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Part XII

PART XII: The Presentation Structure

A strong case solution still needs to be understood. Once the analysis is complete, the alternatives have been evaluated, and the recommendation has been developed, your team must decide how to communicate the solution as a clear and persuasive story. The presentation should help the judges move logically from:

Here is the situation → Here is the problem → Here is what we discovered → Here is what we should do → Here is why it will work.

There is no single perfect presentation structure. The characteristics of the case, the audience, the time available, and the complexity of your solution should determine what belongs in the presentation and how much emphasis each element receives. The structure serves the story. The story serves the decision.

Chapter 17: The Winning Case Story

Video: Good to Winning: How to Turn a Solid Case Solution into a Podium-Winning One

A case presentation is not a collection of slides. It is an argument.

Your team has spent hours deciphering the case, conducting analysis, developing alternatives, making decisions, building financial models, and designing an implementation plan. The judges do not need to see everything you did. They need to understand what you learned and why it leads to your recommendation. The challenge is therefore not: How do we fit all our analysis into the presentation? It is: What does the audience need to understand, believe, and remember to support our recommendation? That is the foundation of the winning case story.

Start With the Destination

Before building slides, complete this sentence: If the judges remember only one thing from our presentation, we want them to remember __________. That is your central message. Then ask: What does the audience need to understand for that message to be credible? This begins to determine the presentation structure.

The Case Story Architecture

A strong presentation can often draw from the following elements:

1. Title

Position the audience and your role. The title slide should quickly establish:

  • the organisation and audience;

  • the timing;

  • the strategic challenge;

  • your team;

  • and, where appropriate, the central idea.

Do not waste valuable presentation time on unnecessary introductions. Get the audience oriented and move into the story.

2. Executive Summary

Give the judges the destination. In many business situations, executives want to know the answer early. An executive summary can quickly communicate:

  • the problem;

  • the high-level recommendation;

  • why it works;

  • the expected impact;

  • and the major implementation direction.

Think of it as: Tell them where you are going before you explain how you got there. This allows the judges to understand the purpose of the analysis that follows.

3. Situation

What is happening? Provide the context the audience needs to understand the decision. You might establish:

  • the organisation's current position;

  • the market;

  • customers;

  • competitors;

  • financial performance;

  • or an important change in the environment.

But be selective. The judges have usually read the case. Do not spend several minutes retelling it. Your job is to interpret the situation, not summarise the case.

4. Complication

What has changed? This is where the tension enters the story. Perhaps:

  • profitability is declining;

  • customer behaviour has changed;

  • a competitor has entered;

  • costs are increasing;

  • technology is disrupting the market;

  • an opportunity has emerged;

  • stakeholder expectations have changed.

The complication answers: Why does management need to act now? Without tension, there is no reason for the decision.

5. Question

What decision needs to be made? Convert the situation and complication into a clear decision question. For example:

  • How can the organisation restore profitable growth without weakening its premium positioning?
  • Should the company build, buy, or partner to acquire the digital capabilities required for growth?

A strong question focuses the rest of the presentation. The audience now knows exactly what you are trying to answer.

6. Analysis

What did we discover? This is where you present the insights that matter to the decision. Remember Chapter 6: Analysis is not a fact dump.

  • Do not show every framework you completed.
  • Do not present every calculation.
  • Do not walk the judges through your entire case-solving process.
  • Show the analysis that supports the argument.

Think: FACT → INSIGHT → IMPLICATION. For example: Customer churn has increased 15% is less powerful than: Declining retention among the company's highest-value customers is now the largest driver of lost profitability. The second statement tells the judges what matters.

7. Alternatives

What could the organisation do? Show that you considered credible strategic choices. The alternatives should:

  • emerge from the analysis;

  • address the problem;

  • be realistic;

  • be meaningfully different;

  • and be credible enough that management could reasonably consider them.

Remember: Alternatives are not a buffet. You are demonstrating that your recommendation was chosen from genuine strategic choices.

8. Decision Criteria

How did we determine which option was best? Explain what matters to the organisation. Depending on the case, criteria might include:

  • strategic fit;

  • financial impact;

  • customer impact;

  • capability fit;

  • risk;

  • implementation speed;

  • stakeholder impact.

The criteria make your decision logic visible. The judges should be able to see:see Why doeswhy this alternative win?wins.

9. Recommendation

What should the organisation do? Now make the decision clear. Return to the recommendation formula:

We recommend [ACTION] because [KEY REASON], which will deliver [KEY IMPACT].

Do not bury the recommendation. Do not make the judges infer it. State it clearly and confidently. By this point in the story, it should feel like the logical conclusion of everything that came before it.

10. Financial Impact

Does it work economically? Show the financial consequences of the recommendation. Depending on the case, this might include:

  • investment required;

  • revenue impact;

  • cost impact;

  • profit impact;

  • ROI;

  • NPV;

  • IRR;

  • break-even;

  • cash flow;

  • sensitivity analysis.

But remember: The spreadsheet is not the story. The audience usually needs the financial insight, not every calculation behind it. For example: The $4.5 million investment generates an expected 31% ROI and reaches break-even in Year 2, while remaining profitable under our downside scenario. That is much more useful than displaying a spreadsheet full of numbers.

11. Implementation

How will it happen? Demonstrate that the recommendation can move from strategy to action. Show:

  • what happens;

  • who owns it;

  • when it happens;

  • what resources are required;

  • what capabilities are needed;

  • and how success will be measured.

Whenever possible: Show implementation. Don't describe it. Use a timeline, phased roadmap, Gantt chart, decision gates, or another clear visual structure.

