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Archived: round 1 review from Sept 24, before the run-through with Mike. Slide numbers refer to the original deck.

Acceler-eightors · Group 08 · AKKR Ascend Capstone

Our deck, read through the Clarity Central framework

A review of main-deck slides 4 to 24 against Michael Foley's Presentations that Deliver method (the PTD workbook plus his published approach), ahead of the run-through with Mike on Monday, Sept 28.

Overall verdict

Strong evidence, weak spine

The research is the best part of this deck. What Foley will push on is that the audience can't see the three-part argument, almost none of our proof is human, and a few slides contradict each other.

  • Most finding slides already use a claim as the title, which is exactly what Foley teaches.
  • The data is specific and credible: 168 respondents, six PortCos, one instrument, and a live site.
  • The visual system is consistent and on brand. The redesign keeps it and tightens it.
  • What's missing: a forecast and recap, stories and quotes, planned audience moments, and a call to action.
Rule of three / 3x3 structureGap
Forecast and formal recapGap
Claim + objective evidenceStrong
Claim + subjective evidence (stories, quotes)Gap
Audience-centric (their priorities first)Partial
OpeningPartial
Closing and call to actionPartial
Audience engagementGap
Descriptive titlesStrong
3-second rule / economy of wordsPartial
Logic check (devil's advocate)Gap
What we measured against

The Clarity Central method in one page

Foley founded Clarity Central in 1996 and teaches this at Kellogg. The approach is Aristotle-based: state your case, then prove it. These are the tests applied to every slide.

Structure

  • Rule of three. Three primary points, each with three secondary points (the 3x3), each backed by evidence.
  • Tell 'em, tell 'em, tell 'em. Opening, forecast, body, formal recap, closing.
  • Rack-n-Stack. List the audience's top six priorities and concerns, combine to three, rank them. That ranking is your order.
  • Situation, Problem, Solution as the alternative spine for a recommendation talk.

Proof

  • Claim + evidence = accepted fact. Objective evidence (stats, charts, surveys) and subjective evidence (stories, quotes, examples, case studies). You need both.
  • Stories follow set the stage, challenge, climactic moment, resolution, then restate the claim.
  • Educate, don't impress. The job is to teach the room, which keeps the focus on them.

Engagement

  • Openings: bold statement, rhetorical question, shocking statistic, polling, story, vivid imagery, trend, or quote.
  • Spice the chili: rhetorical questions, "imagine," analogies, check-ins, show of hands.
  • Closings: executive takeaway, call to action, circle back to the opening, story, or vivid imagery.

Slide design

  • 16:9, 3-second rule, 3 to 5 ideas per slide, 1 to 10 words per line, large left-aligned sans serif.
  • Descriptive titles that state the point. Icons and visuals over bullets. Bold and mute. Chevrons.
  • Simplify charts and tell the story with one color. OPT (overview, points of interest, takeaway) for complex slides.
  • Seven structural slides, with the agenda recurring throughout.
Where it falls short

Seven things Foley will flag

Ranked by how much they'd cost us in the room.

1

The labels contradict each other

Slide 13 calls the Engine "Process A." Slide 18 shows the same flywheel with the Exchange as "Process A." Slide 16's notes say Process A is the Exchange. Slide 20's title says "Enablement first," but its rule says "run Process B first," and VisiQuate sits on that slide with a recommendation to deploy the Exchange first. ESO sits on "Ready for the Exchange" with a recommendation that leads with enablement. A skeptical partner will catch at least one of these, and it undercuts everything else.

Revised: A = Engine and B = Exchange everywhere (matching the Sept 3 order and the flywheel image). VisiQuate moved to the Exchange slide. The sequencing rule now matches the letters. ESO is flagged for a group call.

2

No visible three-part argument

Twenty-one slides with no forecast, no recap, and no signposts. The audience has to work out the structure on their own. Foley's seven structural slides exist so they never have to.

