who you’re presenting to, you might not have to show too much detail here.

However, you want to be clear that this is not a pie in the sky idea. You’ve thought this through and have a plan of action if this goes forward.

Credits:

https://www.mynameisjehad.com/making-the-case-to-decision-makers-the-presentation-format-to-follow/