Step 0: SCQA Framework
Tool: Situation-Complication-Question-Answer (Barbara Minto, McKinsey) Purpose: Frame the strategic problem your presentation solves.
| Element | What it does | Coaching question | Example (Apollo 13) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Situation | Common ground everyone accepts | "What does your audience already know?" | "Three astronauts are on their way to the Moon" |
| Complication | What changed, what's at stake | "What went wrong or what opportunity emerged?" | "An oxygen tank explodes, crippling the spacecraft" |
| Question | The strategic question to answer | "What question does the audience naturally ask?" | "How do we bring them home alive?" |
| Answer | The Big Idea — memorable, actionable | "What's the ONE thing they should remember?" | "Use the lunar module as a lifeboat" |
Tips:
- S must be something the audience already accepts
- C must create tension — what's at risk?
- Q should be what the audience naturally thinks
- A must be under 20 words, repeatable, actionable
Step 1: Big Idea & Before/After
Tool: Big Idea Formula (Nancy Duarte) Purpose: Transform a vague message into a concrete, memorable Big Idea.
Formula: [Your Point of View] + [What's at Stake] = Big Idea
The Before/After Test: Can you clearly articulate:
- Before: What the audience believes/does now
- After: What you want them to believe/do after
Example (Apple iPhone launch, 2007):
- Before: "Phones need physical keyboards for fast typing"
- After: "A giant touchscreen with no buttons is better"
- Big Idea: "Apple is reinventing the phone"
Quality test: Would someone repeat this to a colleague tomorrow?
Step 2: Pyramid Principle
Tool: Minto Pyramid Principle (Barbara Minto) Purpose: Your audience gets the conclusion first, proof second.
┌─────────────┐
│ CONCLUSION │ ← Start here (the Big Idea)
└──────┬───────┘
┌───────┼───────┐
┌────┴───┐ ┌┴────┐ ┌─┴───┐
│Pillar 1│ │P. 2 │ │P. 3 │ ← Supporting arguments (MECE)
└───┬────┘ └──┬──┘ └──┬──┘
┌───┴───┐ ┌──┴──┐ ┌──┴──┐
│Evidence│ │Evid.│ │Evid.│ ← Proof for each pillar
└───────┘ └─────┘ └─────┘
Rules:
- Lead with the answer, never build up to it
- Group arguments into 2-4 pillars
- Each pillar must be MECE (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive)
- Evidence supports pillars, pillars support the Big Idea
Two reasoning approaches:
- Deductive: Start with principle → Apply to situation → Conclusion is inevitable
- "All successful companies invest in R&D → We don't → We must invest"
- Inductive: Start with evidence → Find the pattern → Build to conclusion
- "Company A grew 50%, B grew 40%, C grew 35% → Investment drives growth"
Step 3: Story Arc & Audience Matrix
Tool: Arc-Audience-Intent Matrix Purpose: Match your narrative structure to who you're speaking to and what you want to achieve.
Audience Types
| Type | Needs | Style |
|---|---|---|
| Executives | Clarity, ROI, strategic alignment | Direct, numbers-driven, conclusion-first |
| Technical | Depth, precision, actionable detail | Methodical, evidence-heavy, show your work |
| Customers/Market | Trust, value, differentiation | Story-driven, social proof, emotional |
| Team/Internal | Motivation, alignment, clear direction | Inclusive, vision-focused, we-language |
Intent Scale
| Level | Goal | Emotional Temperature |
|---|---|---|
| Inform | Transfer pure information | Cold — facts only |
| Align | Create shared understanding | Warm — context + facts |
| Recommend | Drive evidence-based decision | Inflection — logic + evidence |
| Persuade | Overcome resistance, get commitment | Hot — evidence + emotion |
| Inspire | Change beliefs, mobilize action | Emotional — vision + transformation |
Match intent to arc. See story-arcs.md for the 20 available arcs.
Step 4: Bridging & Sequencing
Tool: Bridge Patterns Purpose: Create logical bridges between slides so each one leads naturally to the next.
The Bridge Test: Can you remove any slide without breaking the flow? If yes, remove it. If no, it's properly bridged.
Default sequence template: Intro → Problem → Evidence → Solution → Call to Action
Key principle: Every slide must answer "why does this come next?" The audience should never wonder why you switched topics.
Types of bridges:
- Logical: "Because of this... therefore..."
- Contrast: "But on the other hand..."
- Temporal: "Then... next... finally..."
- Causal: "This led to... which caused..."
Step 5: Rhythm & Tension (Sparklines)
Tool: Sparklines (Nancy Duarte) Purpose: Manage emotional pacing through oscillation between "What Is" and "What Could Be."