Revised: one spine (What we found, What we recommend, What it's worth), a forecast slide, agenda check-ins before points two and three with the current point bold and the others muted, a small progress tracker on every body slide, and a formal recap that maps each point to one of our three tools.

3

All of our evidence is objective

Every proof point is a percentage. There isn't one quote, story, or named example on a main slide, even though 168 people wrote open-text answers. Foley's formula needs both kinds: the numbers convince the head, and the stories make people care.

Revised: real respondent quotes on the fragmentation and value-lever slides (for example, an ESO RevOps respondent: "We have everyone using different data sources to prompt Claude for analysis and, no surprise, getting different results."), plus story cues in the notes for Abrigo's task force (Engine) and VisiQuate (Exchange).

4

The opening takes two slides to get going

Pichai's quote is a valid Foley opening, but the Cisco bandwidth stat is about network infrastructure, not GTM readiness. The next slide adds three focus areas that compete with the real structure. The notes on slide 6 are about missed forecasts and exit value, which looks like leftover content from another talk.

Revised: a show-of-hands opener in Janine's notes ("Who used AI before nine this morning? Keep your hand up if someone trained you.") that previews the 74% vs 43% finding with the room itself. Quote and Cisco share one slide; focus areas are kept but shortened.

5

The close has no ask

"AI adoption is already here. The advantage comes from honing and sharing it." is a strong executive takeaway. But the slide is mostly empty, and it never tells AKKR what to do next. Foley's strongest closings pair the takeaway with a call to action and a callback to the opening.

Revised: takeaway, a one-line ask, and a callback to the opening poll or Melissa's "last year's graduation" story in the notes. The ask wording is a placeholder for the group.

6

Duplicates and split pairs

The flywheel appears twice. The four-stage framework appears twice (slide 10, then again on slide 11). The ROI model (19) and ROI per seat (22) are separated by the two recommendation slides, so the money story stops and starts.

Revised: a simpler two-bridge preview, then the full flywheel once as the synthesis. The stages and placement are on one slide. Both ROI slides sit together, before the PortCo plays.

7

Too much small text, plus slide hygiene

The recommendation cards run about 50 words each, which fails the 3-second rule. Findings are numbered 01, 02, 04, 03. There's "[link removed]" on Methodology, "Aarron" and "IIt" typos, gray speaker-name boxes on seven slides, and VisiQuate and ESO still on template ROI defaults.

Revised: each recommendation leads with a bold action phrase and the full original wording is in the notes. Findings are numbered in order, typos are fixed, the live survey link is back, and speaker names and timing moved into the notes. The ROI defaults are flagged, since only the group can fix those.

Rack-n-Stack, applied

Our 3x3

Audience: AKKR operating partners and PortCo leaders. Data-driven, short on time, and wary of more training programs. Their six concerns, combined into three: Is this real across the portfolio? What should we actually do? What's it worth, and where does my company start? That ranking gives us the order.

Primary point
1 · What we found
Adoption has outpaced structure
2 · What we recommend
Two processes that compound
3 · What it's worth
The value, and where each PortCo starts
Secondary 1
Adoption outpaced enablement (74% vs 43%)
People asked for shared assets over training (65 / 52 / 47 vs 30)
Four levers, $1.5M a year for one PortCo, 3.3-month payback
Secondary 2
Everyone builds in private (16% standardized, 69% can't find it)
Process A, the Enablement Engine (Stage 1 to 2)
$16K to $28K per GTM seat across the PortCos modeled
Secondary 3
No PortCo has reached Standardized
Process B, the Knowledge Exchange (Stage 2 to 3), joined by the flywheel
Where each of the six PortCos starts
Subjective proof
ESO RevOps quote; the opening show of hands
Abrigo quote; Abrigo task force story; VisiQuate story
Kantata walk-through; Appspace vs Abrigo comparison

Bookends: the opening (poll plus Pichai) and closing (takeaway, ask, callback) frame the same idea. The formal recap maps each point to a tool: Survey, Two Plays, ROI Calculator.

