The CVD Test was created based on concepts from top sales, marketing, and communication experts. The tool takes an in-depth strategic look at principles that must be followed to ensure your sales message is delivered and understood.

1. Prepared for:
XXXX
The CVD Test™
How well does your presentation
convince difficult prospects?
© 2010 The Agile Institute

2. The Content & Visual Design (CVD) Test was created
to determine how likely a sales presentation is to
convert a prospect.
This document is an actual companyʼs CVD test.
However, for confidentiality, we have removed the
companyʼs name and any sensitive information.
© 2010 The Agile Institute

3. WHAT IS THE CVD TEST?
On my first McKinsey & Company project, I felt we spent too much
time working on our presentation. I thought the “work” was the
research and analysis we preformed to reach our conclusion and
couldn’t understand why we spent hours going over the best way to
C
present our ideas.
Our first client meeting taught a valuable lesson...
ontent
&
...although the meeting was scheduled for an hour, the CEO arrived
V
10 minutes late and, promptly, told us he had to leave in 15 minutes.
Luckily, during the 70+ hours we spend on the presentation, we had
summarized our ideas into the 10 slides. Using these slides (written
isual in plain language with simple visuals), we convinced the CEO to
D
follow our recommendation and continue our $4 million project.
As an entrepreneur, I’ve, unfortunately, encountered many more
esign situations like this - especially during the sales process. These
experiences led to the creation of the Content & Visual Design (CVD)
Test™ and The Agile Institute.
The CVD Test™ is designed to show how your presentation may be
viewed by a Fortune 1,000 executive with a short attention span and
a healthy dose of skepticism. While not perfect, this test has helped
numerous people win more business.
I hope it does the same for you.
Sincerely,
AJ Igherighe
Founder
The Agile Institute
© 2010 The Agile Institute

4. HOW DID YOU DO?
The 3-Step CVD Score Review Process.
1 2 3
Report
Card
Scores Ideas
A summary of your
scores.
Your CVD scores and
comparisons to
benchmarks.
© 2010 The Agile Institute

5. PRESENTATION REPORT CARD (1 of 2)
We believe this presentation needs significant content and visual
revision to clearly communicate your message.
COMPARISON Average
SECTION GRADE SCORE (as a percentage)
Overall presentation F 25/100
0 100
Content F 13/60
0 100
Visual Design F 12/40
0 100
Source: Agile Institute CVD Grading System™
© 2010 The Agile Institute

6. PRESENTATION REPORT CARD (2 of 2)
Failure to writing from the prospects point of view and lack of a
story are biggest problem areas.
COMPARISON
SCORE (as a percentage)
Average
5 Areas
Customer Focus 0/20
0 100
CONTENT Compelling Message 8/20
13/60 0 100
Clear Message 5/20
0 100
Presentation Story 0/20
VISUAL 0 100
12/60
Visual Appeal 12/20
0 100
Source: Agile Institute CVD Grading System™
© 2010 The Agile Institute

7. HOW DID YOU DO?
The 3-Step CVD Score Review Process.
1 2 3
Report
Card
Scores Ideas
How your presentation
was graded.
A high-level explanation
of our grading methods.
See APPENDIX for detailed
scores, scoring framework
and explanations.
© 2010 The Agile Institute

8. PRESENTATION SCORING (1 OF 2)
CVD scoring is based on best practices from some of the world’s top
communication experts
Content
Personalization | Dr. David Lieberman
Customer Focus Visual Design
Credibility | Chip & Dan Heath
Emotion | Dr. David Lieberman
Compelling Message Call-to-Action | Dr. David Lieberman
Unexpectedness | Chip & Dan Heath
Clear Message
Readability | Dr. Rudolph Flesch
Concreteness | Chip & Dan Heath
Story Logic | Barbara Minto
Presentation Logic | Barbara Minto
Presentation Story
Font Size | Guy Kawasaki
Visual Appeal Visual Clarity | Kim Baer
Chart Clarity | Gene Zelanzny
© 2010 The Agile Institute

9. PRESENTATION SCORING (2 OF 2)
To make grading as unbiased as possible, we created objective ways to test key
areas.
Mini-Test Example - Using Flesh-Kincaid Language Test to judge readability
According to the Flesch-Kincaid test, parts of your presentation are more
difficult to read than the notoriously challenging Harvard Law Review.
65
Target readability
Your Score
Reader’s Digest
score. A document
Time Magazine with a 65 Reading
Harvard Law Review Ease Score is
considered to be
written in plain
language.
0
Source: Actual Flesch-Kincaid Test run in Microsoft Word 2007, Reader’s Digest,
Time, and Harvard Law score estimates from wikipedia.com
© 2010 The Agile Institute

10. HOW DID YOU DO?
The 3-Step CVD Score Review Process.
1 2 3
Report
Card
Scores Ideas
A few
recommendations.
Improvement tips and
suggested next steps.
© 2010 The Agile Institute

