Effective Message Structuring: Five Key Patterns


This PPT slide, part of the 56-slide Preparing Powerful Board Papers PowerPoint presentation, outlines five distinct grouping patterns designed to enhance the structuring of messages. Each pattern is named and accompanied by a brief description of its purpose and structure.

The first pattern, "NIKE," suggests a straightforward approach: "Do X to fix Y." This format is effective for presenting actionable steps, with the recommendation to list two to five steps prioritized by importance or time. This method emphasizes clarity and directness, making it suitable for urgent decision-making scenarios.

Next is "NUGGET," which focuses on evidence presentation. It encourages the communicator to state, "We found X," followed by two to five points of evidence ranked by magnitude. This pattern is particularly useful in analytical discussions where substantiation is critical.

The third pattern, "ALL IS WELL," conveys a positive status update. The phrase "We are in good shape" is paired with a recommendation to outline two to five reasons, organized by task or time. This structure helps in reassuring stakeholders about ongoing projects or initiatives.

"MAKE THE CASE" is the fourth pattern, echoing the NIKE structure, but with a broader scope. It suggests stating, "Do X to fix Y," and then elaborating with two to five supporting points. This approach is ideal for persuasive communication, where the goal is to convince an audience of a particular course of action.

Finally, the slide emphasizes that these patterns are not just theoretical, but practical tools that can be applied across various contexts. Adopting these structures can lead to more effective communication, ensuring that messages are clear, concise, and compelling.



This slide is part of the Preparing Powerful Board Papers PowerPoint presentation.

McKinsey 3 years on staff, 15 years freelance trainer & coach | Barbara Minto Approved | BCG training designer | Coaches at FX10 and ASX 10 | Startup founder | Author | C-suite Coach.

Download the Full Presentation


EXPLORE MORE SLIDES FROM THIS PRESENTATION


EXPLORE MORE PRESENTATIONS ON

Corporate Board

Are you familiar with Flevy? We are you shortcut to immediate value.
Flevy provides business best practices—the same as those produced by top-tier consulting firms and used by Fortune 100 companies. Our best practice business frameworks, financial models, and templates are of the same caliber as those produced by top-tier management consulting firms, like McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Deloitte, and Accenture. Most were developed by seasoned executives and consultants with 20+ years of experience.

Trusted by over 10,000+ Client Organizations
Since 2012, we have provided best practices to over 10,000 businesses and organizations of all sizes, from startups and small businesses to the Fortune 100, in over 130 countries.
AT&T GE Cisco Intel IBM Coke Dell Toyota HP Nike Samsung Microsoft Astrazeneca JP Morgan KPMG Walgreens Walmart 3M Kaiser Oracle SAP Google E&Y Volvo Bosch Merck Fedex Shell Amgen Eli Lilly Roche AIG Abbott Amazon PwC T-Mobile Broadcom Bayer Pearson Titleist ConEd Pfizer NTT Data Schwab



Flevy is the world's largest knowledge base of best practices.


Leverage the Experience of Experts.

Find documents of the same caliber as those used by top-tier consulting firms, like McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Deloitte, Accenture.

Download Immediately and Use.

Our PowerPoint presentations, Excel workbooks, and Word documents are completely customizable, including rebrandable.

Save Time, Effort, and Money.

Save yourself and your employees countless hours. Use that time to work on more value-added and fulfilling activities.




Read Customer Testimonials



Download our FREE Strategy & Transformation Framework Templates

Download our free compilation of 50+ Strategy & Transformation slides and templates. Frameworks include McKinsey 7-S, Balanced Scorecard, Disruptive Innovation, BCG Curve, and many more.