Critical success factors prompt for PowerPoint
A Bain-style prompt for strategy teams that builds one critical success factors (KSF) slide from your evidence: five to eight factors scored for industry importance and company strength, a 2x2 matrix, a ranked list and a call on which two capabilities to fund.
Critical success factors prompt
Fill in any highlighted fields, then copy or run it.
Build one KSF slide for [industry] from the attached evidence. Identify two capabilities for incremental investment.
List five to eight factors. Score industry importance and company strength separately from 1 to 5. If pairwise scores exist, show the 0, 1, 2 rule, totals, and normalized weights, and check that each pair sums to 2.
Add an importance-versus-strength matrix, ranked factors, and a resource-shift recommendation. Cite scores and mark evidence gaps. Do not invent survey results.Why this prompt works
Two scores, kept apart
The prompt scores industry importance and company strength separately from 1 to 5, so a factor that matters a lot but where you are weak stands out instead of averaging away.
Pairwise weights are checked
If pairwise comparisons exist, it asks for the 0, 1, 2 rule, totals and normalized weights, and checks that every pair sums to 2. Arithmetic slips get caught before the meeting.
It ends in a resource shift
The prompt asks for two capabilities that deserve incremental investment and a resource-shift recommendation, so the slide says where money should move, not only what matters.
No invented survey data
It tells the model to cite scores, mark evidence gaps and not invent survey results. Thin evidence shows up as a gap rather than a confident-looking number.
Adapt it to your own deck
Use your own evidence
Attach interview notes, survey results or a scoring sheet and replace [industry]. Add "Use only scores from the attached file and list any factor without a source."
Change the factor count
Five to eight factors fit on one slide. For a board pre-read, ask for twelve factors on an appendix slide and keep the top five on the main page.
Match the audience
For an operating team, swap the resource-shift box for owners and dates: "For each priority capability, add an owner, a first milestone and a 90-day budget."
Critical success factors FAQ
What are critical success factors?
Critical success factors, also called key success factors, are the few things a company must do well to win in its industry. Comparing how much each one matters with how strong the company is shows where to invest and where to stop spending.
Is this an official Bain template?
No. Bain-style describes a common consulting slide convention: a title that states the conclusion, one clear chart and a recommendation. Tosea is not affiliated with Bain & Company.
Can I use this prompt in ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini?
Yes. A chat assistant will return scores, text and a slide outline that you then lay out yourself. In Tosea you attach your evidence file with the prompt and get a slide you can edit and export to PowerPoint.
Bain-style describes a common consulting framework. Tosea is not affiliated with Bain & Company. Figures on the example slides are illustrative.
Prefer not to write a prompt?
Upload the document. Tosea drafts the deck, you edit and export.
Start for free