How do consultants build and revise a project storyline and slides?

1. Initial storyboarding

Yes and no. At the very beginning you have a framework. As time progressed you start to create the storyboard. This gets revised in interations as new information comes in, and, especially, when the Partners / Principals get their eyes on it.

2. Reiterate findings and revise the storyline

Both. You might have a full re-build or regutting. However, the best consultants/project leads know how to take Partner feedback and tweak/adjust what has been already done.

• It might be moving slides around.

• It might be rewording the framework

• It might be cutting/addiing specific slides

And please, remember, this isn't a 2-step process but rather a continuous process of iteration.

Here are some PowerPoint Tips

I recommend that you start to approach it this way: boil down good vs bad design into principles, determine the key things to check in a slide, identify what small tweak changes a slide from looking average to awesome.

For example:

• Always align items on your slide

• Look to keep even spacing and sizing between multiple items (i.e. if I have 4 icons down the left column, I make them the exact same size, and set them all to be equidistant from each other)

• Use colors to highlight focus areas and draw the eye - but don't overuse colors! (Maybe my first column will be dark blue with white text, if it's asking the key questions we have. Or maybe if I have a "summary" or 3 takeaways on a slide I'll bold + add color to the specific words/phreases that each takeaway is really addressing)

• Identify what you are trying to achieve from the slide and then pick your template - there are probably 5 template I cycle through based on what I need. Coloring + content make them look different from each other, but boiled down, they're all quite simple (i.e. a table slide, a sequence slide, a 3 key takeaways slide, etc. etc.)