The picture, presented to the people who have to decide.

The written work is the product: sourced, dated, printed with its conflicts. But a board or a leadership team decides in a room, in one sitting, and what it needs there is the picture reduced to what reaches it, put by someone who can be questioned on every figure. Every figure on a slide is the same figure in the record behind it, and the written record stays behind so that what was said in the room can be read again and checked against its sources.

• On a published briefThe question the brief answers, its evidence and its forecasts, presented as published, to everyone in the room alike. The brief is not adapted for the audience and is not applied to any attendee’s holdings or investments.
• On an exposure editionThe edition’s front page, the items that carry dates and the places that carry the weight, presented to the people who own the actions. A figure on a slide is the figure in the edition.
• As part of an engagementThe position, the scenarios and the options to consider from an engagement, argued with the board or team that asked for them. Decisions taken in the room are written down with an owner and a date.

A board session, a leadership briefing, a scenario session worked through with the people who would have to act, or any of these by video where the room cannot be gathered: the audience, the material and the time available are agreed first, and the fee per engagement.