Make the argument land

A consulting deck is an argument, not decoration: lead with the answer, prove it beside the claim, close with the decision. This deck is built that way — and shows you how.

02 Part one
Part one

The case, in four moves

Answer first, then the evidence, the options, and the decision.

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03 Horizontal logic

Lead every slide with the answer, not the label

A topic label

"Q3 revenue"

Tells the reader nothing. They have to dig for the point.

An action title

"Revenue grew 18%, carried by enterprise"

Read the titles alone, top to bottom — the whole story is there.

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04 In one slide
Executive summary

Buy the platform and partner on delivery — faster, cheaper and lower-risk

  • 01

    Building in-house takes nine months and carries the most risk for the least control gained.

  • 02

    A platform ships in three months and covers 80% of the requirement out of the box.

  • 03

    A delivery partner closes the gap with no permanent headcount commitment.

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05 Structure

Break the question into parts that don’t overlap

The question

How do we grow margin?

Branch A

Sell more

New logos, larger deals, less churn.

Branch B

Charge better

Pricing, packaging, discount discipline.

Branch C

Spend less

Cost to serve, automation, vendors.

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06 Evidence

Put the evidence right beside the claim

A claim earns belief when the proof sits next to it, not three slides later.

  • ·The text states the so-what
  • ·The chart carries the number
  • ·One reads the other

Source: illustrative.

FY22FY23FY24
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07 Compare

Compare the segments on one shared scale

Same chart, same axis — so the eye compares shape, not scale.

EMEA
Americas
APAC

Source: illustrative.

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08 Evidence

Pair two lenses when one chart cannot carry the point

Different chart types, one message each — the title states the combined so-what.

Revenue share by segment
Enterprise · 54% Mid-market · 31% SMB · 15%
Growth by segment, % YoY
EnterpriseMid-marketSMB

Source: illustrative.

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09 Framework

Frame the choice on the two axes that matter

High value · Low effort

Do now

The obvious wins — start here.

High value · High effort

Plan

Worth it, but resource it properly.

Low value · Low effort

Maybe

Fill-ins, only if idle capacity.

Low value · High effort

Drop

Politely decline.

Higher value ↑
Lower effort
Higher effort
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10 Compare

Make every comparison a real table

OptionCostTimeRisk
Build in-houseHigh9 moHigh
Buy a platformMedium3 moLow
PartnerLow6 moMedium

Source: illustrative estimates.

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11 The numbers

Anchor the story in three numbers

18%
Revenue growth, year on year.
3.2x
Enterprise ARR since FY22.
−40%
Cost to serve, after automation.

Source: illustrative.

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12 The quarter

Review the quarter on one screen, one tile per question

Revenue, €m
Q1Q2Q3Q4
NPS trend
Q1Q2Q3Q4
Cost mix
People · 62% Tools · 23% Other · 15%
−40%
Cost to serve since FY22 — the number the board asked about.
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13 Drivers

Group your reasons so they don’t overlap

Demand

More buyers, larger contracts.

Delivery

Automation cut the cost to serve.

Pricing

A tier the market accepted.

Three drivers, no overlap — that is what MECE means.

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14 The plan

Hold four parallel moves on one screen

Workstream 1

Stabilise the core

Fix churn in the two at-risk accounts before anything else.

Workstream 2

Price the new tier

Launch the mid-market tier the pilot validated.

Workstream 3

Automate delivery

Roll the onboarding automation to every region.

Workstream 4

Staff the gap

Two hires in customer engineering by Q3.

Four cards, one glance — use a 2×2 of cards when the moves are parallel, a flow when they are sequential.

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15 How it works

Run it as four steps, not one big bang

Step 1

Diagnose

Step 2

Pilot

Step 3

Scale

Step 4

Embed

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16 So what
The point

A chart is not an argument. Say the so-what out loud — what should the reader now believe, and do, because of this number?

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17 Roadmap

Sequence the work over three horizons

0–3 months

Prove it

Pick two use-cases, ship one pilot, set the guardrails.

3–6 months

Scale it

Roll the winner to a full team; retire the manual path.

6–12 months

Embed it

Standardise tooling, train the org, make it the default.

The bet

Move fast on the pilot, slow on the platform — reversible steps first, lock-in last.

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18 Scorecard

Score the options where the numbers run out

Option
Cost
Speed
Risk
Fit
Build in-house
Buy a platform
Partner

○ none · ◕ partial · ● strong

Source: team assessment, illustrative.

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19 Value bridge

Margin moves from 90 to 100 across four levers

90
Start
+14
Price
−6
Mix
+10
Volume
−8
Cost
100
End
Increase Decrease Total

Source: margin bridge, FY23 → FY24 (illustrative).

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20 Open canvas

Free canvas — keep the header and footer, then compose any layout you like in this space. Text, boxes, inline SVG, a table or a chart all still convert to native, editable objects.

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21 Decision
Next steps

Close with the decision and the first step

Recommendation

Buy the platform; partner on delivery.

First step

Shortlist three vendors by month-end.

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