Slide by slide

Original slides 4 to 24

"Revised" is the slide number in the new deck.

OrigSlideThrough Foley's lensWhat changedRevised
4Title and teamStrong Title, names, companies, date, logo: his structural slide #1. The eyebrow is doing too much.Eyebrow split into two tones; "Shared Advantage" in accent; cards grouped. Tip: select each headshot, then Mask image, then Oval, to get the circles back.1
5Transformative scale of AIPartial A quote is a legitimate opening, but Cisco's bandwidth stat is about infrastructure, not GTM. The notes describe a different opening than the slide.Quote is the hero, Cisco is a single stat card. Show-of-hands opener written into the notes.2
6Key focus areasPartial A second triad that isn't the talk's structure, so it competes with the forecast. Orphaned notes.Kept and tightened, pitched as a 20-second setup. Notes flag the stray content.3
noneForecast (new)Missing Foley's structural slide #2.Added. The team cut it on Sept 3 in favor of a verbal agenda, so you can hide it if you prefer. The tracker still carries the structure.4
7MethodologyStrong Builds credibility. "[link removed]" and the "Aarron" chip read as unfinished.Live site link restored; now the first slide of point 1.5
8The paradoxStrong Claim plus objective proof. The 74 vs 43 contrast is the moment, but all three numbers get equal weight.74% and 43% side by side at hero size, 3.51 demoted, closing line enlarged. Eyebrow ready for Aaron's new name.6
9Everyone builds in privateStrong Great claim title. The friction pills are hard to compare, and there's no human proof.Pills became a single-color bar chart with the top two highlighted. Added the ESO RevOps quote.7
10Four stages of maturityPartial A definition slide, repeated word for word on the next slide.Merged into slide 8.8
11Current AI maturityPartial Numbered Finding 04 before 03. The title is a label and the real claim is in a sidebar. The six-axis radar is hard to read from the back of a room.Claim promoted to the title. The radar was replaced with the stage line, a dot per company, and a dashed "Standardized line" nobody has crossed.8
noneAgenda check-in (new)Structural slide: agenda with point 2 bold.Ten-second transition.9
12Shared assets over trainingStrong The pivot of the deck, and already one-color storytelling. Needs a voice.Rebuilt as a native chart, with an Abrigo quote describing the Exchange before we named it.10
13Learn, then contribute (Mark)Partial Shows the full flywheel before either process is explained. Duplicates slide 18 with the letters swapped.Replaced with a simpler preview: two bridges on the maturity line (the "stripped" version the team asked for).11
14Embedded Enablement EngineStrong Five clear steps with grounding and metrics. Needs the Abrigo story.Rebuilt as a grouped five-step flow with arrows; story cue and "open on 43%" in the notes.12
15What the Engine looks likeStrong The most Foley-aligned slide in the deck: a real, detailed example.Layout kept, cleaned up and grouped.13
16AI Knowledge ExchangePartial No eyebrow or stage bridge, so it doesn't parallel the Engine. It repeats Megan's numbers as heroes, and the steps are bare labels.Parallel structure to the Engine. Chevron flow (Foley's own device), with the definition as the hero line and the numbers demoted to "grounded in."14
17Scalable and sustainableStrong Three pillars fit the rule of three. Typo "IIt"; the VisiQuate line is a story hook.Typo fixed; measures styled to echo the ROI levers.15
18Learn, then contribute (Melissa)Partial Duplicate of 13. Melissa's notes hold the best story in the deck.Kept once as the synthesis at the end of point 2. Her story moved to the closing callback.16
noneAgenda check-in (new)Structural slide: agenda with point 3 bold.Ten-second transition.17
19Four levers (value model)Strong Excellent objective proof with an honest disclaimer. The title is a label.Claim title ("add up to $1.5M a year for one PortCo"), rebuilt natively.18
22ROI per GTM seatPartial Separated from its partner slide. "Not yet run" invites "why not?"Moved next to the value model. Claim title, native stacked bars, and a +38% Appspace vs Abrigo callout.19
20Recommendations 1 of 2Gap The title and VisiQuate's recommendation contradict each other, the rule's letters are reversed, and the text is too dense.Only Appspace and StoreForce here, each with its untrained percentage as a hero number. Bold lead phrases; rule fixed.20
21Recommendations 2 of 2Partial ESO's first recommendation is enablement, on an Exchange slide.VisiQuate added; four parallel cards. ESO flagged in the notes.21
23What's in the boxPartial A natural recap with no title, in an order that doesn't follow the talk.Became the formal recap: each tool is tied to one of the three points.22
24ClosingPartial A strong takeaway line with no ask, on a mostly empty slide.Larger takeaway with accent on the key phrase, plus a one-line ask and a callback in the notes.23
Revised run of show

