You've crunched the numbers, crafted a compelling narrative, and created visuals that supercharge your story..

But now comes the moment of truth: your audience is waiting. All your preparation comes down to this - the DELIVER phase.

Welcome to the final chapter of our 3D system to nail your next FP&A presentation. We've used DEFINE to clarify our purpose and DISTIL to refine our message. Now it's time to bring it all together and DELIVER your insights to the business with maximum impact.

Because let's face it - even the most brilliant analysis is worthless if we can't communicate it effectively. We'll explore:

• REVIEW: Fine-tuning your presentation before showtime

• PRESENT: Tips to maximise the impact of your insights

• FEEDBACK: Digging for golden nuggets in negative feedback

So whether you're preparing for your next board presentation or creating content for a broader audience, these finals step will help you deliver not just data, but value.

Let’s dive in…

REVIEW

Before we go live, there are a number of checks to go through as we fine-tune our slides and check the messages hit clearly.

NUMBERS AUDIT

"That's not the budget number!"

Five words that can derail even the most polished presentation. Let's make sure they're never directed at you.

Time to put on your first-year auditor hat and give those numbers a good once-over:

• Are they internally consistent?

• Do they agree with previous presentations?

• Have you triple-checked your calculations?

Credibility in finance is hard to build, easy to lose & painfully slow to recover. Take the time to verify your numbers now, so you can present with confidence later.

RUN THROUGH

Ever had that moment where everything made perfect sense in your head... until you opened your mouth? I’ve been there.

Instead of just hoping it will be alright on the night, set yourself up for success by actually running through the presentation as if it was game day.

The best way to objectively assess it?

Record yourself.

It may well make you cringe, but after 50+ episodes of Numbers Behind the Net, I can tell you – there's no better way to spot what works and what doesn't.

If the recording kit is too much, present it properly out loud and listen in…

When something doesn’t feel right, diagnose the issue by referring back to the DEFINE & DISTIL elements:

• PURPOSE: Are you pitching at the right level for your audience?

• DATA: Do the numbers truly back up your conclusions?

• HOOK: Does your key takeaway stand out front and centre?

• STRUCTURE: Is it easy to understand and in an order that makes sense?

• STORY: Does your presentation have an ebb and flow, or is it flatter than week-old beer?

• VISUALS: Do they enhance your messages…or detract from them?

A certain phrase tying your tongue up in knots? Re-word it.

One of your messages feeling thin on evidence? Find the data to back it up.

Tweaking your content & script to hammer home each of these elements will continue to sharpen your message.

ROAD TEST

Working through the kinks yourself is great, but remember – it's not you who needs to get it. It's your audience. So, grab your manager or a friendly colleague and give that presentation a test-drive.

Watch out for:

• where do they get lost?

• when do they glaze over?

• what makes them flinch?

And remember: even if that snazzy chart is your pride and joy, if it's not landing with your audience, it needs to go.

But don’t just look for negative cues - look for positive signs as well:

• what makes them sit up?

• which parts pique their curiosity?

• when are they nodding along?

Those signs will show your heading in the right direction.

PRESENT

Time to take the all the work you’ve done and impart it to your audience.

While presentation skills could fill their own newsletter series (and there are experts far better qualified than me), let me share one resource & three pieces of advice that stepped up my financial storytelling.

The resource: Storytelling with Data - Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic and the team have a ton of great resources and tutorials that will take your presentation reach the next level

.https://www.youtube.com/@storytellingwithdata

KNOW YOUR CHANNEL

The channel through which your present your story matters.

Are you:

• sending slides for people to read on their own time?

• presenting to a group or one-to-one?

• doing this in person or over a video call?

Take the last one.

Presenting in person? You’re the conductor - directing attention with your movement & phsycial gestures.

Over Zoom? ….not so much. When presenting virtually, you have about as much control over the audience’s attention as a cat herder. That complex waterfall chart showing budget variances? Everyone's eyes will dart to their own personal pain point.

Here, lean on animation to direct their focus - revealing information and insights piece by piece. Check out this video from SWD to see it in action:

[P.S. Animation doesn’t have to be complex - just copy the slide multiple times and add a box covering the parts you don’t want to show]

Understanding what works best on your channel will give you an edge in keeping your aduience engaged.

SLOW DOWN…

Remember the wise words of Modern Family’s Phil Dunphy

When you're presenting, we often rush through our carefully crafted narrative like we're trying to win the 100m gold (I myself have been known to be a gabbler). But remember, your audience needs time to process the information . Take the advice given to Arrow actor Stephen Amell:

“Listen, when you get out there, slow everything down. And then when you’re positive that you’re going too slow, slow it down. And then when you think that there is no chance in the world that you can go any slower, slow it down”

…AND PAUSE

When you hit a major beat of the story, take a breath…

….

The audience needs time to process all the info you’ve just delivered…a pause allows them to let that profound insight sink in, appreciate its signficance & prepare for what’s coming next.

So now you’ve delivered your presentation, is the work done?

Not quite…

FEEDBACK

Picture the scene: late night, you’ve finally wrangled the numbers into a coherenet story after unexpected roadblocks with data & technology. You hit send & go to bed…

and wake up to this…

Ouch. Not exactly the feedback I was hoping for.

At first I discounted it, in part because this particular user left 10 further comments on top of this diatribe..

But, after the sting wore off, I realised something…they had a point.

I hadn’t dived deep enough into the struggles Premier League clubs faced when it came to meeting financial regulations. It would require an extra level of effort to estimate & forecast the impact…

More difficult? Yes

More open to criticism? Yes

But would it improve the story? YES, YES, YES.

Once I acknolwedged this, it became a mainstay in future videos - adding another layer to the story.

When it comes to feedback, author Neill Strauss put it eloquently:

“Imagine you have a catcher’s mitt held in front of you. And when someone gives you feedback or criticism, instead of taking their words in and internalizing them or reacting to them right away, what you do instead is catch their feedback first.

Then examine it as objectively as you can.”

What does this mean for your next presentation?

Feedback isn’t always pretty, but it’s how you improve.

FP&A can’t operate in a vaccuum - your analysis & insights only matter if it DELIVERS VALUE to your stakeholders.

This is where we link back all the way to the beginning - what was the PURPOSE of your presentation?

(Remember, in the DEFINE phase, we identified in on our AUDIENCE & our desired OUTCOME - the action we want them to take)

With any feedback, objectively (as you can) ask yourself:

“Would implementing this feedback help achieve my desired outcome?”

You yourself can revisit those road test questions we discussed earlier.

In both cases, give yourself a break before analysing. Distance gives perspective.

And every minute invested in reviewing & iterating your presentation's performance compounds over time.

Each improvement builds trust. Each refinement enhances credibility.

You're not just delivering numbers – you're delivering value.

So that’s the 3D system for nailing your next financial presentation.

Remember: FP&A isn't just about crunching numbers - it's about creating value for your business. Each phase builds on the last, transforming raw data into insights that drive decisions.

What's your biggest presentation challenge & how will you face up to it?
Drop it in the comments below! 👇