Blitz the Boardroom
How to make sure you get your points across and your recommendations accepted by a management board.
You are in a senior management role. You have a portfolio of important responsibilities in an organisation. You may even be a member of the board of directors of the organisation. You want to make a successful presentation to the board on a major piece of work you have completed for your organisation. You want your conclusions and your recommendations for action to be approved.
So how can you make sure that your presentation is well received? Your conclusions are accepted and your recommendations are acted upon? That's a tall order and often depends on many elements beyond your control. Including;
- The quality and skills of the chair.
- The expertise, experience, and attitude of the board members.
- The hidden agendas of the board.
- The level of interest of the board in the topic you will present.
Some aspects of how you will be received are directly related to your time with the organisation and will be either a positive or a negative influence on your presentation. These include;
- Your status in the organisation and or on the management board.
- Your length of service within the organisation.
- Your previous interactions with the management board.
However, there are several aspects of a presentation that you can control. And if you control them properly you can increase the possibility of your conclusions and recommendations being accepted and acted upon. These include your demeanour, your documentation, your visuals, your delivery, your timing, your interactions. We will look at these aspects as we go through the presentation process from preparation to delivery to decision time for the board.
Most importantly the object of your presentation should be to make it easy for the board members to
- Follow what you are saying.
- Be clear about your conclusions.
- Be clear about your recommendations.
- See the outcomes of accepting your recommendations.
- See exactly what they need to agree on.
So let’s look at what you can do to make a top class board presentation so that your conclusions are accepted and your recommendations are acted upon?
Prepare prepare prepare.
You have done all the groundwork. You have engaged with your team, your mentors, etc. You have come to some really important conclusions. You have the report just about ready. You’ve let other people read it and taken on their advice etc. Now you need to do four things to prepare for your boardroom presentation. These are
- Finalise the executive summary.
- Prepare the presentation materials.
- Prepare your talk and
- Research the board.
1. The Executive Summary
It’s what the board members are going to read first. If it’s clear they may not feel the need to read the full report. Or they may read it depending on their level of interest. But they will be more positively disposed to your upcoming presentation.
If it’s unclear they will more than likely not read the full report. And very possibly they will not be looking forward to your presentation. Not what you want to happen before you even get to the boardroom.
The executive summary needs to restate the key points of the full report including
- The nature of the issue/problem.
- Your analysis.
- Your conclusions.
- Your solutions.
- Your recommendations for the board.
2. The Presentation Materials
These are what you should use to enhance your presentation not to bamboozle the board members or yourself. These include (a) visual aids, (b) speaker notes, and (c) handouts.
A. Visual aids:
Don’t: We recommend that your visual presentation should simply cover the executive summary points. Not every element of the full report. So many presentations start well but then get stuck in detail. Don’t do that. You will lose the board very early on if you get lost in the detail.
Don't use a swishy new presentation device unless you are confident you can work it properly and more importantly it actually helps to clarify your delivery. If a board seems more interested in the visual gizmos you use than what you are actually saying you’re not going to get what you really want.
Do: Use visual aids that will add value to your presentation by clarifying what you say.
B. Speaker notes:
These need to be an aid to you when you are on the mat. So keep them simple. Nothing looks worse than a speaker stalling their presentation in order to focus on their notes as they deliver. Makes it look like you are not on top of your brief.
C. Handouts:
Apart from your executive summary and your full report you may have other handouts that you wish the board to have as you speak. But the more material you hand out the more chance you have of board members reading them as opposed to listening to you.
3. The Talk
It's time to practice for the performance. If you have prepared an excellent report and your recommendations are worthy of board decision then you shopuld prepare properly for top-class verbal delivery. It will take time but it will be time well spent. You will need to practice what you will say and how you will say it. The goal is to deliver a talk that is confident, authoritative, persuasive, and easy to follow.
For some, this means practice runs, recordings (audio and video ), mock presentations to and fielding possible questions about your presentation from colleagues, etc. For others, depending on their level of experience and acquaintance (or membership) of/with the board it may simply mean a mental run-through of the presentation. It’s important to note that you may be expected to explain in detail any element of your delivery when your presentation is complete. So you better be sure you know what you are talking about!
