Entering a room full of senior executives is like entering a lion’s den.
The reason?
Those people, in that moment, can change the trajectory of your project or career.
A presentation for them wouldn’t involve using complex words, graphics, or jargon and trying to appear smart – it would involve leaving a lasting impression by incorporating relevant, clear, and valuable information.
Before you prepare to present, let us share a few actionable tips. These tips will help you transform your nervous energy into a standout performance that fully informs, persuades, and engages the audience.
Why is Executive Presentation so Important?
- It’s a good chance to stand out and be seen and heard at the highest levels of the hierarchy. You can directly communicate your knowledge and insights to top-level decision-makers.
- Your presentation might influence the company’s future course in getting approvals for a project, funding, or strategy.
- It will help you solidify your stature within the company. You can position yourself as a thoughtful leader and the person everyone turns to solve critical issues.
- It can open many doors for you, including new career opportunities and advancement, more responsibilities, trust, etc.
Why is Executive Presentation Challenging?
- Management could have an impatient mindset – They are busy people managing vast areas of work, which could make them impatient.
A study by HBR highlighted that 72% of CEOs’ time is spent in meetings, which means that your presentation needs to be really succinct and on point. You might get only a few minutes to make your case.
- Interruptions – Executives will not be passive listeners; they might interrupt you with questions or comments. In that case, be prepared to handle questions in between without losing your chain of thought or control of the presentation.
- They might have preexisting notions – Since they already sit at the top, they will have views and opinions. A presentation backed with strong, credible data and knowledge will be needed for meaningful dialogue and collaboration.
- The inclinations could be different – While some might prefer detailed information, others might prefer a short presentation. And since every attendee is crucial, balancing the diverse preferences might be challenging.
- Targeting high engagement – You need to maintain high engagement from start to finish since there might be 100 things taking away their attention.
- High pressure – Since these presentations could involve crucial decisions for the company, they are often high stakes and require a lot of work.
Key Tips for Presenting to Senior Leadership
The following tips will help elevate your presentation skills, letting you etch an indelible mark in your audience’s minds.
1. Start With a Quick Overview
Start by quickly explaining how the presentation aligns with the management’s priorities. A brief overview will let them know what to expect (setting expectations for a meeting) and set the right tone for the presentation. It will help executives align their thoughts and shift their attention to your words.
Outline your main topics and the presentation time. Ask for contributions, that is, if they have any topic they would like to add to the agenda. It will let them know that you respect their role and expertise and will also cover everything on the priority list.
Clear communication is a powerful and crucial business tool. Use it to your advantage and start from a positive tone.
Also, if any topic needs immediate attention, tackle it before your scheduled topics. It will show your sensitivity and also make space for focused and uninterrupted attention on everyone’s part.
Pro Tip: Use agenda slides to provide a quick snapshot of the topics you have covered in the presentation.
2. Have a Thorough Understanding of the Audience
Research the concerns, specific interests, pain points, and goals of the leadership you will present to. Doing this when creating the content will be wise, as it will help you tailor your message based on their strategic priorities.
Learn what they already know and what might interest them to create an on-point presentation.
3. Your Presentation Should be Concise and Focused on Key Points
Lead by clearly stating your main message. Avoid going into too many (unnecessary) details. Stick to the most essential information to keep your presentation concise and focused.
What you can do is, if your time slot, let’s say, is 30 minutes, pretend as if it got cut down to 5 to prepare a powerful intro.
Start with your most critical information, such as findings, recommendations, CTA, and conclusion. State the information clearly at the start, then move on to the supporting data and subtleties that are peripherally important.
Create summary slides. If the presentation is 50 slides, create 10 as your summary (overview of key points). After you finish the summary, you can let the group drive conversations forward, moving to the other 40 slides as and when questions or comments come up.
Pro Tip: You can use the rule of three. It means presenting ideas in a group of three – like three bullet points on a slide or three main ideas. It makes your information easy to understand and retain.
4. Let them Know the Business Impact of Your Presentation
Let them know the business value, strategic impact, and outcome of your message and how it aligns with the company’s goals.
Be clear about the purpose, i.e., what you wish them to derive from the presentation and how it will benefit the organization. For a bonus, try linking your presentation to the big-picture strategy.
5. Back Your Claims With Strong Data, Statistics, and Evidence
The management would want to see a confident, knowledgeable, and trustworthy person delivering the presentation.
Include relevant data, case studies, research, and statistics to provide credibility to your words. Back up your claims with credible source citations and acknowledge any limitations and gaps.
Explain how you arrived at certain conclusions and if there were any alternatives to consider. Convey your expertise and interest in the topic you are presenting.
Pro Tip: Use infographics, data-driven charts, and graphs for compelling data visualization.
6. Keep it Less
The top management is strapped for time. Filling them in with unnecessary details will waste your and your audience’s time.
A rule of thumb is that decision-makers need 40% to 70% information to make a decision. Anything less than 40 will result in a bad decision, and if you furnish more than 70, the opportunity might pass you by.
