Do you sometimes have to give a presentation where you’re recommending a course of action to an audience backed up by lots of data?
It might seem impossible to turn this type of presentation into an engaging story but it can be done by using the SCQA framework (Situation, Complication, Question, Answer). Here’s how it works.
The Situation, Complication and Question part of the framework form the opening of your presentation. The Answer part of the framework is the body of your presentation – the recommendation you are making.
More details:
Situation: The starting point. Talk about the current context and players involved. Your audience should be nodding in agreement with you here.
Complication: This is about creating tension – an important component of all good stories. Something has changed, such as a sudden drop in metrics that disrupts the status quo and creates the need for action.
Question: The complication leads you to ask a question to solve the newly arisen problem.
Answer: The answer to the question posed in the previous step is your recommendation or next steps to resolve the problem.
Here’s a very simple example using SCQA in a workplace context about late projects:
Situation: “Our projects are usually delivered on time, and clients are generally satisfied with our delivery process.”
Complication: “However, in the last three months, several projects have been delayed, and we’ve started receiving complaints from clients.”
Question: “Why are projects taking longer than expected, and how can we improve delivery times?”
Answer: “After some investigation we have found that teams are overloaded and priorities are unclear. We recommend introducing clearer project timelines and weekly priority meetings to improve coordination. In the rest of my presentation I will give you details of exactly how we can introduce these new measures effectively”.
SCQA is an excellent framework for creating engaging presentations; it prevents presentations from jumping straight into analysis and assumptions, and instead creates a clear narrative that guides the audience logically towards your conclusion.
