Dear Chris,

Help!  I need to make a presentation on our competency initiative to senior leadership this week.  I have one chance to get their support - what should I do?

                                                                        Panicked in Peoria

Dear Panicked:

In the last two weeks, I've gotten two other questions like yours - one with a 27-slide presentation for me to review attached!  Here are three questions you should ask yourself when developing or editing a presentation to senior leadership:

1.  What do you want them to DO? 

Yes, start with the bottom line.  Senior leaders want you to get to the point - do you want them to fork over additional budget dollars?  Rally the troops?  Walk the talk?  All of the above?  It's usually advisable to start here, so your audience knows where you're taking them.

2.  How do you want them to FEEL? 

Despite the plethora of data and information at their fingertips, it seems to me that most senior leaders still tend to make decisions based largely on instinct.  What emotional reaction will support the actions you're looking for?  Confidence that your proposal is valid and based on best practice?  Conviction that this is an investment rather than an expense?  Trust that you'll deliver this time as you have in the past?  Start at the very beginning of your presentation to establish the feeling you're trying to evoke - and keep it up throughout the presentation.

3.  What's the very least they need to KNOW? 

Here's where most of the presentations I've seen really break down.  You want to call them to action, not bore them to sleep.  Most senior executives are interested in the big picture rather than details.  Keep the formal presentation short and relatively quickly paced.  Use pictures and graphics to represent the current state, the impact you hope to make and your proposed timeline and budget.  Have a one-page printed handout to leave behind with some more details.

Good luck with your presentation!

Best regards,

Christine Hipple