Consultation Preparation Workbook

Why prepare for a consultation?

The most valuable part of a consultation is the time spent on your real problem. Arrive unprepared and much of the session goes on explaining context, recalling numbers from memory, and discovering that the real question differs from the one you brought. Arrive prepared and the session starts at the point you would struggle to reach alone.

This workbook is for you before you book any consultation, whether on marketing, AI, websites and platforms, or team organisation. Fill it in honestly, even by hand. Many people find while filling it that part of the answer was already with them, and that what they really need is help with one specific decision.

The seven parts

What not to share

• No passwords or access codes for any account. If something needs to be seen, show it on screen or share a screenshot.
• No personal data about your customers or beneficiaries (names, numbers, addresses). Share aggregated figures or hide anything identifying.
• No confidential documents belonging to partners or others without their permission.

Writing the one-page summary

Once the workbook is filled in, condense it to one page. The page helps you first, because it forces you to choose what matters most. You can use it at the start of the session, or share it in advance if the booking process gives you a way to do so.

Consultation prep summary
Name: [..]   Business/organisation: [..]   Consultation area: [..]   Date: [..]

1) The situation in five lines
   [what we offer, to whom, for how long, with which team, what changed recently]

2) The decision I want to leave with
   [a question with possible answers: A or B? / which comes first among ...?]

3) What I have tried
   [attempt] — when and for how long: [..] — what happened: [..] — my reading: [..]

4) Available evidence
   [evidence] — period: [..] — what is missing: [..]

5) Constraints
   Rough budget: [..]   Time: [..]   Team and skills: [..]
   What cannot change: [..]

6) My questions, ranked
   1. [the question the decision depends on]
   2. [..]
   3. [..]
   If time allows: [..]

7) What a successful session means for me
   [e.g. I know which of the two options to choose, and the first three steps]

Worksheet

1) Current situation

2) The decision you need

3) What you have tried

4) Evidence

5) Constraints

6) Questions

7) Success criteria

During the session

• Start with the decision you need, not the full history of the business; details come when asked for.
• Take notes in your own words, with a separate column for things to do.
• If you hear advice that does not fit your constraints, say so straight away; it steers the discussion towards what you can actually apply.
• Before the end, restate the decision and next steps aloud to check you understood them as intended.

After the session: action tracker

Most of a consultation's value is lost in the following week, when daily work returns and notes are forgotten. Fill in this table within 24 hours and review it weekly.

Completed example

Checklist before booking and after the session

• I described the current situation in five lines.
• I framed the decision as a question with possible answers.
• I wrote down what I tried, with the result and my reading of it.
• I gathered evidence and noted the period it covers and what is missing.
• I wrote my constraints clearly: budget, time, team and what cannot change.
• I ranked my questions by how much the decision depends on them.
• I defined what a successful session means for me.
• I removed passwords and personal data from anything I will show.
• I condensed everything into a one-page summary.
• After the session: I filled in the action tracker within 24 hours.
• I set a date to review the result.