I am often asked a question that goes a bit like this: “How do I use a storyline when I can't or don't need to offer a recommendation?”
There is at times a concern that storylining isn't fit for purpose in this setting.
We saw a terrific example of this play out in a December coaching session, which I'll unpack here for you.
The easy answer is that although we don't offer a pattern for this, you can easily use a storyline to provide a summary at the top and supporting levels.
Here is what that might look like at the top line for the stock review we discussed
For example, when writing a stock report you might want to offer a recommendation like this:
“We recommend adding Aristocrat (ALL) into your investment portfolio”
as this could be out of the scope of the work you have been engaged to do.
If you were to take this approach, the supporting points would be reasons, explaining why you recommend adding ALL to the portfolio. You would most likely use a version of the Pitch Pattern.
However, in some settings this is prohibited or unwanted. Your financial services license may not permit you to offer ‘advice', or your client may have specifically asked for your findings only.
If this is the case, you might offer a summary (akin to an ‘observation') that says something like this:
“ALL's acquisition of Playtech opens new avenues of growth and an early EPS uplift given the financial structure of the deal.”
This describes what has happened in the past quarter without saying ‘buy this stock'.
If you were to take this approach, the supporting points would still be reasons, but would put forward a different kind of argument. They would be explaining why it is true, or what evidence you have, to support the idea that the acquisition opens up new avenues of growth.
In either case the supporting points could follow a classic Grouping Structure.
You can download the example and/or watch the video of this session below.