How to build a McKinsey-style consulting deck from scratch

In consulting, how you present your insights is just as important as what you’re presenting. McKinsey-style decks offer a structured approach that can reach audiences and persuade them, as they are known for clarity, logic, and data-driven storytelling. This helps consultants share complex ideas in a more approachable and actionable way. Here, we’ll be breaking down the key elements of a McKinsey-style presentation, from the essential slides to include and the best ways to organize the information.

Benefits of McKinsey presentation slides

Using a McKinsey approach to consulting presentations allows presenters to structure their content in a way that boosts its clarity. The structure is used to present the main conclusion or takeaway upfront and then share the supporting information in a clear flow. This way, the audience can remain attentive and absorb the ideas more easily, reducing the cognitive load.

Another thing about McKinsey presentations is that they are rooted in logic, which makes them instantly more persuasive. Backing up any statement with cold, hard data helps eliminate any doubts, and then a narrative element can be woven into it to create an emotional connection. Thus, presenters can give a compelling case for their data.

Lastly, the simple and clean formatting that most McKinsey slides rely on reflects the speaker’s professionalism. A polished slide deck enhances a company’s reputation and makes listeners more receptive to what they have to say.

In the end, the main perks of a McKinsey-style slide deck are its efficiency, the way it simplifies complex information, and its evidence-based approach.

Understanding the McKinsey slide structure

When preparing to create slides in the McKinsey style, it’s best to understand the components and structure first. Common structures include:

The Pyramid Principle

The pyramid principle, developed by former McKinsey consultant Barbara Minto, is a way of structuring communication. The premise is to start with the main message or takeaway to leave the audience and then follow it with the supporting arguments, which are grouped logically. Any point you share must be backed with data and examples that justify each argument.

For example, a company needs to invest in its marketing efforts; that would be the main conclusion. The supporting arguments would be that the customer expectations have changed and the marketing expectations have changed, mentioning the competitive advantages and ROI potential. Then, they would provide the numbers that back up the arguments.

The MECE Framework

The MECE framework is a framework that organizes the supporting arguments to effectively boost the main argument. It is organized into these two sections:

Mutually exclusive: Every point should be unique and not overlap with the content.

Collectively exhaustive: All points combined should cover the entire range of the argument.

We discuss the MECE framework in more detail in our blog right here. To optimize this approach, you can avoid duplicating points by categorizing and sorting similar ideas with their supporting data. Also, apply principles of hierarchy to arrange the points based on their impact.

Emphasis on data-driven insights

Data plays an important role in reinforcing key messages and establishing the presenter’s credibility. Therefore, a McKinsey deck requires both quantitative and qualitative data to bolster their ideas. Quantitative data is usually numbers, statistics, charts, etc., whereas qualitative data is typically insights from experts, case studies, or testimonials.

The best practice, in this case, is to be selective with your data and only incorporate data that directly supports your point rather than overstuffing slides with unhelpful information. Data should be presented clearly in a format that helps make it digestible for the audience. If the material includes a lot of data, you can then work with a dashboard layout that simplifies large datasets.

Planning your consulting deck

To create an effective consulting deck using a McKinsey approach, you should begin by determining the purpose of your presentation. Here are simple steps to begin structuring your content:

Define the core message: Start with the conclusion. What is the decision you want your audience to make? Share the main takeaway before going into the “why.”

Identify supporting data: Gather the research, case studies, statistics, and financial background to reinforce the main ideas.

Determine the story’s key points: Based on the message and data, write the key points of the presentation’s story to begin sequencing it.

Map out the narrative: Arrange the data and slides to follow a clear, logical progression that makes sense to the audience.

Once you finalize the storyboard, you can now move on to creating the actual presentation and presentation slides.

Essential slides in a McKinsey-style deck

When creating a McKinsey-style slide deck, there are basic sections and slides that must be featured in each presentation. These include:

The front page: 

The purpose of the front page is to create a strong first impression through a strong, concise title, a subtitle that provides more context, the company name, and the date. This gives a professional introduction to the presentation.

The executive summary: 

The executive summary is a vital component of a consulting presentation, as it serves as a comprehensive overview of the entire presentation’s main argument and supporting evidence.

Although creating this slide might take some effort, it’s important to enable busy executives to grasp key insights and recommendations at a glance. Typically, an executive summary consists of four main components: a clear problem statement, an overview of the possible solutions, actionable recommendations, and the impact.

We talked more about how to create an executive summary in our blog right here.

Body of slides: 

The presentation’s body is the central section that examines the quantitative and qualitative content. To avoid overwhelming your audience, you can structure each slide to be clear and engaging by focusing on three main elements: the action title, the subheadings, and the slide body.

The action title should communicate the main takeaway; a strong action title acts more like a news headline and captures the reader’s attention and summarizes the slide’s content. The subheading gives a brief summary of the evidence to support the action title’s insight or provide additional context. As for the slide body, it should be dedicated to the content and data that support the action title. The idea is to share value-driven insights, which can look like text, graphs, tables, or any other format of data visualization.

Ideally, the body slides would follow a vertical and horizontal structure to create an effective narrative flow. You can read more about that here.

Recommendation: 

This section is to outline the action points needed to effectively tackle the challenge being addressed. For impactful recommendations, it helps to organize them into categories based on the group or individual to make them more actionable. The recommendations should be specific; if they’re too vague, it becomes challenging to implement them well.

Key takeaways: 

To make it easier for the audience to grasp the main message, highlight the key takeaways or the “so what?” of the presentation. These takeaways share why the data matters; they clarify the purpose behind the presentation even when the audience doesn’t have enough time to absorb all the details. The “so what?” provides context for the data and highlights the positive impact.

Appendix: 

The appendix is a space where you can include any additional information that doesn’t directly serve the presentation’s main narrative yet is still relevant and helpful for the audience to know. This helps keep the main story focused without compromising or letting go of data and information that can strengthen your argument.

A McKinsey slide deck uses structured storytelling, data-driven insights, and clear visual arrangement to communicate complicated ideas to drive action. By utilizing the above strategies, you can turn presentations into influence assets that help drive outcomes. A strategic recommendation shared through McKinsey’s approach guarantees that your message is memorable. At Prezlab, we offer presentation consulting services to ensure that your slides are effective and impactful. To learn more, you can reach out to our team and get started!