Nearly every business team leader has experienced it at one time or another. You have just 15 minutes to make a presentation to upper management about an initiative your feel deeply about. You work hard to prepare the perfect presentation, only to met by the executives with stony silence after you are through. What happened?
In my work with change leaders over the past decade, I've seen some great examples of what works when it comes to gaining executive support. I've also been witness to more than one failure. To find out from the source what works best when presenting ideas to senior management, I interviewed several leaders in both private industry and the public sector.
The executives agreed that when mid-level leaders attempt to make a case for funding or other support, they often provide far too much information. Many pitches fail because executives don't have the time or interest to delve into every aspect of an initiative. Most executives don't want or need to know each and every task your team is working on. They don't want to have to weigh in on every decision.
Here are three great techniques to keep the details relevant when presenting to senior management.
1. Use PowerPoint to summarize your main points.
Power point is so powerful in this type of presentation because it forces you to organize your key points into short and to the point statements. The Power Point Presentation should be high level key points, and you should be prepared with illustrative stories and anecdotes to bring those points alive. The goal will be to stay on any one Power Point screen no more than three minutes during your presentation. Make sure you have the details to back up your presentation, but only as a resource if you receive specific questions about a key issue.
2. Organize your main objectives and goals into relevant groups.
I recently saw one team leader list every activity his team planned to work on in 2009 in his pitch to executives. Instead of strengthening his case, all of the details turned off the executives he was trying to influence. One leader even spoke up to tell the team leader that they didnt want to know all of the team's tasks. They just wanted to know the priorities.
One helpful strategy I like to use is to categorize your goals and objectives. For instance, you may want to state in your presentation that your teams three main areas of focus in the coming year will be cost savings, process efficiencies, and developing bench strength. The remainder of your presentation will be to provide specific examples in each of these categories as to how you intend to be successful. Senior management will then be able to easily identify your core goals and the impact they will have on the whole organization, as well as determine if the areas important to you will be areas they would like to emphasize in the coming year.
3. Concisely summarize what you need from the executive team in order to move forward.
A great number of presentations to senior management take on an informational tone. The team leader will update the executives on status of the project and then ask for questions. Their expectation is that senior management will take the initiative and suggest a plan for funding and support of the project, which unfortunately is rarely the case.
A better approach is to end the presentation with a visual that describes what you are looking to senior management to support. Perhaps this will be a financial commitment, a key decision only they can make, or additional resources to complete the project. True, there is always the possibility that what you ask for will be denied, it is a much better situation to understand right away if what you need to be successful is a possibility.
About 10 years ago, General Electric hired an external consulting team to help create a change acceleration process. That team devised a four step process for giving impressive and time effective presentations:
* Our project or initiative is about . . . * It is critical to the company because . . . * What this means for you is . . . . * Heres how you can help . . .
This approach will work both in informal individual conversations with senior management staff as well as in your formal group presentations. And, as you become more proficient at answering those four key questions, your ability to get your proposals approve will increase.
Short and crisp presentations give you the ability to focus on your goals and strategies rather than day to day activities. Clarity in your presentation as to what your team needs to be successful will help senior management readily understand what it is you are proposing, what you need from them to be successful, and how your initiative will have a positive impact on company operations.
In my work with change leaders over the past decade, I've seen some great examples of what works when it comes to gaining executive support. I've also been witness to more than one failure. To find out from the source what works best when presenting ideas to senior management, I interviewed several leaders in both private industry and the public sector.
The executives agreed that when mid-level leaders attempt to make a case for funding or other support, they often provide far too much information. Many pitches fail because executives don't have the time or interest to delve into every aspect of an initiative. Most executives don't want or need to know each and every task your team is working on. They don't want to have to weigh in on every decision.
Here are three great techniques to keep the details relevant when presenting to senior management.
1. Use PowerPoint to summarize your main points.
Power point is so powerful in this type of presentation because it forces you to organize your key points into short and to the point statements. The Power Point Presentation should be high level key points, and you should be prepared with illustrative stories and anecdotes to bring those points alive. The goal will be to stay on any one Power Point screen no more than three minutes during your presentation. Make sure you have the details to back up your presentation, but only as a resource if you receive specific questions about a key issue.
2. Organize your main objectives and goals into relevant groups.
I recently saw one team leader list every activity his team planned to work on in 2009 in his pitch to executives. Instead of strengthening his case, all of the details turned off the executives he was trying to influence. One leader even spoke up to tell the team leader that they didnt want to know all of the team's tasks. They just wanted to know the priorities.
One helpful strategy I like to use is to categorize your goals and objectives. For instance, you may want to state in your presentation that your teams three main areas of focus in the coming year will be cost savings, process efficiencies, and developing bench strength. The remainder of your presentation will be to provide specific examples in each of these categories as to how you intend to be successful. Senior management will then be able to easily identify your core goals and the impact they will have on the whole organization, as well as determine if the areas important to you will be areas they would like to emphasize in the coming year.
3. Concisely summarize what you need from the executive team in order to move forward.
A great number of presentations to senior management take on an informational tone. The team leader will update the executives on status of the project and then ask for questions. Their expectation is that senior management will take the initiative and suggest a plan for funding and support of the project, which unfortunately is rarely the case.
A better approach is to end the presentation with a visual that describes what you are looking to senior management to support. Perhaps this will be a financial commitment, a key decision only they can make, or additional resources to complete the project. True, there is always the possibility that what you ask for will be denied, it is a much better situation to understand right away if what you need to be successful is a possibility.
About 10 years ago, General Electric hired an external consulting team to help create a change acceleration process. That team devised a four step process for giving impressive and time effective presentations:
* Our project or initiative is about . . . * It is critical to the company because . . . * What this means for you is . . . . * Heres how you can help . . .
This approach will work both in informal individual conversations with senior management staff as well as in your formal group presentations. And, as you become more proficient at answering those four key questions, your ability to get your proposals approve will increase.
Short and crisp presentations give you the ability to focus on your goals and strategies rather than day to day activities. Clarity in your presentation as to what your team needs to be successful will help senior management readily understand what it is you are proposing, what you need from them to be successful, and how your initiative will have a positive impact on company operations.
About the Author:
Wendy Mack is a professional advisor, trainer, and author with a focus in leading and communicating change. Contact Wendy at, or obtain her free e-book, Transforming Anxiety into Energy at www.WendyMack.com.
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