Want an Executive to Say “Yes”? Don’t Make These Presentation Mistakes

Most senior managers say their life boils down to making decisions, one after another after another, all day. Your critical initiative is competing with many others, all simmering and ready to bubble up at any time. To process any one request, busy executives need to be fed relevant, organized data and facts. They need to quickly absorb three things:

• What you want them to know
• What you want them to do
• Why they should do it now

“To process any one request, busy executives need to be fed relevant, organized data and facts.“

This list might seem obvious, but we skip one or more of these elements all the time. We charge ahead, fire-hosing executives with slide after slide of bullets, charts and tables. We always assume more facts and data are better. Unfortunately, this is usually a recipe for disaster. Data overload makes it more difficult for people to quickly process and make a decision on any initiative. In many cases, executives will tune out or shut down the idea in a matter of minutes. Game over.

Successfully winning over an executive requires helping them organize their thoughts around your proposal. Think of yourself as a concierge of your ideas. It requires being flexible and responsive to their questions in the moment. Here are three strategies that will help you get the response you are looking for.

Think of yourself as a concierge of your ideas.

• 1. Have a Big Idea.

There’s one thing most executives agree on: They want to understand your point quickly. The best way to ensure their understanding is by maintaining one overarching message throughout the presentation. This message is your big idea. Your big idea is the strategic engine of your presentation. It should sum up what you want from them and offer a solid benefit that will result from your plan. Make it clear and concise, and repeat it often throughout your narrative. Here are some examples:

The beauty of establishing your one big idea is that it helps you confidently choose which supporting data and facts to include in your story – whatever supports your big idea – and which you should leave out. If you always keep your big idea in view, you will stay on a consistent narrative track.

• 2. Cut Any Extraneous Information.

A common mistake is to recite everything you know about your topic in a presentation. However, it doesn’t make you look smart; it makes you lose your audience quickly. Executives hate to sit through information they already know or don’t need to know. Good preparation means making absolutely sure that you are only including facts and data that propel your big idea forward. While you should always be familiar with greater details yourself, don’t waste your airtime on anything that isn’t going to help you get to your “yes.” Heavy data collectors, in particular, need to avoid over-reporting their findings. Too many charts and tables will only muddle their message.