Get Comfortable when Presenting to the Senior Management

During trainings, some of the most common questions I receive from the participants are about situations they face when presenting to the senior management in their respective firms. They want to know how to better manage their nerves when they speak, handle the Q&A session, or confront the objections that are sure to come up. Usually, most of these questions end with, “What if they ask about a topic that I’m not prepared for?”, or “What if I don’t have all the right answers at that moment?”, or “What if they see me as incompetent?”

Being excited or even downright nervous when presenting to the senior executives is perfectly normal. After all, those very people we face will probably have some say about whether we keep climbing the corporate ladder in that company or not. It’s only natural that we want to put our best show and create a good impact during that meeting or presentation.

But when we find ourselves in such a circumstance where we are worried about our performance or the outcome, it’s useful to remember that all those people in that real or virtual room are actually members of our firm too and that we all have common goals. All of us want the firm to advance, to succeed, and we are all working towards achieving the same positive results.

Needless to say, if you don’t set aside enough time for preparation, leave everything till the last minute and face these people with an unprepared delivery, it will be quite noticeable that you have failed to respect their time as well as yours — negative feedback or criticism at this point could become almost inevitable.

However, if you’ve put enough effort into your preliminary work and preparation, even if you’re asked about a topic that you are not familiar with, you can stand your ground and declare that at the moment you don’t have the answers but will get back to them shortly, after finding the relevant information. Unless it’s explicitly your field or your direct responsibility, under no circumstances are you obligated to provide immediate and 100% accurate responses to any questions that come your way (and if you’re made to feel that way, you’re probably working with the wrong people in the first place.)

But before facing your audience, do make sure that you’ve clearly identified what will be expected of you, and that you have set aside enough time to prepare accordingly. And make sure to rehearse your presentation. Not just once or twice, but many times. Sufficient rehearsal may very well be the single most effective differentiator between a good presentation and a bad one. It will allow you to both wrap your head better around your topic and get more comfortable speaking about it. It will also reflect in the form of confidence and will highly likely create a better impression of yourself among your listeners.

“I respect and value your time, and thus I’ve come fully prepared.” — If you’re able to create this sensation on the senior managers who will listen to what you have to say, I can assure with ‘almost’ 100% guarantee, that your next presentation to the management team will go well.

Preparation… Rehearsal… And then some more rehearsal!