'So What?'

At the end of a presentation, business leaders regularly ask one, single question: 'So what?'. It's one of the most uncomfortable questions in business.

They ask because they want to know why the ideas in your presentation should matter to them and the business, and they want to know in one simple statement. You might have spent countless hours, days and weeks preparing, but they want a succinct answer that summarises everything for them in an instant. And you want the earth to open up and swallow you because you don't know how to answer this question succinctly.

What's the solution? To avoid the embarrassment and frustration of not being able to answer that one simple question you must state the 'So what' clearly and unambiguously at the beginning of your communication and then make the case to support it rather than trying to tie everything together at the end when your audience may have lost focus or interest.

That sounds simple in theory, but it's difficult in practice so we have prepared our top seven storyline patterns to help you.

Having helped business people from business school through to the C-suite, we have realised there are patterns to the most commonly used stories and we have codified them in our new book The So What Strategy.

As a flevy member, we are offering a chance to preview the the introduction and one of the patterns, Action Jackson.

To learn more you could download the sample here or visit our website: .

By downloading this document, I agree to continue receiving educational materials, newsletters, product updates, event invitations, and other information from Flevy and the author. I understand I may opt out or update my preferences at any time.