Board Communications Part I - The Basics: Telling you own story (well)

The role of companies′ boards has been greatly expanded, as has the breadth of disciplines board members and advisors must understand in order to be effective. The variety of important subjects and strategic levers with which these corporate structures have to deal is intrinsic to increasingly complex matrix of success drivers. Never have companies have had so much data about so many customers and stakeholders. Attracting and retaining talent, especially in the post-pandemic world, has become far more difficult.

Offering effective guidance to an executive team and providing valuable inputs, therefore, has never been as complex as it is today. Yet one major tool that can help board and committee members to improve their ability to do that remains vastly overlooked:

Communication.

As a consultant and advisor to companies and to CxOs, it never ceases to amaze me how often otherwise well-rounded and intelligent executives relegate their own interpersonal communications to a minor role. I have observed the same challenge in several board members and advisors, and long board meetings get bogged down in lots of financial and operational minutiae that result in less-effective advice because, as experienced and knowledgeable its members are, the quality of their communications is poor.

Great governance fully depends on great communications, within the board members themselves, with the CEO and other key executives, with shareholders and with several other stakeholders.?

I often recommend that experienced executives and board and committee members become expert communicators – and some of them already are by the time I get involved – because the better you are at communicating your ideas, the better the results of what you do.

Training and developing your own communication skills is absolutely key to becoming a better advisor and providing better guidance. Here are a few quick tips:

?The Basics

?1)?????Messages

This is really ground zero and it should be your first step whether you are speaking to a group of friends, lecturing to dozens of students, or speaking on national television: What exactly do you want to say?

Before you address your audience, you have to clearly define the key messages you want to convey. You must know exactly what they are – in communication there are a lot of opportunities for improvisation but not here.

Your messages have to be simple, clear and as few as possible. Examples could be, “We need to improve sales in XX%”, or “we have to increase diversity in this board by adding…”.

Be as specific in your messages as possible.

?2)?????Tone

Content and form are more or less equally important, and they should be carefully suited to the characteristics of you audience.

The tone – or form – of your messages must help convey them as clearly and effectively as possible, while respecting that audience’s requirements and abilities.?For instance, a technical speech to a technical crowd requires a more technical language and depth. Talking to key investors may require a strong, persuasive yet direct approach, depending on your intent. Conversely, delivering a ”pep talk” in a company retreat must be as energizing and motivating (therefore emotional) as possible.

There are a lot of technical aspects to crafting great communications but getting the perfect tone is more “art” than “science”.?

?3)?????Telling the story

If you have devised two or three clear messages and perfected the tone to convey them now it′s time to focus on how to best deliver your narrative to your audience.

Great storytelling has always been an essential part of any successful enterprise, be it a corporate or personal endeavor. It doesn’t matter if it underpins the way you communicate in a board meeting or how you perform in a job interview, getting those messages with the right tone across to your audience in an engaging and fluid way is key in making you more effective.

In this context, storytelling is not telling high tales or lies. It means telling your story in the most compelling way possible. Spontaneity and honesty are paramount in creating empathy and resonance and can make or break an otherwise great story because, more often than not, the audience can tell if what you are saying is a true representation of what you actually feel.

Boards can greatly benefit from improving their communications with all other stakeholders, especially in an age of such rapid business (and societal) transformation, with increasing expectations for change and inclusion at all levels. Several additional layers of complexity in organizations and consumers who more and more demand better governance and transparency from corporations mean top executives and board members must improve their communication skills in order to be perceived as true leaders in this century.

Become a great communicator and the impact you can have as a board or committee member will be that much greater.