14:45 on the clock, 15 seconds of buffer

Speaker and time are also at the top of each slide's notes. Susan now closes point 2 with the flywheel, which evens out Melissa's load.

#SlideTimeClock
Janine · Opening and point 1 setup2:10
1Title and team0:200:20
2Opening: poll + Pichai + Cisco0:401:00
3Key focus areas0:201:20
4Forecast0:201:40
5Methodology0:302:10
Aaron · The problem2:00
6Adoption outpaced enablement1:003:10
7Everyone builds in private1:004:10
Megan · Maturity and the pivot2:10
8No PortCo has reached Standardized1:005:10
9Agenda check-in0:105:20
10Shared assets over training1:006:20
Mark · Process A2:10
11Two processes, two bridges0:306:50
12Embedded Enablement Engine1:007:50
13What the Engine looks like0:408:30
Susan · Process B and synthesis2:20
14AI Knowledge Exchange1:009:30
15Scalable and sustainable0:4010:10
16Learn, then contribute0:4010:50
Melissa · Value, plays, close3:55
17Agenda check-in0:1011:00
18Four levers, $1.5M a year1:0012:00
19$16K to $28K per seat0:3012:30
20Start with the Engine0:3513:05
21Start with the Exchange0:4013:45
22Recap: three tools0:3514:20
23Closing and ask0:2514:45
Needs the group

Decisions before Monday

Each of these is a group call. The revised deck makes a default choice for each one, and the notes say so.

  1. Process letters. The revised deck uses A = Engine and B = Exchange to match the spoken order. Check the appendix process slides use the same letters. Another option is to drop the letters on stage and use only the names.
  2. ESO's placement. Is ESO an Exchange-first company with one enablement module, or does it belong with Appspace and StoreForce?
  3. VisiQuate and ESO ROI. Run both before Monday, or remove that row from the per-seat chart.
  4. Forecast slide. Keep it (Foley will look for one), or hide it and set the agenda verbally as decided on Sept 3.
  5. The closing ask. The placeholder is "run the survey at your PortCo this quarter, then choose which process you start with." Reword it to whatever we actually want AKKR to do.
  6. Cisco stat and focus areas. Both are kept. Cut either one if Janine needs the time.
  7. Quotes. These are verbatim open-text answers, attributed by role and company only. Confirm everyone is comfortable showing them.
Q&A prep · 5 minutes after the talk

Questions each of us should be ready for

Questions are grouped by the section most likely to draw them. "Heavy hitter" means a skeptical partner could use it to knock over a claim. Answer the way Foley teaches: take a breath, make one claim, then prove it with one number or one example. The angles below use numbers from our own survey.

1. Question2. Breathe3. Claim4. Example or number5. Restate the claim

Janine

Opening, framing, methodology
Obvious

Why did you pick AI readiness for a GTM capstone?

Angle: It's the one change every PortCo is making at the same time, and nobody has a shared playbook for it yet. The survey let the portfolio tell us where to focus instead of guessing.

Heavy hitter

Appspace is 65 of the 168 responses. Isn't this really Appspace's survey?

Angle: Claim: the conclusion holds without them. Proof: the top value levers rank the same at every one of the six companies, and results are published by company so each PortCo can read its own slice. Hand to Megan if they push further.