So, don’t seek to provide 100% of the information. Strategize your content by including only the most relevant information.
It will also result in minimalist slides. Keep your slides limited with proper use of negative space.
7. Anticipate Tough Questions
You should be well prepared for the potential challenges or tricky questions from senior management.
Think of all the possible big-picture questions, objections, and routine data-based questions that could arise, and have solutions ready.
Questions to consider could be like –
- If Nothing is Done About it?
It will assess your understanding of your recommendations. If you have overexaggerated the benefits of your measures, the answer will become clear.
Tell them about the worst-case scenario if they choose not to proceed with your recommendations. Noting the situation will enable them to solve the issue before it arises, getting their focus on actions (your suggestion) that will help the company grow.
- What’s Needed from the Management?
Have a clear understanding of what you need from the executives if they give your project the go-ahead. The end of the presentation might be a potential start of something, so be clear of all the aspects going forward.
- Impact on the Company?
You should have a clear answer on how your work will impact the company and drive it forward.
- Prioritization of Your Recommendations?
Everyone works on a budget. Explain why your project/recommendation is more important than the company’s other projects.
8. Project Comfort and Confidence with Thorough Preparation
A well-prepared presentation will give you the confidence and comfort to stand in front of people. Let them see your expertise and poise in handling difficult situations.
Have a dry run at the venue to make sure everything runs smoothly. If that’s not possible, arrive early and check everything – venue, equipment, materials, etc. Arriving early will help you arrange everything and relax, meaning a positive start to your presentation.
9. Engage Them
Any audience is better equipped to remember you if you engage them properly, especially in this case, as it’s the top-level management you are addressing. Engage them emotionally and logically by sharing anecdotes, analogies, etc., relevant to your point.
Storytelling is another tool for weaving your presentation into a compelling narrative that is easier to remember than plain stats and data.
Use engagement tools like quizzes and polls to generate interest and interaction.
Humor, body movement, eye contact, vocal variety, and other techniques will help you convey your personality and passion and engage people on a higher level.
Be respectful and invite people to share their opinions or feedback.
10. Work Around the Needs of Everyone
There could be times you are presenting to the VP of sales. Sometimes, it could be the director of marketing. And there could be times when you have to contribute to both simultaneously.
Not being prepared to address different audience members with diverse needs can cause you much trouble during the presentation.
You don’t want to see restless faces, so prepare content and delivery that addresses everyone’s needs and style.
11. Use Visual Aids to Your Advantage
Create slides that convey your information efficiently. The design should be clear and support the main points without overwhelming the audience.
Use simple, catchy visuals to elaborate on your key points and drive your message home. Always remember that your slides shouldn’t be content- or visual-heavy. Make appropriate use of negative space and use relevant graphics of high quality and resolution to avoid pixelation.
12. Go for Pre-presentation Warm Up
The first few minutes before a presentation are very scary, and what you do during that time could have a huge impact on your performance later.
The best way to start a presentation confidently is by going for a warmup. You can consider incorporating the following.
- Mindset – Build a positive attitude by practicing meditation, reciting chants, etc. Do anything that calms you down and puts you in a positive and calm state.
- Breathing – Practice deep, regulated diaphragmatic breathing. It will slow down your heart rate and control your nerves.
- Move your body – All that adrenaline in our system doesn’t let us be calm or in place. Shake out the nervous energy by doing physical exercises like jumping jacks, push-ups, high knees, etc. It will help get all that adrenaline out of your body and make you feel calmer and centered.
- Warm up your mouth – It might sound ridiculous, but warming up the mouth can facilitate smooth speech later. Pretend your mouth is full of bubble gum, and you are chewing it.
13. Practice Well
Practice consistently to ensure effortless delivery and confident body language.
You can seek help from someone who has succeeded in a similar setting. Run your work by people who will give you honest feedback.
You can practice by focusing on questions like –
Is your message thorough, transparent, and quick? Are your summary slides efficient enough to summarize your presentation into skimmable key information? Have you covered everything your audience expected from you?
Practice your presentation, considering these questions to refine and polish your work into an incredible presentation.
Things to Avoid
- Excessive use of technical jargon – Don’t rely on too much jargon to appear well-learned or bright.
- Going into excessive detail – Concentrate on the big picture and significant insights rather than getting lost and bogged down in minutiae. It will also stop you from wandering from the main topic.
- Negative tone – Maintain a solution-oriented and positive approach even when presenting issues.
- Unnecessary rambling – Focus on your main message and avoid moving in different directions/tangents.
- Going over the time limit – Present all your information within the allocated time to avoid overwhelming the audience.
Final Thoughts
Designing a presentation for the executive team might feel intimidating or like a lot of work.
Yes, it is, but it will be an incredible honor, opening multiple avenues if done right. These are people with tremendous influence, and you want them in your corner.
So, work on creating impactful content and robust delivery and leave a solid mark when you can.
