The So What Strategy Course

Lifetime access: $190

You work hard on your presentations. You gather the data, build the slides, and know your material.

And then someone senior looks up and says: ‘So what?’

It’s one of the most deflating moments in business. And it keeps happening. Not because your work isn’t good, but because nobody taught you how to structure a message so the point lands before the questions start.

The So What Strategy course fixes that.

Learn McKinsey’s structured thinking technique and apply it to everyday presentations, emails and papers.

This isn’t a course about slide design or how to speak with more confidence.

It’s about something more fundamental.

It teaches you to identify your core message before you start building so you structure everything around it into a pyramid.

This way your audience doesn’t have to work hard to find what matters.

In two hours, you’ll learn how to:

• Identify the real ‘so what’ in any communication before you start writing.
• Structure your ideas so the most important point comes first, every time.
• Choose the right storyline pattern for the situation you’re in (there are seven of them, each one built for a different purpose)
• Present verbally, in writing or with a deck using the same underlying structure
• Stop reworking your communication after the fact because the thinking wasn’t clear upfront.

The 7 classic storyline patterns

The core of the course is 7 patterns.

Each one shows how to apply the Pyramid Principle to a common business communication setting.

These are not templates you fill in, but structural logic that tells you what kind of story you’re trying to tell and how to tell it clearly.

Action Jackson

For action plans when your audience already agrees that something must be done.

Close the Gap

For improvement recommendations where some, but not all, of the solution is in place.

Houston, We Have a Problem

For explaining how to solve a specific problem that is new to your audience.

The Pitch

For pitches and proposals.

To B or Not to B

For explaining which option is best and why.

Traffic Light

For updates and status reports.

Watch Out

For flagging emerging risks after some progress has been made.

Once you know these patterns and the structures that underpin them, you’ll spot which one fits your situation within minutes of sitting down to draft.

That saves you hours, and it saves your audience the frustration of trying to find the point themselves.

Here’s what it includes.

32 short lessons. About 2 hours of video. $190.

Module 0 – Accelerate your understanding. Introduces storylining (aka the Pyramid Principle), the thinking skills behind it, and how to work with templates without being trapped by them.

Module 1 – Designing your communication strategy. Before you write a word, you need to know what you’re actually trying to achieve and for whom. This module gives you a simple framework to answer that question.

Module 2 – Developing your storylining structure. How to write a strong introduction (the CTQ: context, trigger, question); how to find your ‘so what,’ and how to structure the ideas that support it using both grouping and deductive structures.

Module 3 – Delivering your communication. How to adapt your storyline for verbal delivery, PowerPoint, and written documents so the structure does the work regardless of format.

Here’s who it’s for.

1,100 students from the US to Africa have completed The So What Strategy course so far.

Individual contributors and mid-level professionals who need to communicate clearly and get things done.

You don’t need to be a senior leader or have a complex board presentation on the horizon.

You need to be someone who regularly explains things to decision-makers in a meeting, in an email, in a deck or another format.

You’re tired of your work going unrecognised because the message isn’t landing.

This course works whether you’re in finance, strategy, technology, risk, operations, supply chain, marketing, human resources or any other function where you’re making a case, giving an update, or proposing a course of action.

Here’s how this differs from my other Pyramid Principle course.

Both courses are built on the same structured thinking methodology, the Pyramid Principle, developed at McKinsey by Barbara Minto. Davina was personally approved by Minto to teach it back in 2009.

The difference is scope and seniority.

‘The So What Strategy’ helps you prepare everyday communication. By that I mean the emails, short papers, team briefings, and presentations that most professionals do week in, week out. It gives you the foundational structure so you can get to the point quickly and clearly, regardless of your audience.

‘Engage’ goes deeper into what’s needed when communicating with senior leaders and boards, where the stakes are higher, the political dynamics are more complex, and the cost of an unclear message is greater. It’s longer (36 lessons, about four hours), more comprehensive, and priced accordingly at $490.

If you’re not yet in a senior role, start here.

If you complete this course and then move into a role that requires regular board or C-suite communication, Engage is the natural next step.

Davina Stanley created The So What Strategy for you.

McKinsey trained. Minto-certified. Thirty years helping executives communicate at the highest level.

Davina trained at McKinsey in Hong Kong and worked with the Firm both in-house and as a freelancer for about 15 years.

Her core role was to coach consultants to use the Pyramid Principle. This meant helping them think clearly so they could communicate effectively with clients.

Her training was personally reviewed by Barbara Minto, creator of the Pyramid Principle, the structured thinking methodology used by the world’s leading consulting firms and organisations.

She has also designed consulting skills programs for BCG Australia and coached other top-tier consultants globally.

She specialises in adapting the core consulting techniques and applying them to broader business settings for clients in the US, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

The So What Strategy course brings that experience into a format that works for individual professionals, not just consultants or the C-suite.

Here’s what you get.

THE SO WHAT STRATEGY COURSE

$190

Register now. Free Preview available.

Trusted by professionals from Meta, KPMG, 7-Eleven, Glencore, Mercer, Officeworks and more.

Questions people often ask.

Do I need any prior knowledge or experience?

No. This course assumes you know nothing about structured thinking and builds from the ground up.

How long will it take to complete?

The video content runs to about two hours. With the exercises and quizzes, most people complete the course in a focused half-day. Ideally, you would spread the learning out to make sure it sinks in, rather than bingeing it all at once.

What if I need something more advanced?

If you’re regularly communicating with boards or senior leadership teams, take a look at Engage. It covers the full complexity of executive-level communication.

Can my team enrol together?

Yes and we encourage it! Group discounts for Teams of up to 15 are automatically applied at checkout.

If you have a team of 16+, or have any questions about enrolling a group, please email contact@clarityfirstprogram.com for more information.

Does my access expire?

No. You have access for life.

The So What Strategy Course

Two hours to clearer thinking and messages that land.