- Ah, the notorious pyramid principle.
You might love it, you might hate it,
or maybe you've never even heard of it,
but there's a more-than-likely chance
that you've seen it used in a presentation.
In this video, I'm gonna cover
what the pyramid principle is,
how it gets used at top consulting firms,
and why it's so useful.
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To put it simply, the pyramid principle
is just a structured way of communicating
where you start with your main point first,
then work your way through
the supporting details of that main point.
So, for example, let's say you asked your friend
who her favorite basketball player is.
She might say something like this:
I like players that can play different positions
but can also score a lot of point and be a team leader.
So, I really like LeBron James.
Now, notice the structure of this response.
It's reason number one-
she likes players that can play different positions-
reason number two-
she likes players that can score a lot of points-
and reason number three-
she likes players that can be a team leader.
And then the answer comes at the very end.
And this is a totally normal
and acceptable way to answer a question.
But let's say she were to use the pyramid principle instead,
in which case she might say something like,
"My favorite player is LeBron James
because he can play different positions,
he scores a lot of points, and he's a team leader."
So, notice the difference between those two?
In the second example, she gets right to the point
and then follows it up
with her reasoning for that main point.
And this makes it so much easier for me as the listener
because once I know she's talking about LeBron James,
it's much easier to follow her reasoning.
Now, let's take this example one step further
and say she's gonna map this out for you on paper.
But not only that;
she's gonna add some more detail to her argument.
So, we've got the main point
that LeBron James is her favorite player,
then the three reasons we stated earlier.
And then now we've got some details for those reasons.
And if you couldn't tell already,
here's where the information resembles a pyramid
with the main point at the top
and the details organized below
in a way that's logical and structured.
But then there's something else
really important going on here.
Each box is meant to capture the main point
of all the boxes below it.
So, for example, this box right here
provides a nice summarizing statement
for these two below it.
And of course, if you look at our top box,
that provides a summary for the entire pyramid.
At this point it's worth pausing to note
that the whole idea for a pyramid principle
came from a woman named Barbara Minto
who was a consultant at McKinsey in the 60s.
So, if you really enjoy nerding out
on logical structure and communication,
her book is actually a really great read.
It's called "The Pyramid Principle"
and we'll be sure to link to it in the description below.
All right, so we've got our pyramid in place.
Now let's make it a little bit more practical.
Let's say your friend is now feeling
like she wants to get her point across
so she's gonna make a full presentation about this.
All she has to do is then organize these ideas
into her own slides to form her presentation outline,
also called a storyboard.
Notice how her first slide is the main summarizing idea
and then she goes into the details
with the slides that follow.
This is the pyramid principle in action
and it's exactly how top consulting firms apply it
in their own client presentations.
There's so many advantages to this approach
but one is that it's more efficient.
If your friend would have waited until the very end
to tell you her favorite player is LeBron James,
your brain would have to then go back
and think about the different reasons she already gave you
and try to assess each reason after the fact.
But if she tells you the answer up front,
you can assess each reason she gives as it comes
and then decide if it's something you agree with.
In a real presentation setting,
this approach has the extra benefit of saving time
because if, for example,
you tell an executive your main point at the beginning,
you can spend your time on the parts of that main point
that he or she disagrees with
rather than having to sit through
every part of the presentation
only to find out the main point at the very end.
It's also a lot more flexible.
Because the first slide contains the main idea,
she could really just present that one slide
and you'd understand what she's trying to tell you.
Or if there was more time, she could present the first slide
and then the three main supporting points and that's it.
Then of course, if she had unlimited time,
she could give you the full presentation
with all the details.
But in each of these scenarios,
the overall message doesn't change at all.
It's just that you have more detail.
Then one final reason is that
it makes the argument easy to follow.
The entire goal of your presentation
is to make it as easy as possible
for your audience to understand your main message.
And the pyramid principle helps someone
easily see what your main point is
and how you reached each of your conclusions.
In the consulting world,
it's important to back up all of your claims
and the pyramid principle provides a nice
and structured way to do that.
So, there you have it:
a brief explanation of the pyramid principle.
If you're interested in learning more
about how to build consulting-style presentations,
be sure to check out our full courses
where we go into great detail about the pyramid principle,
slide design, and a whole lot more.
So, check us out at theanalystacademy.com.
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