11. OUR THOUGHTS (1 of 2)
Tell how this slide fits
Summarize slide’s main into presentation story
idea to make sure prospect
understands your point
Facebook Data Model Comparison
Group to reduce clutter
XXXX service
Rewrite to make easier
to understand at a glance
© 2010 The Agile Institute

12. OUR THOUGHTS (2 of 2)
Does it make sense for us to help you create a presentation?
Yes No Maybe
Email or call to schedule an Please email us feedback Email or call to schedule an
appointment with an Agile to improve the CVD. appointment with an Agile
Institute expert to discuss Institute expert to answer
your needs. your questions.
CONTACT US:
AJ Igherighe | Founder
aj@theagileinstitute.com
(404) 247-7687
© 2010 The Agile Institute

13. APPENDIX

14. SCORE DETAILS (1 of 4)
Content scores come from eight areas.
Sub- Factor Tested Description Foundation Grading Method Prospect You Example(s)
Category Mentioned Mentioned
Customer Personalized This test estimates According to psychologist, Dr. David We divide the number of times the prospect is 0 16 From our calculation, “You”
focus language how well a Lieberman, in his book, Get Anyone to mentioned in the presentation vs the number of was only mentioned in the
presentation speaks to Do Anything, in order to get someone to times you or your company is mentioned. “Thank You” message on
a prospect’s interests. take your advice (to do business with Although not perfect, it gives a directionally slide X.
your company) you must convert the correct estimate of how target a presentation is to
facts to clear and specific benefits that a prospects needs.
appeal to someone emotionally.
Sub- Factor Tested Description Foundation Grading Method Supported Total Ideas Example(s)
Category Ideas
Compelling Credibility Estimates the In their book, Made to Stick, Chip Heath Here we simply divide the number of supported 10 13 On slide 3, a quote from a
Message likelihood a prospect (Stanford Graduate School of Business) points (Ideas) by the total number of points Disney executive is used to
will believe the and Dan Heath (former Harvard (Ideas) made. show the importance of
reasons given to do Business School researcher) argue that Facebook to their business
business with you. for someone to believe a new idea it and own television
must either be endorsed by someone/ networks. This is an
something they already trust, contain excellent use of a third-party
sufficient concrete details to appear testimonial to give credibility.
possible, use statistics that relate to
something already understood, or,
finally, make a point self-testable.
Sub- Factor Tested Description Foundation Grading Method Benefits Features Example(s)
Category Mentioned Mentioned
Compelling Emotional Estimates how well According to psychologist, Dr. David We divide the number of times your product’s/ 5 8 Slide 6 is a good example of
Message Impact your presentation Lieberman, in his book, Get Anyone to service’s features are translated to benefits for giving prospects features
emotionally appeals to Do Anything, in order to get someone to prospects in the presentation. and translating it into
prospects. take your advice (to do business with benefits. The fact XXXX
your company) you must convert the can use Facebook APIs by
facts to clear and specific benefits that itself means little until you
appeal to them emotionally. state it means greater
efficiency. However, slide 7
is a simply a feature list.
Prospects may not know the
significance of the
capabilities listed.
© 2010 The Agile Institute

15. SCORE DETAILS (2 of 4)
Content scores come from eight areas.
Sub- Factor Tested Description Foundation Grading Method Rules Used Rules Example(s)
Category
Compelling Call-to-Action Estimates how well Dr. David Lieberman, in his book, Get We count the number of the 5 rules used in the 0 5 It is unclear on slide 12
Message your presentation tells Anyone to Do Anything, gives 5 rules to presentation’s call to action. exactly what you want the
prospects what they follow to get someone to take action prospect to do.
should do next. quickly: (1) limit their decision options -
preferrably to 2 or 3, (2) give a deadline
of some sort, (3) make a small initial
request first, (4) set expectation, (5) and
make the next step simple and easy.
Sub- Factor Tested Description Foundation Grading Method Different Total Example(s)
Category Message Competitors
Compelling Unexpected- Estimates how well One of the most difficult but important We research a small group of competitors and 1 3 While we believe your
Message ness your presentation parts of pitching is getting a prospect to count how many have a different message. access to Facebook API is
emotionally appeals to pay attention to what makes you unique we struggled to see
prospects. special. Chip and Dan Heath, Made to how it was different from
Stick,say the best way to accomplish what social media
this is to communicate the parts of your advertisers Cubics
message that are uncommon sense. (cubics.com) and the
Lollipop Group
(lollipopgroup.com) did.
However, your message
was different from Mirrorball
(mirrorball.com).
Sub- Factor Tested Description Foundation Grading Method Passage Target Example(s)
Category Score
Clear Reading ease Estimates how quickly Created by readability expert and plain We take text from a slide in the presentation and 16 65 The text on slide 9 is
Message a prospect will English writing proponent, Dr. Rudolf run it through the Flesch-Kincaid test in Microsoft extremely difficult to read.
understand your Flesch, the Flesch-Kincaid readability Word and divide it by the plain english target In fact, this slide is more
message. test uses sentence and word length to score of 65. difficult to read than the
estimate how difficult writing is to notoriously challenging
comprehend. A score of 65 is Harvard Law Review.
considered to be written in “plain
English” meaning most people can
easily understand it.
© 2010 The Agile Institute

