Glossary
What is SCQA?
SCQA: SCQA (Situation, Complication, Question, Answer) is a four-part opening for a presentation or memo: it recalls what the audience knows, names what changed, asks the question that follows and gives your answer.
SCQA stands for Situation, Complication, Question, Answer. It is a four-part opening for a presentation, memo or section that makes the audience want your answer before you give it:
- Situation: what the audience already knows and accepts.
- Complication: what changed, or what problem makes the situation unstable.
- Question: the question the complication raises in the audience's mind.
- Answer: your recommendation, stated up front.
SCQA is usually credited to Barbara Minto, who taught it as part of the pyramid principle. Its strength is simple: when you answer, the audience is already asking your question.
An example
A logistics company reports to its supervisory board (fictional):
| Part | Example |
|---|---|
| Situation | Revenue grew 18% in Q3 and every region contributed. |
| Complication | The ERP migration is three months late, and a driver shortage sits above our risk tolerance. |
| Question | How do we protect the margin gains while we fix both? |
| Answer | Approve the Rotterdam hub now and note the ERP recovery plan. |
On a slide, this opening usually becomes the executive summary: the answer as the title, the situation and the complication in a line or two beneath it.
How to use it
- Keep the situation short. Include only what the audience would nod at. If someone could dispute it, it is not situation.
- Make the complication real. It needs tension: a change, a problem, a deadline or a missed target.
- Say the question out loud. It is often implicit, but writing it down tells you whether your answer really fits it.
- Lead with the answer. Then support it with grouped arguments that are MECE.
Typical mistakes
- A history lesson as the situation. Keep the whole opening to a few sentences; the audience came for the answer.
- A complication that smuggles in the solution. “We need a new CRM” is an answer, not a problem. The problem is what goes wrong, such as “Leads get lost between sales and marketing”.
- A question the answer does not answer. Check that the answer fits the question word for word.
- SCQA on every slide. It opens a deck, a memo or a section. Individual slides get action titles.
Related terms
SCQA sets up the argument. The pyramid principle structures the rest of it, and the storyline is the chain of slide titles that carries it to the last slide.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What does SCQA stand for?
Situation, Complication, Question, Answer. Together they form a short opening that moves from what the audience already knows, to the problem, to your recommendation.
Is SCQA the same as the pyramid principle?
No. SCQA is the opening that sets up the question. The pyramid principle is the wider method: lead with the answer, then support it with a small set of grouped arguments, each backed by evidence.
What is the difference between SCQA and SCR?
SCR stands for Situation, Complication, Resolution. It is a shorter variant that skips the explicit question. SCQA keeps the question, which helps when the audience might not see why the complication matters.
How long should an SCQA opening be?
A few sentences, usually one slide. If it grows longer, the situation is probably carrying background that the audience already knows.
Keep reading
Storyline and structure
- GuideAction titles
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- Free toolOutline builder
Free presentation outline builder: pick occasion, audience, goal and length, then edit a slide-by-slide storyline of action titles and open it as your brief.
- GlossaryIssue tree
An issue tree splits one key question into sub-questions, branch by branch, so every part can be analyzed and nothing is missed. Includes a worked example.
- Free toolAction title checker
Paste your slide titles and get a score for each: verb, number, so-what and length, with a rewrite hint. Free, runs in your browser, English and German rules.
- GlossarySo what
The “so what” is the implication of a fact: why it matters to the audience and what they should do about it. Definition, examples and a test for slides.
- GlossaryGhost deck
A ghost deck is a draft presentation built from slide titles and rough sketches before any data exists, so a team can agree on the story first.
Where to go next
- TemplateConsulting proposal
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- ConvertTurn rough notes into a presentation
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