How to Create a Credentials Deck for Your Consulting Business

A credentials deck, which some firms call a capability statement or a firm presentation, gets used more than almost any other document in the whole of consulting. It goes to prospects who ask you to tell them about yourself. It sits behind introductions. And it often gets forwarded to people you’ve never met.

That last point is the big one. The deck has to make sense with nobody in the room to explain it. This guide covers what to put in and what order to put it in, then how to design it so it looks as capable as you are.

What should a consulting credentials deck include?

Put in only what helps a prospect decide to talk to you. A reliable set:

• A title slide with your name and firm, a one-line positioning statement and your contact details.
• The problem you solve, described in the client’s words. Your jargon stays out.
• What you do and how, meaning your services and your method, kept simple.
• Case studies. Two or three, each covering a different kind of client.
• Who you are: relevant experience, qualifications and memberships.
• Who you’ve worked with, but only where you have permission to say so.
• How to start, with one clear next step.

Cut the company history. Cut the long list of every service you’ve ever offered, and anything you wouldn’t say out loud in a meeting. If a slide doesn’t help a buyer decide, delete it.

How should you structure the deck?

Start with the client. The classic mistake is opening with five slides about the firm before the reader has any idea whether you understand their situation or their problem at all. Try this order instead:

1. Title and positioning.
2. The challenge your clients face.
3. How you help, and what working with you looks like.
4. Case studies.
5. About you or the team.
6. Next steps and contact.

Give each slide one point to make, and write its heading as a sentence that states that point. Someone flicking through the headings alone should still be able to follow the story.

How do you write case studies that persuade?

A four-part shape works well for each one. Set out the situation, then what you did. Follow with what changed, and finish with what the client says. Keep it to a single slide, or two for your very best work.

Be honest about results. Only use figures the client has agreed you can quote, and where you’ve got no numbers, describe the outcome plainly, for example “reduced the time to close month-end”. If confidentiality stops you naming the client, describe them by sector and size. A specific anonymous case study convinces people far more than a vague named one, because the detail is what tells a buyer you’ve really been in a situation like theirs.

Only use client quotes with permission. Where you can, show their name and role.

What design principles make a credentials deck look professional?

Keep it readable

Use big text and short lines with plenty of white space. The W3C’s accessibility guidance asks for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text, so don’t put pale text over busy photographs. If a slide needs a paragraph of explanation, split it in two or push the detail into an appendix.

Use one visual system

Set your colours and fonts once in the slide master, along with your layouts, so every page matches. Use real photographs of you and your work, and skip the stock shots of people shaking hands. If you haven’t pinned down the look yet, our guide to marketing for consultants shows where a deck fits among the rest of your materials.

Show, do not describe

A simple diagram of your method often says more than a bulleted list. So does a clean timeline. Use charts only where the data backs up a point.

How do you tailor a credentials deck for each client?

Build a master deck, then adapt it for every serious prospect. Rewrite the opening slides around their sector and situation. Move the most relevant case study to the front and strip out services they’ll never need. It takes about twenty minutes, and the deck then reads as if you wrote it for them.

Working in modules makes this quicker. Keep a library of case study slides and service slides in your template, and assemble each version from that library. Our graphic design for consultants service includes setting up exactly this kind of reusable slide template.

Should you send a PDF or present live?

You need both, and in practice they’re different documents. A live presentation can be lighter, because you’re there to talk it through. A deck you email has to stand on its own, so it needs fuller headings and a bit more text.

For sending, a PDF is handy because the layout and fonts stay put. However, GOV.UK’s guidance on accessible documents notes that PDFs often work poorly with screen readers and recommends offering an alternative where you can, so be ready to send an editable or accessible version if someone asks for one. Keep the file small enough to email without fuss. Name it clearly too. Your name and firm should be in the filename, plus the word “credentials”.

What are the most common credentials deck mistakes?

The first is length. Go past fifteen or so slides and interest falls away.

The second is making it all about you, when prospects want to see their own problem first. Vague claims hurt too: “Trusted adviser” tells the reader nothing.

Stale details hurt too. Check every name and role, and every contact detail, each time you send the deck. And watch for mismatched design, because slides pasted in from old decks in different styles look careless.

How we can help

We design credentials decks and slide templates for independent consultants and small firms. That includes layouts for case studies and method pages, plus team pages, all of which you can edit yourself. Our graphic design for consultants service shows what we can set up. Before any work begins, we agree a clear brief and scope with you, along with the fee.

Sources

• W3C: Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.3, Contrast (Minimum)
• GOV.UK: Publishing accessible documents