What you will say
The first five minutes of your delivery to the board may not determine the final decision but it can definitely affect how your presentation is perceived/ received? There is no need for a long introduction about all the work you had to do to get to this stage. You will lose the most action-orientated members of the board immediately if you start this way. They will expect that you put in the work and see it as par for the course and feel you are now wasting their time. Some board members may nod along to keep you going, others will just nod off. Not what you want.
Give a brief outline of what you are going to present and the desired outcome of the presentation. This helps the board members focus on what they will need to do i.e. Listen, consider, and decide! ATPO recommends that your presentation follows the course of your executive summary. It aligns with your full report.
Say you will take and respond to comments/observations at the end of the presentation. But also say you can provide clarifications as you go through the process. And then it is time to go ahead and talk through your presentation as planned.
How you will say
Before you even begin your presentation a warm friendly greeting with eye contact with each member of the board is a good start. It may not relieve your sense of tension but it may relax the board members and encourage them to be open to what you may be about to say.
A general sense of confidence and authority is often radiated simply by non-verbal cues such as upright stance and measured tone. If you practice your presentation delivery with your colleagues etc. you will need to ask them to give you feedback on such non-verbal cues. . Sometimes we can have minor habits ( e.g. nose scratching) we are unaware of that become really frequent when we are under pressure. They can distract the board members from paying attention to what you say. These habits can often be controlled once we become aware of them.
Depending on your skillset and level of presentation experience you can increase board engagement by using various interactive activities. (e.g. workshop, role play, etc.) But the key message here is to only use activities that you are completely sure you can control and deliver effectively. A simple and fairly safe method to increase board engagement is a mini quiz. This could be based on a few information questions that you might ask the board members to venture answers to and then a presentation of the actual answers from your research. Those who have read your report in detail should do well on the quiz.
Humour is a great sauce but only if it is cooked correctly. One person’s idea of a humorous remark may be another's idea of an outrageous slander! So once again your possible wish to ‘warm up the board’ needs to be tempered with your experience and confidence with this method of engagement. An open engaging manner throughout the presentation might just be enough to do the warming for you.
How you will look
This depends on the culture and etiquette of the board and the impression you may want to give that adds to your presentation. For some, this is a standard jacket, shirt, and tie. For others, it's jeans, a t-shirt, and a Mohican haircut. Whatever makes you feel comfortable and at your best on the day is what you should aim for.
4. Research the board
If you are not a member of the board it would be a good idea to get to know something about the members before you present to them. Colleagues who have presented previously could help you here. They may give you a sense of the reception you might receive on the day.
Apart from their personalities, it's important to be aware of the various roles and portfolios of the board members which might determine their attitude to what you will present. It would also be useful to know their level of awareness of the topic you will be presenting on. A steer from the chair on the purpose, current challenges, and strategic thinking of the board would also be very helpful.
After all the research above you may need to tweak your presentation accordingly. For example, you may have to adjust the technical language involved in your presentation to ensure clarity for some of the board members. But only tweak ..not change utterly! As it may no longer be a true reflection of all your great work. And if you have done great work any board worth its salt will see that, be confident in your conclusions and hopefully make their decisions according to your recommendations.
On the mat
You are now in the boardroom waiting for your topic (and perhaps yourself if you are not a member of the board) to be introduced. If you are lucky the board members will have got an opportunity to read all your material in advance. The full report etc. With the easy to read executive summary of the main points conclusions and summary.
It's more likely that they have at least glanced at your executive summary. This gives you a chance. Don't forget to breathe at this stage. Breathe slowly. And If you have learned effective mindfulness/relaxation techniques use them now. And if you haven't...keep breathing slowly if you can! But remember if you have prepared as suggested above your chances of success are high.
Show Time
You’ve just been introduced by the chair. You've given your warm greeting and ensured you got eye contact with each board member. So now present!
Using visual aids, verbal delivery, materials, and activities as prepared your presentation will cover the following executive summary of your full report;
- The nature of the issue/problem.
- Your analysis.
- Your conclusions.
- Your solutions.
- Your recommendations for the board.
