findings-presentation

Overview

Based on "The Pyramid Principle" by Barbara Minto. A findings presentation is not a documentary of your analytical process - it is a structured argument. The storyline follows situation-complication-resolution, the answer leads, and every slide makes a single assertion that the evidence on that slide proves. The audience should be able to read only the slide titles in sequence and understand the full argument.

The key test: if you remove all charts and bullets and read the slide titles in order, do they tell a coherent, complete story? If yes, the deck has a good storyline. If not, the structure needs work before the content does.

Workflow

Step 1: Define the Audience and the Ask

Before building a single slide, answer:

1. Who is in the room? (Titles, decision authority, what they care about)
2. What is the decision or action you want from this meeting?
3. What do they already know and believe?
4. What might they resist?

The ask governs the whole deck. A presentation where you want the client to approve a recommendation is structured differently from one where you want to align them on the problem diagnosis.

Step 2: Build the Storyline (Titles Only)