How can you design slides for consulting presentations with sensitive or confidential information?

Placeholder text, watermarks, and verbal explanations can be used in place of displaying sensitive information directly on slides. Access to presentation materials should be restricted to only those who have a need to know.

I consult a bit differently than most. I would never prepare confidential slides. I never deliver confidential information to my my clients. In my consulting practice, they need to do that. It’s their work and it’s their information. I help them figure out what they want to do, and how to collect their data, but they do all the collecting organizing, and the presenting of their own data, I practice action research and I don’t operate off an expert model.

If the content is going to be distributed internally, I password protect the file. If I am sharing the content over email, I add restrictions to the email (e.g. do not forward, encryption). Otherwise I will remove all sensitive/confidential information and data before sharing it by doing a Find/Replace exercise removing client names and also removing all sensitive/confidential information and replacing it with mock data if the purpose of sharing the documents is just to see the approach or methodology for a given engagement.

Inspite of disclaimers, labels, etc you have little control over who will share the information. Best is to mask the confidential data and verbalize it during presentation. That way, in the worst case, if the private data goes out, it would be more hearsay than actual proof.

Classify the content appropriately, in this case, as "Client Confidential", so that the client understands that the content is for his / her consumption only and is not expected to share to any one else. If the data is sourced from a third party, then give attribution to such party.

Absolutely, always mask any private data. There are so many ways you can do it eg. if it's a client name, you can just put - Fortune 500 brand in US or Fortune 500 Brand in Automotive, etc

Gaining the trust of your clients while displaying anonymized data is an art. Different people have different appetites and understandings of anonymized data. Justifying why it is anonymous is a big part of your verbal communication strategy. You’ve got to understand your audience well prior to deciding how to analyze, visualize and represent the data to them.

This is the most effective way of when designing consulting slides for the following 3 scenarios: 1) Marketing case study 2) Anecdotal slides to showcase your experience and expertise with other customers 3) Presenting market research The most common method used always is to anonymize the organisation name with words like: Global / A specific country name (like UK's Major banking player) / Fortune 500 leader in / Gartner leader in, etc.

Masking the data can be very useful to protect sensitive information from leaking out, but even then sometimes it’s not enough especially if the data is very obvious to the audience due to its uniqueness. How much the masked data still stands out really depends on the your audience, so have a trial run of your presentation and get some feedback on how you want to mask it.

If you can use descriptors without specifying the client’s name, that will equally help your case. Some examples of this would be “Fortune500 Martech Company” or “Grammy-nominated Hip Hop Producer.”

One thing that I have found that is helpful is that instead of giving exact data a bar chart for comparisons or pie chart for percentages can be used. I this way the privacy of the data is maintained and at the same time the essence of the data can be shared.

With grouping, you can also build a framework around a summary of ideas to show key pain points / challenges, opportunities, trends, market offerings, drivers, levers, enablers, benefits, etc. that apply to certain industries/ sectors or other groups.

Generalizing your data may be a good thing but the drawback is that it could dilute your message that you are trying to deliver. It all depends on how much ‘generalizing you do’. Find that fine line, and combine it with other methods will help you reach that Goldilocks Zone.

Here are six expert tips to achieve it: 1. Follow the 10/20/30 Rule: Limit slides to 10, 20-minute presentations, and use a 30-point font to maintain focus and confidentiality. 2. Organise Information Clearly: Avoid overcrowded slides. Use headings and bullet points to structure content. 3. Avoid Visual Clutter: Use colors and graphics sparingly, prioritizing readability. 4. Watermarking: Adding a watermark can help safeguard your work and boost credibility. 5. Version Control: To track changes and prevent unauthorized disclosure of sensitive data. 6.Remove Metadata: When sharing a presentation that contains proprietary data, removing metadata is crucial to maintain the integrity of your consulting business.

While summarising, add key inferences to each of the graphs/table to ensure key messages are clear and there is no misinterpretation of data presented.

Also consider setting the password to expire every 60-90 days, where applicable. It is a good extra step when handing confidential information.

Data privacy/information protection is key. There is always that struggle/dilemma for most Consultants on how much or how little information you should put into a presentation. You don't want your ideas stolen or information flying all around, neither do you want to come across as not understanding the scope of work to be done. The line for me is to give enough to 'wet their appetite' and keep the main menu list intact.