16. SCORE DETAILS (3 of 4)
Content scores come from eight areas.
Sub- Factor Tested Description Foundation Grading Method Concrete Idea Slides Example(s)
Category Slides
Clear Concreteness Estimates how quickly Chip and Dan Heath, Made to Stick, We count the number of slides that communicate 5 11 Slide 3 concretely
Message a prospect will introduce the concept of “The ideas in concrete terms. communicates the
understand your Knowledge Curse.” The curse is importance of Facebook by
message. experts often communicate in abstract showing how much time
ideas making it more likely people will Disney spends on it. Slide 6
either not understand or misinterpet could be improved by
ideas. To combat this, Chip and Dan adding an analogy or chart
suggest experts spend time making to show how few companies
their messages concrete - use language can access Facebook’s API.
that links to things most of their
audience understands.
Sub- Factor Tested Description Foundation Grading Method Rules Used Rules Example(s)
Category
Clear Story Logic Estimates how likely a Barbara Minto, writing expert who We count the number of rules you use in the 0 5 The presentation does not
Message prospect is to developed the McKinsey & Company presentation. state your argument for why
understand the communication style, created the Minto a prospect should do
reasons they should Pyramid Principle in her book, The business with you.
do business with you. Minto Pyramid Principle, she explains a
good presentation should (1) introduce
the situation, (2) clearly state problem,
(3) give the main idea [top of pyramid],
(4) group the supporting ideas for the
main idea using inductive logic, and (5)
use deductive logic to support the
inductive groups.
© 2010 The Agile Institute

17. SCORE DETAILS (3 of 4)
Visual scores come from four areas.
Sub- Factor Tested Description Foundation Grading Method Rules Used Rules Example(s)
Category
Presentation Presentation Estimates how well a Barbara Minto, also gives a blueprint to We count the number of rules you use in the 0 3 The presentation does not
Story Logic prospect is able to use to ensure people can easily follow presentation. provide a way for people to
follow the your argument. In The Minto Pyramid follow your argument.
presentation. Principle, she states a presentation
should (1) layout the main points to be
addressed at the beginning of the
presentation, (2) provide a way of
tracking where you are on each slide,
and (3) tell the entire story in the
presentation titles.
Sub- Factor Tested Description Foundation Grading Method Smallest Target Font Example(s)
Category used
Visual Font Size Estimates how likely Marketing expert, Guy Kawasaki, in his We divide the smallest font size used by the ideal 18 30 On slide 5, 18 point font is
Appeal the presentation is to book, The Art of the Start, states his 30 point font. used in bullets.
grab and keep a 10/20/30 Rule. The rule states his ideal
prospect’s interest. presentation has 10 slides, takes 20
minutes, and uses a minimum of a 30
point font. We have adapted this rule
slightly for presentations that are sent to
prospects instead of presented.
© 2010 The Agile Institute

18. SCORE DETAILS (3 of 4)
Visual scores come from four areas.
Sub- Factor Tested Description Foundation Grading Method Uncluttered Total Slides Example(s)
Category Slides
Visual Visual Clarity Estimates how well a In the Information Design Workbook, We count the number of “uncluttered” slides and 11 18 Slide 11 has a tremendous
Appeal prospect will visual communication expert, Kim Baer, divide by total number to get percentage of amount of visual information
understand the main shows how to use whitespace and color uncluttered slides. and it is unclear what the
point of the to keep documents clear and easy to main idea is of the slide.
presentation. understand.
Sub- Factor Tested Description Foundation Grading Method Rule Points Total Rule Example(s)
Category Points
Visual Chart Clarity Estimates how well a Gene Zelanzny, Director of Visual For each chart, we count how many of the 4 rules 8 16 The chart on slide 2 we
Appeal prospect will Communication for McKinsey & are followed. To reach the total rule points, we assume is meant to show
understand your Company, has a few rules for charts multiple the number of charts by 4. We divide the most people use Facebook.
charts and graphs. and graphs: (1) select the chart that rules followed for each chart by the total rule While it is the appropriate
shows the relationship being points possible to reach a score. type of chart, it is unclear
communicated, (2) state the idea the the exact point of the slide,
chart communicates in the title, (3) for instance, it could show
clearly identify point viewer should pay that more females than
attention to in the chart, and (4) give the males use Facebook. Also,
source of data in chart. we don’t know where this
information comes from so a
prospect may question its
validity.
© 2010 The Agile Institute