Emotion
▲
│ ╱╲ ╱╲ ╱╲
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ "New Bliss"
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱
│ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱
│╱ What Is ╲╱ What Is ╲╱ What Is
└──────────────────────────────────► Time
"What Could Be" oscillates higher each time
The Pattern:
- Show "What Is" (current painful reality)
- Show "What Could Be" (desired future)
- Repeat — each time raising the stakes
- End with "New Bliss" — the transformed reality
5 Story Moments every presentation needs:
| Moment | Purpose | Placement |
|---|---|---|
| The Shock | Wake up the audience with a startling fact | Early (first 20%) |
| The Vision | Paint a compelling picture of the future | After problem established |
| The Proof | Build credibility with undeniable evidence | After vision |
| The Choice | Create urgency with a fork in the road | Near end |
| The Call | Drive specific action with clear next steps | Final |
Step 6: Plausibility Loop & Evidence Mapping
Tool: Plausibility Loop (Consulting Practice) Purpose: Map every claim to supporting evidence before building any slides.
The Acid Test: "Does your story actually match your data?"
Process:
- List every claim your presentation makes
- For each claim, identify: Do you have evidence? What type?
- Mark status: Validated / Gap / Pending
- Fill gaps before proceeding
Evidence hierarchy (strongest to weakest):
- Internal proprietary data (your numbers)
- External research (credible third parties)
- Case studies (specific, named examples)
- Expert opinion (attributed quotes)
- Analogies (logical comparisons)
- Anecdotes (illustrative stories)
Evidence types for slides:
| Type | When to use | Visual format |
|---|---|---|
| Statistics | Proving scale or trend | Big number, chart |
| Case studies | Showing proof of concept | Before/after, timeline |
| Benchmarks | Showing competitive gap | Comparison chart |
| Expert quotes | Building authority | Quote slide |
| Frameworks | Explaining approach | Diagram |
| Demos | Showing capability | Screenshot, video |
Step 7: Claims as Headlines (Action Titles)
Tool: Action Title Transformation Purpose: Transform every descriptive header into an insight-driven headline.
The "So What?" Cascade:
- Start with the fact: "Our churn rate is 8%"
- "So what?" → "That's 2x the industry average"
- "So what?" → "We're losing $3.4M per year"
- "So what?" → "We lose our #2 position in 18 months" The deepest answer becomes your action title.
Before/After examples:
| Descriptive (bad) | Action Title (good) |
|---|---|
| "Revenue Chart" | "Revenue grew 10% YoY driven by APAC expansion" |
| "Sales Data" | "Sales up 40% despite market contraction" |
| "Customer Feedback" | "3 of our top 10 accounts cite reporting as #1 pain" |
| "Market Overview" | "Mid-market mobile is a $50B blind spot competitors miss" |
| "Next Steps" | "Approving $2M today secures our Q3 launch window" |
| "Financial Summary" | "Margins declined 3pts as we invested in platform scale" |
The Headline Test: Read all slide titles in order. Do they tell the complete story without any body text?
Step 8: Data Visualization
Tools: 3-Second Rule, Data-Ink Ratio (Edward Tufte), Chart Selection Matrix Purpose: Every slide communicates its core message in 3 seconds.
The 3-Second Rule
If someone can't grasp the main point of your slide within 3 seconds, it's too complex. Simplify.
Data-Ink Ratio
Maximize the proportion of ink devoted to data. Remove:
- Unnecessary gridlines
- Redundant labels
- Decorative elements
- 3D effects
- Excessive legends
Chart Selection
| Message | Chart Type |
|---|---|
| Comparison | Bar chart (horizontal for many items) |
| Trend over time | Line chart |
| Part of whole | Stacked bar or pie (max 5 segments) |
| Distribution | Histogram or box plot |
| Relationship | Scatter plot |
| Flow/Process | Sankey or process diagram |
| Geographic | Map |
| Single big number | Big stat layout |
Reveal Strategy
| Strategy | When to use |
|---|---|
| Headline first | When audience needs the conclusion immediately (exec audiences) |
| Progressive | When building understanding step by step (technical audiences) |
| Dramatic reveal | When surprise amplifies the point (emotional moments) |
Step 9: Metaphor & Clarity
Tool: Polish & Clarify Framework Purpose: Make abstract concepts concrete and instantly relatable.
The Flash Boys Example (Michael Lewis)
- Abstract: "High-frequency trading operates at 13ms round-trip latency"
- Relatable scale: "A human eye blink takes 300ms"
- Story: "In the time it takes to blink, 23 trades execute"
The 3-Phase Transformation
- Metaphor: Abstract → Familiar
- "AI is not a destination, it's oxygen — you can't compete without it"
- Scale: Technical → Relatable
- "100M users = More than the population of Germany, in 2 months"
- Annotation: Data → Story
- Don't just show the chart — call out the one number that matters
Quality test
- Can a non-expert understand this?
- Would someone share this analogy with others?
- Does the metaphor strengthen the argument or just decorate it?