Did Hamlet realise he was describing one of the classic business storylines when he uttered those immortal words, 'to be or not to be'? Well, probably not.

But, in business we are often asked to assess options and make a recommendation.

Too often we see leaders asserting that everyone should follow the option they are recommendation, without explaining why it is the right option. They just say 'follow me', which is often ineffective if the audience doesn't have anything else to go on.

Instead, our classic storyline pattern - To B or Not to B (based on the Minto Pyramid Principle) - takes the audience on the journey through the thinking that makes the case for your preferred option before explaining how to implement it.

This template offers an annotated example that you can then use to cut and paste your own content into.

Prepared by Davina Stanley and Gerard Castles of Clarity College, it will save you time and effort as you no longer need to prepare your deck from scratch.

Davina and Gerard began their careers helping others communicate clearly when they joined McKinsey as communication specialists more than two decades ago.

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