Leadership Rules for the Boardroom

Every so often, you will be tasked with making presentations which you will be required to present to the senior executives in your company. This audience can be very tough to please because they not only have multiple business areas that they are managing, but also oversee overall company operations. So much is demanded of these top executives and this includes the making of high-stake decisions that involve a lot of risk and may have dire consequences to the company. They are quite busy and may not be readily available to have meetings every time you feel the need to have an issue addressed. 

Time is of value to this top executives and making long presentations is off-limits. This can cause a lot of frustration even to a skilled presenter because they may have waited a long time to be slotted into their busy schedule and have a lot to bring up, yet not have enough time to express all they wanted to express. The use of boardroom presentation techniques can make your presentation a success. To be heard, get straight to the point and give them the information that they want to hear. Make your presentation short and insightful and you will be sure to have a second meeting. 

How to Present to Senior Executives

1. Be Brief

You should keep your presentation very short and precise as time is of essence to your audience. Work on getting them hooked as soon as you start your presentation. To do this, start with clearly and concisely stating your high level findings, derived conclusions and recommendations and a call to action. You can thereafter proceed with your supporting information, subtleties and other material that may be relevant to your presentation. If using power point presentation, use a minimum of 5 slides. Use bullet points to relay information as it is easier for your audience to skim through. It is much easier for you to lose the concentration of your audience when you have paragraphs of cramped up information. 

2. Be Clear About Your Expectations

Before you start your presentation, let the executives know what your expectations are. A perfect example would be laying down your presentation strategy. You can do this by telling them that you will be spending the first few minutes highlighting the summary and would want to spend the remainder of the time having a discussion. This would of course depend on what your presentation is about. Laying the plan out for them will help with their planning and may also help you get through the session uninterrupted.

3. Do Your Homework

Do proper research before making your boardroom presentations. Rambling on about stuff you are not too sure about is not advisable with this crowd because they may lose focus or simply your trust. You don’t want to look unprepared for the presentation before such an audience. Also, be ready to take on tough questions and have a slide or a notebook where you can note down questions you want to look up later and get back to them.

4. Be Flexible

You should be prepared to have the executives take over the presentation. Don’t get worked up if they ask you to go back to a particular slide or completely forego some of the slides you had prepared. They may want to concentrate on a particular topic and have you expound on that throughout the session. This may be of more importance to them than going through all the slides. 

5. Be Confident

Most senior executives demand presenters that are commanding in nature and who do proper research that is backed up by data. They look out for refined information and a bigger-picture standpoint. It would be helpful to run your presentation by your colleague to advice on your boardroom etiquette. Make your points strongly and confidently, showing that you know exactly what you are talking about.

Learning how to make a presentation to senior management can make a significant boost to your career. Find out what they are looking for in the presentation, relay it and perfect the art. You can also read up more about boardroom presentation examples and boardroom etiquette rules to stay on top of the game. Senior executives will strongly advocate for your ideas when you perfect the art of making presentations for top-level management. This can work strongly in your favor and is what will set you apart from the rest