Heavy hitter

Is a self-reported survey strong enough to build a program on?

Angle: It's a baseline, not a verdict. The value is that it's one instrument across six companies, so the comparisons are fair. The Engine uses the same survey as its recurring diagnostic, so the baseline improves every time we run it.

Obvious

Who actually answered? Leaders or the front line?

Angle: Mostly the front line: 114 of 168 are individual contributors. That's deliberate, because they're the people running AI in the workflow every day.

Heavy hitter

What does the Pichai quote have to do with a sales team?

Angle: It sets the scale. The Cisco point makes it concrete: agents already use about 450% more bandwidth than people doing the same work. The rest of the talk is what that means for GTM teams.

Aaron

The problem
Obvious

If 74% use AI daily, isn't adoption already a success?

Angle: Usage is a success. Consistency isn't. Only 16% of teams use standardized approaches, and the top friction is inconsistent output at 42%. Busy isn't the same as effective.

Heavy hitter

People can learn AI on their own. Why does formal training matter?

Angle: They are learning on their own, and that's the problem: 69% can't easily find what their peers built, so the same prompt gets rebuilt in every team. Use the ESO RevOps quote as your example.

Heavy hitter

How do you know 3.51 out of 5 is low? Compared to what?

Angle: Don't defend the number on its own. Pair it: people rate their understanding at 3.5 but use AI daily. They're confident enough to use it and not confident enough to trust it, which is why 61% name quality and accuracy as their top concern.

Obvious

Isn't security the bigger risk?

Angle: The respondents ranked it second. 95 people named quality and accuracy, 49 named security. Governance is built into the Exchange either way.

Megan

Maturity and the pivot
Obvious

How did you place each company on the maturity stages?

Angle: From each company's survey results: how standardized their teams are, how clear governance is, and how discoverable shared work is. It's directional, and the placement updates each time the survey is rerun.

Heavy hitter

Isn't this just AKKR's maturity model with new labels?

Angle: Built independently from the survey data (the group's Sept 3 call was to keep it separate). If they see the overlap, that's a good sign. Two views arrived at the same place.

Heavy hitter

Training ranked last. So are you telling us not to invest in training?

Angle: No. Training is how you deliver the shared assets, not the headline. That's why Process A exists: every module is built on an approved play. People asked for playbooks, and the Engine is how they learn to use them.

Obvious

Why is no one Standardized? Is that a failure?

Angle: It's the opportunity. It means the portfolio can move together, and the first PortCo across the line becomes the model for the rest.

Heavy hitter

Does 49% average top-three selection really count as strong demand?

Angle: The strength is how consistent it is, not how big. The same four levers hold the same order at all six companies, across very different business models. That rarely happens in a survey.

Mark

Process A · Enablement Engine
Obvious

How much time does this ask of people?

Angle: It fits the budget people gave us: most said 1 to 4 hours a month. Modules are 20 minutes, one a week, reinforced in manager 1:1s. Time was the number one barrier (84 of 159), so we designed around it.

Heavy hitter

We've all rolled out training nobody finished. What makes this different?

Angle: Three things: it's embedded in onboarding and SKO rather than added on top, every module runs a real workflow on a live deal, and graduating means publishing a play, which gives people a reason to finish. Then tell the Abrigo task force story.

Heavy hitter

Who owns this? Enablement, RevOps, or IT?

Angle: The respondents were split: cross-functional team 57, sales enablement 53, IT 22. Recommend enablement as the owner, with a cross-functional group vetting the plays.

Obvious

What do the badges actually get someone?

Angle: Recognition, and they create pull. Managers reinforce them in 1:1s, and the badge is what qualifies someone to contribute to the Exchange.

Heavy hitter

How do you prove it's working in 90 days?

Angle: Path completion by role, badges issued, plays contributed by graduates, and the change in confidence and consistency scores on the next survey.

