How do you present financial analysis findings?

1 Know your audience

Before you start creating your presentation, you need to understand who you are presenting to and what they expect from you. Are they senior managers, investors, clients, or colleagues? What is their level of financial literacy and familiarity with your topic? What are their main interests, concerns, and questions? How much detail and technicality do they need or want? Knowing your audience will help you tailor your presentation to their needs, preferences, and goals. It will also help you anticipate and address any potential objections or challenges they may have.

2 Choose your format

Depending on your audience, purpose, and context, you may have different options for the format of your presentation. You may use slides, handouts, reports, dashboards, or other visual aids to support your verbal delivery. You may also have different time constraints and delivery modes, such as face-to-face, online, or hybrid. Whatever format you choose, make sure it is appropriate, consistent, and professional. Use clear and simple language, avoid jargon and acronyms, and use charts, graphs, tables, and images to illustrate your findings. Make sure your format is easy to read, follow, and understand.

3 Structure your content

A well-structured presentation can help you organize your content, guide your audience, and emphasize your key messages. A common structure for a financial presentation is to start with an introduction that provides background and context for your analysis, states objectives and scope, and summarizes main findings and recommendations. The body of the presentation should present data, methods, assumptions, and results in a logical and coherent order. Use headings, subheadings, and transitions to create a clear flow between points. Explain the meaning and implications of your findings in relation to objectives and audience interests, provide evidence and examples to support claims, and address any limitations or risks of the analysis. To conclude, review main findings and recommendations, emphasizing their value and relevance. Provide a clear call to action and invite feedback or questions from the audience.

4 Practice and refine

Before you deliver your presentation, you need to practice and refine it. Practice will help you improve your confidence, delivery, and timing. It will also help you identify and fix any errors, gaps, or inconsistencies in your content or format. You can practice by yourself, with a colleague, or with a test audience. Ask for constructive feedback, and use it to make adjustments and improvements. You can also use tools and resources to check your grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style.

5 Engage and interact

During your presentation, you need to engage and interact with your audience in order to capture their attention, interest, and trust. To do this, use a friendly and confident tone that varies in pitch, pace, and volume. Make eye contact, smile, and use body language to illustrate your points. Tell stories and anecdotes to connect with your audience, as well as ask questions and encourage participation. Handle questions and objections professionally and respectfully. Presenting financial analysis findings can be challenging but also rewarding. By following these tips, you can prepare and deliver a successful financial presentation that informs, persuades, and impresses your audience.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?