When you are presenting up

- When we coach our clients to present to executives, we know that they have a lot on the line. C-Suite or executive audiences have unique expectations. In this following example, Jake is presenting in front of the executive committee. Think of how you would coach Jake to improve. - Hey everyone and thanks for your time, I would like to discuss the Vibe account. Now Vibe is a new brand that has been capturing over 20% of the market, which is a pretty incredible number given the competitiveness of this industry. When we first started to represent Vibe, the data wasn't giving us the insight necessary, but over the last four years, our our campaigns have allowed them to... - Jake, we get the reports, why are we even here? - I know that you know this, but I'm trying to paint a picture as to where we've come from and where we are today - Okay. - So as you can see they've grown and they want us to handle their social media. - But do they want a new feature? Or and who's even running the account? - Yes. And we need a new account rep' so I'm here to get the approval. - Now, let's critique Jake's C-Suite effort. He was prepared and polite. However, when you present up, consider the strategies for communication success. Know your audience. Executives hear a lot of information and make tough, quick decisions. Plan your presentation by asking these questions. What are their pain points around the topic? How much do they know about the topic? What are their core values? Have they had a history with this topic? Jake underestimated the knowledge level of his audience and he frustrated them by covering things they already knew. Next, lead with your conclusion. When you present up, your suggestion or key idea should be spoken within the first 60 to 90 seconds of your presentation. If you design your presentation, like Jake did, giving lots of exposition before you get to your findings and your recommendation, you've lost your audience and their approval. Get to the point succinctly. Introduce your topic with SCQA. Former McKinsey consultant Barbara Minto developed The Minto Pyramid Principle, which always opens a presentation with this effective SCQA sequence. S, what's the current situation? C, what complication has created a problem or an opportunity? Q, what's the one key question that needs to be addressed? And A, what's the answer to that question? This answer is your recommendation. If you follow the SCQA sequence, your introduction will be brief. And your audience will know your direction from the very beginning. If Jake had used SCQA, his introduction would be something like this. - Thank you for your time, as you know, we've been representing Vibe for a number of years now and their campaigns. Vibe is our top client, and this particular campaign is our greatest one yet. Now the social media that we've been incorporating, although it's been extremely exciting, is also labor intensive. So I'd like to know, and giving them the best social media and keeping our costs down, I want to put it out on the table as to bringing a representative in. - Jake appeared far more effective in this version, didn't he? Like Jake, you'll want to lead with a conclusion and introduce your topic with SCQA. Next, go for the forest. Whenever you're presenting to executives, focus on the big picture. We call that the forest, rather than the minute details, the trees. Executives don't want to get tangled in the details. But be prepared to dive deep, if you're asked. We coach professionals to present an idea and just a few slides, and then have a few dozen others in an appendix. Finally, expect to be grilled. The C-Suite is known for tough questions. Executives won't wait patiently at the end of your presentation and then ask questions, plan to be interrupted often. Be prepared, answer concisely, and redirect back to your main theme. I remember coaching a chief financial officer to speak on a controversial topic to her board and the media. We embedded all her graphs with hyperlinked slides for the hostile questions we anticipated. One by one the questions came in, while she called walked behind the keyboard, clicked on the screen and revealed the spreadsheet with the key number the audience member was looking for. If you prepare 100% for your presentation, prepare 200% for the questions. So remember, when you're presenting to executives, lead with a conclusion, use SCQA, go for the big picture and expect to be grilled.