Nothing makes most people’s knees knock like being called on to present to executives. Executives are a challenging and intimidating audience, and most of us find presenting to them stressful and overwhelming. It’s high-visibility, high-pressure, and high-risk. We feel like we’re being judged – and we probably are.
Executives become successful by surrounding and supporting themselves with capable people. They are watching to see how we perform under pressure and assessing our confidence and credibility. They don’t have the patience or inclination to listen to someone who doesn’t seem to know what they’re talking about.
Executives are impatient for a reason – they are extremely busy people. Their time is valuable, and they have a heightened awareness of the fact that the clock doesn’t stop moving when we do. They won’t thank anyone they perceive as wasting their time. If we ramble, go off on a tangent, or try to stage a big reveal late in the presentation, we are likely to get cut short. Anything that takes extra time or that the execs consider unnecessary will merely get us interrupted with sharply phrased questions, or orders to “cut to the chase” or “get to the point.”
When we present to executives, there are really just five things they want to know, which can be summed up as Who, What, Why, How and When. The more efficiently and effectively we can relay this information, the better.
WHO is the presenter?
The executives we’re presenting to need to understand who we are and why we’re the ones talking to them. If this isn’t clear from the outset – as when we are introduced by another person – we should tell them who we are, but there’s no need for an autobiography. Our self-introduction should be as brief and concise as possible. “Good afternoon; I’m Bob Smith, IT Manager, and I was asked by the VP of Operations to report on the cloud storage initiative.” This lets everyone know who you are, what your area of expertise is, and why you’re standing in front of them.
WHAT is the point?
When speaking to executives, always lead with the main point and let them know what action is being called for right upfront. When dealing with executives, we can’t build our case before we arrive at our conclusion; the conclusion comes first. If they don’t understand immediately what the presentation is about, they’ll probably interrupt and ask. The first few sentences out of our mouth need to comprise an “executive summary” – and there’s a good reason that term exists – of the issue at hand, its relevance, and a call to action. The rest of the presentation should lay out the rest of our case, with relevant data, findings, conclusions, and options for taking action.
WHY is it important?
Executives are, as a rule, high-level strategic thinkers. They are concerned about the big picture and are constantly looking to the future. Those of us who are on the ground dealing with day-to-day issues may only be able to see the state of the trees around us, but the executives are not concerned about individual trees; their interest is the future of the entire forest. They are focused on the marketplace, on industry trends and emerging technology, on the competition, and on the growth of the company over the next three to five years. If we are coming to tell them that a problem exists, we’d better be able to demonstrate that its future progression and broader impact is something they should care about – in strategic terms – or we’re likely to get blown off.
HOW do we move forward?
We have now discussed the problem or issue at hand – so what are we going to do about it? Executives are consummate decision-makers; they will readily decide whether or not to act, or which action is appropriate among several choices, but they will want to hear our proposals for potential actions, as well as the likely results of each option. Be prepared with clear suggestions and solid projections; then be ready to answer questions and provide further insight to aid the execs’ decision-making process.
WHEN will it happen?
Executives like for their decisions to be implemented immediately. We should have a timeline prepared for any action plan we propose and be able to tell them starting and ending dates. Keep in mind that the sooner things can get started, the happier the execs will be, so any groundwork that can be laid beforehand to help grease the wheels and get things moving ASAP can be helpful.
5 More Tips For Making Executive Presentations
Remember that there’s nothing executives hate more than wasting time. Punctuality is a virtue that executives universally appreciate; so is brevity. Kicking the presentation off on time is critical, and ending it early earns us bonus points in the eyes of the execs. One approach that can work extremely well is to condense our entire talk into less than half the time we’ve been provided, and then open the floor for questions and further discussion. Don’t feel like all of the details need to be in the main body of the presentation, but do have it ready, just in case; if executives want more data, they’ll ask for it.
If our proposal will save the company millions, or keep the organization from getting sued, or if our project is running ahead of schedule and under budget, that needs to go front and center. Conversely, if we are warning them about a problem, that goes up front, too. Like any other audience, executives want to know how they will benefit and what they will learn from listening to us; putting a high-impact statement in the “executive summary” gets them interested.
Speaking to executives makes many of us nervous, and understandably so. Remember that executives are just as mortal as any of us; we shouldn’t allow ourselves to become intimidated or overawed. Practice whatever stress-relieving techniques seem to work best, and give it to them straight. Executives generally have respect for people who can function well under pressure and remain in control of the situation.
Check in to make sure the executive audience is following, and solicit questions occasionally. Ask for feedback: “We believe this is our best option; what do you think?” Give them the opportunity to request or decline further information: “This is a graph of the increase in escalations; I do have more detailed data on this if you’d like to see it.” This keeps things moving, encourages participation, and allows you to maintain control of interruptions.
If the execs ask a question at any point, don’t answer it in fifty words if one will do. Often, there’s a short answer and a long answer; just give the short one. We can offer to elaborate, but there’s no need to get flustered and give complex answers to pointed questions. Don’t worry – they’ll keep asking questions if they want to know more.
Baker Communications offers leading-edge Presentations Training solutions that will help address the goals and achieve the solutions addressed in this article. For more information about how our organization can achieve immediate and lasting behavior change that leads to success during presentations in any setting, click here.
