Presentation Skills for Consultants: How to Present Like a McKinsey Consultant
Strong presentation skills for consultants are not about beautiful slides — they are about making complex information easy to understand.
When consultants present, they often face an additional challenge: large amounts of data, limited time, and an audience that expects clarity and direction. In this article, you’ll see how top consulting firms like McKinsey structure their presentations to stay clear, persuasive, and engaging from start to finish.
And this all has to do with applying 2 concepts.
The “SCQA framework” and “the Pyramid Principle”.
Let us take a closer look at the SCQA framework. What does this framework do?
By applying it, you add story to your presentation. It makes it possible to quickly yet effectively bring the context across, before you dive into the content matter. This is the grounding work, so that everything after this step falls in fertile earth, metaphorically speaking. You start your presentation with this framework.
And I have just applied it on you readers ;-).
How?
SCQA stands for.
Situation.
Complication.
Question.
Answer.
Situation: this refers to the current status.
“When you make a presentation, you have one goal (irrespective of who your public is). And that is to make it as easy as possible for your audience to understand what you are telling them.” (Situation)
Complication: this refers to the complication, the problem.
“As if this task alone is not daunting enough, consultants (and other professionals that have a lot of data to present and have to convince their audience) have an extra challenge here and that is:
- “How to sort the pile of data and bring it across in a clear manner?
- How to get the audience, who is often quite impatient, on board and keep them tuned in to the end?
- How to present with calm, without worrying you will run out of time and thereby not getting your message across.” (Complication)
Question: this refers to the question. A direct or implicit question that is hidden in the given information.
“And this is exactly what the large firms do so well. They are masters in giving persuasive presentations for their clients.
They know to structure their slides and their story in a way, that makes it all clear, insightful, and engaging for their audience.” (implicit Question. How do they do that?)
Answer: the answer. That logically follows to the question.
“And this all has to do with applying 2 concepts. The “SCQA framework” and “the Pyramid Principle”.” (Answer)
The explanation of the answer then follows in the middle part of your presentation. On the contents of your middle part, you will consequently apply the Pyramid Principle concept. The SCQA will be used for your introduction slide.
Understanding these principles is one thing; applying them effectively in your own presentations is where the real difference is made.
Are you a consultant interested in applying these principles in your own presentations or within your team? Let’s have a conversation to explore what would work best in your context.
You can reach me at info@presentingwithimpact.nl or call +31 6 245 97 282.
No obligation — just a short conversation to explore your situation.
