How do you present your market research and analysis?

Customizing your research and analysis to drive actionable insights is one of the critical aspects of a Consulting presentation. The senior leadership C-suite prefers to have the key takeaways discussed in detail; someone from the technical team would be more interested in understanding the finer details and basis of analysis. We often include the summary followed by a deep dive into market research within our presentation to allow for discussion across our audience's needs.

Difference audience/stakeholders have different expectations/areas of interest from the same research & analysis. The management is interested in more strategic implications whereas mid-level & junior-level employees are interested in more tactical outcomes. Similarly, management level employees would want a summarized analysis along with headline messages & implications. On the other hand, mid-level & junior-level employees would be more keen to understand the methodology, nuances & a detailed analysis. Thus, it is very necessary to know the audience to whom the research & analysis will be presented.

Good quality research & analysis is one half of the job. The other half is to communicate the same to the audience. While presenting the research & analysis to the audience, it is of utmost importance to ensure that the presentation is well structured & easy to follow for the audience. A good presentation usually involves with an executive summary which quickly explains the entire exercise the outcomes. Then a detailed presentation follows which gives a detailed context, the approach followed & the key results. This is followed by the key insights & implications.

“If you can't explain it to a six-year-old, then you don't understand it yourself” Albert Einstein. Often times people will work hard to present their ideas in a way that feels official or proves how deeply they know their industry, rather than in a way that is consumable to anyone. Try to present your ideas in a way that a 1st grader could at least understand the basics of. You will impress people more by helping them make strong connections and build an understanding than you will by using big words or industry jargon.

Some key points to be kept in mind while deciding on the use of language in research & analysis presentations are - a) Be clear & ensure there is no vagueness b) Avoid using super-complex words. In case any technical words are used, please make sure that the same has been explained to be understood by a layman c) Ensure consistency is language throughout the presentation d) Customize the language as per the audience e) Keep the audience engaged through use of examples, fun facts, trivia, etc

The best presentations are ones that are visually appealing and describe one idea per slide. A good clean slide with ample white space appeals greatly from the audience's POV and helps capture their attention. Details are critical to a presentation - include your sources, footnotes, currency signs, and units (millions and billions). Another best practice is to see the ordering of the slides to ensure it fits into the overall storyline that is being construed.

A good delivery of the presentation requires practice & preparation. The presentation should be well rehearsed including the timing, pauses, speed, voice modulations, body movement & expressions. One should also try & anticipate potential questions that could be asked by the audience & prepare suitable responses for the same. Over a period, the time required to be devoted to preparation decreases as one gains more experience of doing presentations.

Keep it short, simple, and actionable. People are busy. They don't have time to read droves of information. Give them something they can put to use immediately. Make it easy for them to benefit from what you are telling them.