Present like a management consultant

Name: Present like a management consultant
Rating: 4.4 (404 reviews)

Unlock the secrets to creating amazing presentations like the one from top 3 consulting firms McKinsey, Bain, and BCG

Created byEric Hulbert

Last updated 3/2018

English

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What you'll learn

Persuade managers and leaders to take action based on your ideas and data
Create presentations that are impactful, memorable, and engaging for your audience
Outline, design, and present a presentation in the same style as a consultant at McKinsey, BCG, or Bain
Impress your managers and clients with clear, concise, and authoritative slide decks

Course content

7 sections • 49 lectures • 2h 29m total length

What you will get from this course1:08
Learn techniques used by McKinsey, Bain, and BCG to plan presentations, develop content, and present concise recommendations to executives and government leaders worldwide.
About the instructor1:44
Why PowerPoint is so important in business1:39
Why consulting style communications are relevant to everyone1:54
Who should take this course2:35

What is the point you are trying to make?2:42
How to choose what topics to discuss1:40
The Pyramid Principle2:46
Learn the pyramid principle, the basis for management consulting communications, organizing a persuasive presentation around one main point, three supporting arguments, and data, instead of a chronological story.
Hypothesis based problem solving3:16
Apply hypothesis driven problem solving and the pyramid principle to filter data, group remaining points into categories as supporting arguments, and present a concise, evidence based recommendation.
MECE1:43
How many supporting arguments to use?1:47
Learn how many supporting arguments to use when presenting like a management consultant, with data-supported guidance, from one to seven arguments, ranking by importance, and the rule of three.
Arrange and order supporting arguments1:41
Apply the pyramid principle to arrange supporting arguments using degree order, chronological order, or structural order, keeping the main point at the front and guiding your audience.
Additions to your presentation1:21
Proposals and pitches2:22
Craft persuasive proposals and pitches that address client needs and showcase your expertise. Present actionable ideas, guided by next steps, timelines, and pricing for decision.
Build the storyboard2:15
Next steps1:01
Learn to craft a clear next steps slide that persuades leadership to act, prioritizing numbered, ordered steps and securing actionable agreements.
Using examples2:14
Use realistic data-supported examples to bring supporting arguments to life, while keeping data and logical support intact, and leverage customer journeys to illustrate impact.
Storyline exercise1:00
Use the pyramid principle to create a deck storyboard that places the main point first, presents ordered supporting arguments and data, and outlines next steps and slide types before building.

The three commandments of slide writing2:05
The parts of a slide2:35
Titles: the most important part of the slide3:16
Exercise: how to write a compelling slide title2:41
Subtitles2:34
Discover how subtitles amplify or clarify slide titles in management consulting. Understand when to use subtitles, label the body, and improve slide clarity with examples from BCG and McKinzie.
Takeaways1:33
Slide body - using graphics3:58
Slide body - using tables3:23
Slide body - using charts5:02
Craft impactful slide bodies with clear titles and charts by following three steps: decide what the chart should say, choose the right chart type, and clean up the visuals.
How to make good line charts3:23
How to make good bar charts4:09
How to make good waterfall charts2:44
Slide body - text only slides4:17
Text slide examples from McKinsey6:19
Notes / sources / headers / page numbers4:01
Appendices1:41

Tailoring your presentation to the audience5:16
Tailor the venue and access to your audience, ensure the room supports equipment and color handouts, and adjust the pyramid for audience, varying detail and front-loading key points.
The secret to becoming an awesome presenter6:49
How to effectively prepare4:17
Developing executive presence5:35
How to stop reading your slides1:56
How to sound smart3:13
Tips for presenting over the phone2:39

Shortcuts, tips, & tricks7:14
Learn essential power point keyboard shortcuts to format text, align and distribute objects, reorder bullets, and quickly navigate the ribbon, boosting speed and accuracy without relying on the mouse.
PowerPoint efficiency tools3:24
Discover PowerPoint efficiency tools used by consultants, from BCG and Munich macros to think-cell, efficient elements, and MECO graphics, for clean, customizable graphs and charts.
How to properly utilize old slides1:43

Thanks from your instructor0:49
Thank you for joining; rate the course, share what you learned, and contact me via my website with questions or suggestions. Use the money-back guarantee if you didn’t learn anything.
Actual McKinsey, Bain, and BCG presentations
Here are some actual presentations from the top tier firms. The vast majority of consulting firm materials will be considered highly confidential by their clients and thus never publicly available.  They are often hard to access for anyone not at a very high level in a company.
Public sector work however, is often public record. The work is paid for by tax, or grant dollars, and thus is part of the public domain. I have attached the full versions several project reports that I found and used in this course. The link contains several others, most of which I have not looked at.
I hope this helps as you grow and learn how to develop these documents.

Putting it all together2:02
Apply a hypothesis-driven approach to improve collections performance by framing controllable versus uncontrollable variables, using data to reveal what separates top performers and how to present results to leadership.
Case study: collections performance4:12
Analyze collections performance to show close rate as the key lever, boosted by coaching, with an executive slide deck and a concise business case for fast payback and ROI.
Presentation and materials: Collections performance case study12:03

Requirements

Access to a computer
Presentation software; preferably PowerPoint, but Keynote or Google Sheets work as well

Description

Presentation and communication skills are more important than ever in today’s business world. Scores of studies show that communications skills are at the top of the most desired skills for new hires. PowerPoint is the default method of communication in business, and yet, almost no one excels at communicating in PowerPoint. No one, except for management consultants that is.

Consultants at the top three firms McKinsey, BCG, and Bain are experts at making complicated ideas understandable and driving business leaders towards making changes and implementing solutions. They have developed a system for how to do this, a system I can teach you. Believe it or not, their system relies on impactful presentations in PowerPoint.

I will teach you the same techniques that I learned as a consultant at BCG. These techniques helped me convince clients to implement ideas delivering hundreds of millions of dollars of annual impact. I moved into business development post consulting, and the same techniques apply to selling clients and convincing them that your proposal is their best option.

In this course we will cover the entire presentation development cycle and learn how to:

Determine your key message
Lay out your argument with the pyramid principle
Develop supporting arguments that are MECE
Arrange your presentation into a compelling storyline
Create attractive slides that are effective
Utilize titles to avoid confusion
Make good charts that support your key message
Tailor your presentation to your audience
Portray executive presence when speaking
Present over the phone
Sound smart
Save time with tips and tricks in PowerPoint

We will review the concepts and principles we discuss by looking at some actual McKinsey, BCG, and Bain slides to see how they used them.

The work that consulting firms do is difficult, but the system they use to present their results is not. I can teach you how, and the difference it will make in your career can be trans-formative. I know it will be, it was for me. I look forward to seeing you in the course!

Who this course is for:

Sales professionals seeking deeper client discussions
Office workers looking to improve their interactions with executives
Aspiring management consultants
Anyone who wants to improve their presentation skills, save time writing PowerPoint slides, and to never again waste an opportunity to get their point across
Analysts who want to get more recommendations implemented

Present like a management consultant

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction5 lectures • 9min

Build your storyline13 lectures • 26min

Create your slides16 lectures • 54min

Present your ideas, data, and solutions7 lectures • 30min

PowerPoint tips and tricks3 lectures • 12min

Conclusion and thanks2 lectures • 1min

Added Material: Putting it all together in a real life example3 lectures • 18min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: