How to communicate during an exhibit question

Question

Aside from reaching all the right insights, how should one go about communicating when an exhibit question comes up during a case?

I find that I start spelling out what I see literally and stumbling a bit on my way to finding the right insights, even though I usually get there in the end. I also have to stop in the middle of rambling to calculate things on paper.

How can I deliver the insights on an exhibit more confidently, without rambling and stumbling on my way to the key insights, which makes me seem more insecure in my delivery?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi there,

Q: How can I deliver the insights on an exhibit more confidently, without rambling and stumbling on my way to the key insights, which makes me seem more insecure in my delivery?

It is difficult to provide specific insights without additional information, but it seems the problem could be related to not taking enough time upfront or a lack of practice with specific graphs.

For lack of time: are you taking enough time before starting the analysis? It might sound obvious, but if you have to regularly stop to think, you might well take more time in the beginning.

If you need time to calculate something, it is totally fine to ask for time aligning with the interview, after you presented your approach. Example: “If the approach is fine with you, I will take a moment to calculate the first step”.

For lack of practice: I would do more drills on the types of graphs you struggle with. An easy way to do so is to use a good casebook and review just the graphs similar to those you find challenging, skipping everything else.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As general tips for graph analysis, I would recommend the following:

1. READ THE GRAPH

Ask for some time to understand the graph. Usually 30 seconds are enough, but there is no hard rule.
Summarize the graph. Read in particular the graph title, the legend, and the footnote. Candidates quite often skip this part and then make mistakes.

2. ANALYZE THE GRAPH AND FIND THE KEY INSIGHTS

Repeat the question. Some candidates don’t repeat the question and then answer the wrong one. If you repeat the question, you can be sure that you will answer what was asked.
Provide an analysis related to the question. Identify the key insights of the graph based on the question. This is the most challenging part of graph analysis to master, as it is different in every chart. You can improve it with drills on your own or with coaching.

3. PROPOSE THE NEXT STEPS

State your hypothesis or suggestion on what to do next. Present what should be done next to help further the client to reach the goal.
Ask a question/propose an analysis related to what is needed to move forward. This will show you are able to drive the case forward.

Best,

Francesco

Answer 2

Stop rushing!

You're rushing to be as fast as you can, and then you're giving a bad answer.

If you're lost in the woods is it better to run really really fast? Or is it better to pause, breathe, and look around and steadily walk to the way out.

Same goes with cases.

Summarize the exhibit in a sentence, ask for a moment if the insight isn't clear, then be very deliberate in stating the insight and what you would like to do next.

If you're still struggling after this Q&A make sure to get a coach to help fix your issue.

Answer 3

Hi there,

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

I would advise you to analyze the exhibit thoroughly before presenting the key insights. It's okay to take some time to identify the key insights and plan your presentation.
Moreover, if your problem is less caused by a lack of time, I would advise you to specifically practice exhibit analysis. Consider working through relevant sections in case study books or real reports from strategy consulting companies to improve your skills.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to master the skill of exhibit analysis, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Answer 4

Hi there,

Stay in control and in the lead.

When you get an exhibit:

1. Briefly describe what you see on a high level, e.g., bars, axes (no insights) and ask if something is unclear.

2. Take 30s and write down the key insights, implications, and next steps

3. Communicate those in a structured manner. What is important is not just discussing what you see on the chart but what it means in the context of the case and what you would do about it.

For instance, if the case is about product lead time reduction and you tell me that product B has 3x the lead time compared to the average of all other products, that is great. But what is even better is, if you can also tell me what that means for the case (focus on product B) and how you would proceed (further investigating product B, further analysis, etc).

Never get rushed through a case!

Cheers,

Florian

Answer 5

This how you should approach exhibit reading:

Read the slide by yourself (take your time, ask questions if you need to understand the slide)
Consider the case objective when analyzing the slide
Tell the impact of the slide in terms of the recommendation
Explain the insights and support with the evidence from the slide.

Candidates usually do three mistakes:

They just describe what the slide says (e.g. segment X is growing by 10%"). There's no “so what”, no insight".
They bring up an insight… but it is unrelated to the problem you are trying to solve.
They just don't know what to say.

In all of these situations the real problem is that they are not being objective or hypothesis driven. You have to analyze the exhibit in the context of the problem you are trying to solve.

So the first question you have to ask yourself is: how does this influence the case recommendation? (e.g. “should we invest in market XYZ”?)? Is this supporting evidence or not? Once you find it, you have an objective or hypothesis driven insight.

Then when you read the slide you say: this does (not) support entering market X, because of insights XYZ, which is based on ABC evidence".

Answer 6

Hi there,

This is a very common problem and indeed doesn't reflect well on candidates. The trick is to proactively look for opportunities to show specific skills, i.e. quant and conceptual skills.

For graphs, I generally recommend the following:

1st step: You should ask for and take the time you need to feel comfortable to talk about the obvious insights (1st level analysis) but expect to get a “how's it going?” after 30 seconds. This part is often more descriptive, and you won't be able to derive that many new insights. The trick here is to stop yourself from rambling, take a pause, and look for opportunities to go beyond the obvious.
2nd step: What interviewers really want are the less obvious insights that require some number crunching. It's almost always the case, especially with tables, that you can multiply/diver/add across to lines/columns to create new meaningful numbers. Align this with your interviewer and go ahead with number crunching - ideally not in silence, so you keep the conversation going.
3rd step: Put the numbers into a context, explain what they mean, relate them to the prompt, client goal, etc. and suggest an idea for how to proceed. Then let the interviewer react and guide.

This is something I train a lot with candidates, and I'd be happy to help you, too!

Best of luck!

Moritz

Answer 7

Hi there,

Great question.

Here are the steps:

1. Read the exhibit with the interviewer without actually reading it. This gives you the chance to get a sense of the exhibit before you even take time to digest it. You can also ask clarifying questions at this point.

2. Ask for time. Take 30-60 seconds.

3. Aim to come up with 3 insights or so. Each insight basically consist of you pointing at a piece of data, then explaining what that means, then telling the client what they should do as a consequence of this finding. This last part is actually what makes the whole thing an insight.

4. Once you have a good idea of the 3 insights, get back to the interviewer and present them in a top-down way.

5. For a distinctive answer, reflect at the end on how these 3 insights tell a story about the client's situation and where they are going.

6. Suggest next steps (depending on interview type)

Best,

Cristian