12. Risk & Mitigation

What could go wrong? Show that you understand the uncertainty surrounding the recommendation. Focus on the risks that could materially affect success. Then connect: RISK → MITIGATION → ACTION. Where appropriate, also identify:

  • owners;

  • KPIs;

  • triggers;

  • contingencies.

The objective is not to make the recommendation look risk-free. It is to demonstrate that the risk is manageable.

13. Future Considerations

What comes later? During a case, your team may identify several good ideas that do not belong in the immediate recommendation. Do not force them into the strategy. Instead, consider separating them as future considerations.

For example:

  • NOW
    • Launch the pilot in the existing market.
  • NEXT
    • Scale nationally after validating the economics.
  • FUTURE
    • Consider international expansion once capabilities and market demand are proven.

This keeps the current recommendation focused without pretending that other opportunities do not exist.

14. Close

Bring the audience back to the story. Do not end with: "And that's our presentation. Thank you." Your close is an opportunity to reinforce the central argument. Reconnect: Problem → Recommendation → Impact. For example: The challenge is not simply declining customer growth. It is the loss of the company's highest-value customers. By prioritising retention, strengthening the customer experience, and scaling only after the pilot proves the economics, the organisation can restore profitable growth while protecting its premium position.

The judges should leave the presentation remembering the decision and why it matters.

15. Q&A

Defend the solution. The presentation may be finished. The case is not. Q&A allows the judges to test:

  • your assumptions;

  • your analysis;

  • your financial model;

  • your implementation;

  • your risks;

  • and your understanding of the organisation.

Strong teams do not treat Q&A as something separate from the case solution. It is the final stage of communicating and defending the recommendation.

Don't Confuse the Architecture With a Slide List

This is one of the most important principles in this chapter. The 15 elements do not mean: You need at least 15 slides.

  • Several elements may appear on one slide.
  • Some may not need their own slide at all.
  • Others may require several slides.
  • Some may not belong in the presentation.

For example,

  • A short case might move quickly from: Situation → Insight → Recommendation → Financial Impact → Implementation
  • A complex strategic choice might require much more emphasis on: Alternatives → Criteria → Evaluation → Recommendation
  • An implementation-focused case might spend most of its presentation on: Recommendation → Implementation → Change → Risk → KPIs

The structure depends on the case.

Decipher the Presentation

Return to the principle established earlier in the manual: Decipher the characteristics of the case. Then ask:

  • What does the audience already know?

  • What do they need to understand?

  • What will they challenge?

  • What analysis actually changes the decision?

  • What evidence must we show?

  • What can we leave out?

  • Where should we spend our limited presentation time?

The answers determine the structure.

The Evidence Test

For every slide, ask: What role does this slide play in our argument? Does it:

  • establish the problem?

  • provide evidence?

  • create an insight?

  • eliminate an alternative?

  • justify the recommendation?

  • demonstrate financial feasibility?

  • explain implementation?

  • manage risk?

  • reinforce the close?

If you cannot explain why the slide is necessary, consider removing it.

Less Can Be More

Case teams frequently struggle with presentation time because they try to communicate too much. The solution is not always to speak faster. It is often to make harder strategic choices about what deserves presentation time. You may have identified:

  • six problems;

  • twelve insights;

  • four customer segments;

  • seven risks;

  • three secondary opportunities.

That does not mean all of them belong in the presentation. Focus on the information required to support the central decision. Other analysis can help prepare your team for Q&A. Your presentation is not a record of everything your team did. It is the clearest argument for what the organisation should do.

The Winning Case Story Test

Before finalising your deck, ask:

  • PROBLEM Can the judges clearly explain the problem?
  • TENSION Do they understand why action is required?
  • QUESTION Is the decision clear?
  • INSIGHT Have we shown what we discovered rather than simply what we found?
  • CHOICE Have we demonstrated that credible alternatives existed?
  • LOGIC Can the judges see why our alternative wins?
  • RECOMMENDATION Can they repeat what we recommend?
  • FINANCIALS Can they see that it makes economic sense?
  • IMPLEMENTATION Can they see how the organisation will execute it?
  • RISK Can they see that we understand what could go wrong?
  • IMPACT Do they understand what success looks like?
  • STORY Does everything connect?

If one of these pieces is missing, there may be a gap in your argument.

Discover Your Mad Skills Principle

Don't build the presentation around the slides you created. Build the slides around the story you need to tell.

The presentation structure exists to help the audience understand your thinking. It should never become a rigid formula.

The Bottom Line

The Winning Case Story
  • A case presentation should function as one connected argument, not a collection of independent sections.
  • A useful overall structure may include:
  1. Title
  2. Executive Summary
  3. Situation
  4. Complication
  5. Question
  6. Analysis
  7. Alternatives
  8. Decision Criteria
  9. Recommendation
  10. Financial Impact
  11. Implementation
  12. Risk & Mitigation
  13. Future Considerations
  14. Close
  15. Q&A
  • This is an architecture, not a mandatory template.
  • Deciphering the case characteristics of the case determines which sections deserve the most attention.
  • A financially complex case may require more financial proof. An execution case may require substantially more implementation detail.
  • Each section should answer a question created by the previous section.
  • Remove sections that do not contribute meaningfully to the argument.
  • The presentation should move logically from:

    • WHAT IS HAPPENING → WHY IT MATTERS → WHAT WE SHOULD DO → WHY IT WILL WORK → HOW WE WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN

    There is no perfect case presentation structure. There is only the structure that best communicates the solution to this case, this audience, and this situation.

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