Midsection
This is where you need to maintain board engagement particularly if your presentation is tabled to take up more than 30 minutes. It’s a good place to employ the interactive activities you have prepared.
As mentioned above only use activities that you are completely sure you can control and deliver effectively. You want your chosen activity to increase board engagement and ‘buy-in’. Not to distract from your key messages, overall delivery, and, hopefully, the board’s sense of your knowledge and authority on the topic.
Ask at regular intervals if people need repeats/clarifications. There is no point leaving people confused/unclear halfway through a presentation. That will turn them off!
Don't let criticism mid-presentation derail you. Try not to be defensive..repeat what you said at the start that you will deal with comments at the end ...note the criticism and move on. Look to the chair to help you to manage interruptions. Stay calm ...keep breathing!
It's a wrap
You are now in the final section of your presentation. You've kept the board engaged to this point. They are still listening. It's time to wrap up.
You now need to give a final summary of what the presentation was about. Keep this short with a further emphasis on your specific actionable recommendations and the decisions the board will have to make to adopt your recommendations.
Comments and Observations
At this point, the chair might take back control of the session or you may be left to manage this element also. Even though you may feel relieved (and exhausted) now that you have completed the presentation there is still key work to be done.
How you react to tough questions and criticism is critical to what the board will decide. So you need to give yourself a chance to get into this new zone. Normally the chair will say a few words of thanks for your presentation and set up the board feedback session. Use this time to slowly sip some water, take some deep breaths, and let the final act begin.
Now is the time to listen and you need to be open, receptive, and focussed on what comes your way. In order to get the best from this process and to demonstrate that you are really listening to board members you could
- Note what board members say.
- Summarise what you are hearing to check for accuracy.
- Ask for clarification of points/issues raised.
Depending on your disposition, heart rate, and the chair’s preference you might tell the board that you will respond to their comments and observations when you have heard everybody speak. This gives you a chance to think about your responses but it might also cause a festering negativity if you do not respond immediately to incorrect assumptions. On the other hand, responding immediately to every observation and comment can disrupt the flow of the process. And come across as somewhat dogmatic and defensive.
No matter how negative a member or members of the board is about your presentation try not to respond in kind. It may just be how these members react initially to any new idea and if you remain calm they may come round. Equally so the rest of the board may be gauging their own responses based on your demeanour at this stage. Stay cool!
Decision Time
If your agenda topic was simply for board awareness, discussion, and consideration you have completed your role. Thank the board, note whatever changes/amendments have been suggested, and await an indication from the chair about the next steps.
If you are a member of the board this is where you will need to ensure that decisions are actually made and not put off to another meeting. I have been on boards where I have seen members representing on the same topic on three (and more) occasions. The reason? Despite excellent presentations, they didn’t present clear actionable recommendations and options for decision. And sometimes they were obviously not willing to accept a negative board decision and so avoided asking the key questions. Remember if you have
- Prepared well.
- Presented an excellent, engaging presentation authoritatively and confidently.
- Listened respectfully and attentively to the feedback from the board and
- Presented your clear actionable recommendations for decisions.
You will have blitzed the board room! And most importantly the chances of your conclusions and recommendations being accepted and acted upon will be high.
In summary, in order to make sure that your board presentation is well received, your conclusions are accepted and your recommendations are acted upon you need to
1. Finalise a clear executive summary.
2. Prepare presentation materials that enhance not
distract from your delivery.
3. Prepare
- What you will say
- How you will say it and
- How you will look
4. Research the board.
On the day
1. Deliver a fabulous presentation with visuals,
interactive engagement etc. as prepared.
2. Allow for criticism but don't let it derail you.
3. Listen attentively to comments and observations.
4. Have clear actionable recommendations for the board decide on.
If you would like to try some or all of the above recommendations to improve your boardroom delivery experience please do and tell us how you got on. If you have any questions about this article or just need more information about boardroom presentations and decision making processes please contact us.
And don’t forget we provide a range of services ( face to face and virtually), that focus on organisational development including the best way for management boards to achieve postive outcomes. These include experiential workshops of boardroom presentations. Suitable for CEOs, directors managers, leaders, management boards, etc. Every service we provide can be customised to the specific needs of leaders and general organisations.
