[MUSIC] Now we've reached the point of finalizing your deck. In this phase, you're reviewing what you've created. A complete deck that contains consistent messages throughout, and provides high quality support and credibility for your recommendations. To finalize your deck, let's discuss the importance of revisions. As consultants, deliverables are the final product of our work. They are artifacts that may be left behind or circulated, well after your work is complete. Errors can undermine the credibility of your work. For example, how can I, a client, trust your quantitative analysis if it contains grammatical errors. Be sure to review every deliverable as if it were going to the CEO. Revise and review throughout the iterations of the deck, and before the final deliverable goes to the client. Sufficient time for review and revision, should always be included in the deliverable work plan. It's important to revise your deck as a team. The process can be streamlined with good version control, throughout deliverable development. And I'll share some best practices we employ for working with the team. For purposes of this discussion, let's assume you're using a PowerPoint presentation file. To begin, the team should establish a clear document owner. This owner should give the file a document name, date and version number before distribution, such as Document ABC, the year, month and day, and version number. The owner will then assign a portion of the work product to you. Once you've received it, open the document and save it to your computer. Add your initials to the version you save. For example, Document ABC, year, month, day, version number and your initials. Make revisions, track changes and note open items as necessary. Be sure you are consistent in your methodology when highlighting changes. Add smart placeholder or comment boxes to assigned slides. Highlight changes. Provide feedback or raise discussion points. If your version of PowerPoint or other presentation software, doesn't track who is making the comments, make sure to use initials prior to comments when there are multiple reviewers. This is so everyone is clear as to who made a comment at a given time. When you've completed your revisions, send the document back with an email explaining all the changes that you made. Summarize your changes and rationale in the body of your email and note your chosen methodology for highlighting changes. Only send back the portions you edited and don't forget the attachments. Placeholder boxes and naming conventions are good tools to maintain version control. Your final naming convention will help you and your team, quickly comb through iterations sent out by the team and identify the most current version. It will also tell you who made the most recent changes or recommendations. You can also verify the date that the file was last saved in the date modified column of your computer's file browser, or by right clicking on the file itself and selecting properties on a PC or get info on a Mac. Compare that date to the one in the file name to prevent user error. Decks must be reviewed from the integrity of the argument down to the formatting of each line. Follow these standard industry practices when finalizing the story in your deck. Ask yourself, does the overall story still make sense? Have the important messages been lost? Have you addressed any unclear or conflicting messages and data? Have you used cohesive horizontal logic? One tip is to copy and paste all lead lines into a Word document, then read through for logic. Have you used supportive vertical logic? And does the page content support the lead line? Is the wording on your slides concise? Can you simplify it? Is the wording on your slides precise? And are you saying exactly what you mean? Will the content be interpreted accurately? Is the tone consistent? Does the deck read as if there was only one author? If the data has changed, have the related call-outs and lead lines been updated, too? Have the formula inputs been updated over time? For example, the compound annual growth rate. Follow these standard industry practices when finalizing labels and charts in your deck. Ensure that graphics, charts and tables have titles. Charts have X and Y axis names, legends, time frame, units, and detail. Font size and style are consistent. Methodology and data sources have been documented. Asterisks have corresponding footnotes and footnotes have asterisks. Risk management disclaimers from smart templates have been included. Follow these standard industry practices when finalizing the formatting in your deck. Ensure that the document is spell checked, including manual checks for company and client names. If acronyms are used, they are defined and then used consistently throughout the presentation. Capitalization is consistent throughout. Bullet points on a given slide begin consistently. For example, all verbs or all nouns. Colleagues' comments are removed. And there's no extra spaces between words. Color schemes are consistent and brand compliant. Fonts are consistent in size, color, and style, and are also brand compliant. For tables with numbers, the totals check out when tied across and down, with subtotals included when needed. The page numbers in the table of contents match actual page numbers. Page numbers should appear on all slides and can be added with the insert tab, within PowerPoint. We've covered a great deal of important practices for finalizing your deck. It's a good idea to create a checklist for the first few times that you revise a deck, to help ensure that you cover all your bases. And get you used to confirming consistency and clarity. Be sure to make these revision tips common practice. And check every box on your review checklist before presentation day. If you follow the steps we've been reviewing, you'll be sure to create an effective deck for your final presentation at the end of this course. [MUSIC]
