Page 129 - The McKinsey Mind

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104 The McKinsey Mind

chapter, we will show you how to keep your ideas out of that pile.
If there is a stereotype of McKinsey in the minds of business-
people, it is the image of a formal presentation conducted by men
in dark suits and white shirts around the boardroom table. This
image grows increasingly out of date in today’s business environ-
ment; the Firm does far fewer formal presentations than it did 10
years ago. However, the men and women of McKinsey continue
to rely on presentations in one form or another to convey ideas to
the Firm’s clients. To this end, McKinsey has developed a highly
effective set of presentation and communication skills for its con-
sultants to use.
In the experience of our McKinsey alumni, these skills, more
than any others they learned at the Firm, translate almost unal-
tered to other organizations. With them, McKinsey alumni get
their ideas across—and get them accepted. McKinsey-style presen-
tations work so well that one alumnus even called them an unfair
advantage. You can have that advantage, too.
In this chapter, we examine two aspects of presentation à la
McKinsey. First, we describe how to structure your presentation
to maximize its impact on your audience. Second, we detail tech-
niques for generating buy-in for your ideas from your audience.

STRUCTURE

McKinsey spends a lot of time training its consultants to structure
their presentations, and they take this training seriously—even if
it often takes place in exotic locations near good golf courses.
When it comes to presentation, McKinsey consultants learn that a
presentation must convey ideas to the audience in the clearest,
most convincing way possible. To ensure that your presentation