Susan

Process B · Knowledge Exchange
Obvious

Isn't this just a SharePoint folder or a Notion page?

Angle: The tool matters less than the process. It's tool-agnostic on purpose. What makes it work is screen, score, and approve before anything is published, so people trust what they find. A folder without vetting is how you get 69% who can't find anything.

Heavy hitter

Who vets the submissions, and doesn't that turn into a bottleneck?

Angle: Name an owner per function and keep scoring light. Governance is the first pillar because trust is the whole point. Keep the lane fast, or people go back to building in private.

Heavy hitter

Why would busy reps contribute anything?

Angle: Contributing is the graduation step in the Engine, managers reinforce it, and contributors get recognized. Tell the VisiQuate story as proof that it's already happening.

Obvious

What about data security and prompts with customer data?

Angle: Approval includes a governance check. 79% of respondents already say they understand their company's AI policy, so the Exchange builds on rules they know.

Heavy hitter

How is this different from each vendor's own prompt library?

Angle: Those libraries are generic. Ours holds our plays, on our systems, already proven on our deals. The survey asked for team-specific playbooks (65%), not generic prompts.

Melissa

Value, plays, and the close
Heavy hitter

Where do these ROI numbers come from? They look high.

Angle: Say it before they do: only the time-reclaimed lever uses Kantata's real inputs. The other three use shared illustrative defaults. The calculator exists so each PortCo can plug in its own numbers, and nobody has to take ours.

Heavy hitter

8.5x ROI and a 3.3-month payback. What's the catch?

Angle: Adoption. The model assumes people use it, which is exactly what the two processes are designed to drive. Offer to walk through the inputs live.

Obvious

Why are VisiQuate and ESO not run yet?

Angle: (Fix before Monday, or remove the row.) If it's still open: the inputs are pending, and we'll send updated numbers after the session.

Heavy hitter

Time saved doesn't pay the bills. Where does revenue show up?

Angle: Time reclaimed is the floor, and it pays for the program on its own. Revenue upside comes from win rate and ramp: getting new hires productive four weeks sooner is real pipeline.

Obvious

What should a PortCo do first, Monday morning?

Angle: Run the survey. It tells you your stage, and your stage tells you whether to start with the Engine or the Exchange.

Heavy hitter

If we could fund only one of the two, which would it be?

Angle: Follow the sequencing rule: where training gaps are wide and governance clarity is low, start with the Engine; everywhere else, start with the Exchange. They compound, so the second one gets cheaper once the first is running.

Questions anyone might get, and who takes them

  • "Did AI write this analysis?" (Janine) Claude was used to analyze the data, and we say so on the methodology slide. The judgment, the processes, and the recommendations are ours, and the appendix and live site show the work.
  • "What would you do differently with another six months?" (Melissa) Rerun the survey after the first plays go live, and measure the change instead of modeling it.
  • "What does AKKR need to do centrally?" (Megan) Sponsor the survey as a portfolio-wide baseline and host a cross-PortCo Exchange, so good plays travel between companies as well as within them.
  • "What surprised you most?" (Aaron) Training came last. We expected people to ask for courses, and they asked for each other's work.
Performance skills

What Mike will coach on Monday

Per speaker

  • Open each section with its claim, prove it, then restate it: "So, adoption has outpaced enablement."
  • Breathe before your first line and between ideas. Pause after every hero number.
  • Number your points out loud and on your fingers.
  • Two seconds of eye contact per person. Start with the friendly faces.
  • Stand 45 degrees to the screen. Glance at it, then talk to the room.

As a team

  • Every handoff names the next point: "That's what we found. Mark, what do we do about it?"
  • Rehearse the five hardest questions (the Q&A "spice the chili" drill). Start with "why not just buy more training?" and "how do you know the ROI is real?"
  • Keep the short versions ready: Melissa's one-minute close, and a 30-second cut for each section.
  • Rehearse four or five times, not endlessly.

"A speech has two parts: you must state your case, and you must prove it."Aristotle, as quoted in the PTD workbook