Normally, rotating passwords is a chore. Just make it difficult enough for someone to give up trying to access the resource. In other cases, use open source sharing tools that have expiry date. E2E encrypted sharing like Proton Drive works too if the topic calls for it. Spoiler alert: 99% of the time it won't.

To my understanding, the best way to ensure you've properly secure your presentation and it's content would be : Encryption 1) Consider encrypting the file itself with a password. 2) Use secure file sharing methods and platforms that offer encryption during transmission Access Control: 1) Limit access to the slides to only those who need it. 2) Use password protection or access control settings on your presentation software. 3) Share access links securely, and avoid public sharing. Secure File Hosting: 1) Use trusted and secure file-hosting services for sharing your slides. 2) Ensure the hosting platform complies with relevant privacy regulations.

Adding to it. Create a summary table of key sensitive information from the main slide deck. Attach links to the secure or restricted data. That simplifies as the link with the confidential information has permissions controlled by the owner. You then can ensure right access, privileges are governed, granted and managed by owners of that information.

Discuss with the audience before the presentation. Use a link to a document with sensitive information within the presentation, keeping the document local.

Simplify legal stuff. Tell the audience simply and without jargon. They will appreciate it. If more details are necessary provide on a slide or in a document that goes in more detail. Add summary to that document that includes your talking points (6th grade level explanation is perfect).

Make sure you've ticked your side of the checklist: - Tell people whether the information being shared is to leave the room or not. - Have a disclaimer stated on the actual email if you end up sharing it online and on the front page of the presentation. - Respect the client and any 3rd party data, if you do not have an official source or permission - should you use it? - Check with legal counsel if you feel unsure at any point.

A good way to review your work is running it with your team in a informal meeting. Internal feedback is key and allows room for alignment.

As with all sensitive data, it's important that at least one colleague, preferably a couple, with the needed knowledge of the discussed topic should review and comment the presentation material before putting it in front of external contacts/customers. Both to ensure the correctness as well as making sure nothing confidential has been divulged.

Always test the technology and slides. Try practicing in front of a mirror pretending to be explaining it to 6 year old. If you can't explain all the details, you still need more prep time.

Consider the level of detailed data that you truly need to include in a presentation. In many cases exact information is not required. For example: - specific client scenarios could be abstracted into high level stories about a fictional company and solutions provided - textual descriptions of findings/results may be adequate (are numbers required?) - in many cases it is more valuable to reference source departments or lines of business vs individuals - reference the name of a report people could seek out if they require the detailed information

Designing slides for consulting presentations with sensitive or confidential information requires utmost care. Use watermarks or labels to clearly mark content as confidential. Minimize text and use visuals like charts or graphs to convey key points without revealing details. Consider using password protection or encryption for digital files. When presenting, control access to the screen or slides as needed. Always follow your client's guidelines and security protocols. Ultimately, prioritize discretion and ensure that your presentation materials are handled with the utmost confidentiality and professionalism.

One of the most clear ways of making sure confidentiality is at it's highest is making sure that before participants engage in the presentation, they agree to a confidentiality agreement. In our business, we require that as part of our initial proposal and require participants to sign it before the day of the talk or event. If they haven't, making it easily accessible on a digital form is a quick way to guarantee we are all on the same page and avoids confusion of sharing confidential information. Finally - when preparing any documents to share, whether pdf or interactive slides from the day, all are accessible only through a temporary link access. It's a way to control forwarding outputs and prevent sharing proprietary information.

Simplify. Always try to make things simpler. Then, add more details in slide notes or in a different place for those who want to learn more. Never waste time with details because people get bored very quickly.

Sensitive information should never be on slides, while confidential ones can be used very sparingly if they are sectioned (lack of full picture - the remainder is solely verbal and limited), anonymized and if needed the audience, if nit already privy to all the data, can be asked to sign an NDA. It might sound extremely restrictive, but considering the nature of such data and the risk & cost of breaches and leaks, the restrictive and highly aware approach is best. Also, regardless of disclaimers, certain liability still rests with the consultant so consider regulating it in the consultancy contract as well.