Going Beyond PowerPoint: Learning how to drive decision making through powerful presentations.

 "Don’t wait for the translation, answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’!  I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over.” - Adlai Stevenson, UN Ambassador 

On October 25th 1962, Adlai Stevenson addressed the United Nation’s Security Council about the Soviet Union’s decision to place long range ballistic missiles in Cuba.  A career politician, Mr. Stevenson had served as Governor of Illinois before accepting his appointment to the UN by President Kennedy.

In one of the most important presentations in American history, Mr. Stevenson delivered a captivating address that documented the existence of the Soviet missiles in Cuba, while also laying the groundwork for secret negotiations between President Kennedy and Khrushchev.  Eventually, both sides agreed to withdraw their missiles from the disputed territories. However, it was President Kennedy and Ambassador Stevenson that were seen as the public victors. 

The Power of Messaging:

Anyone who has managed a department knows the value of giving a powerful presentation.  From developing a brand strategy to receiving capex approval, presentations can make or break an organization’s ability to drive innovation. Knowing this, it’s important for leaders to develop a skillful approach to presenting ideas.  By understanding the dynamics of executive decision-making, department heads can complete the necessary steps (before, during, and after the meeting) to craft powerful messages and receive formal approval. 

The Process Explained:

As Sun Tzu said, “Every battle is won before it’s ever fought”.  This statement certainly applies to meeting preparation.  Like military generals, successful presenters know that there are multiple steps that must be completed in advance to ensure that a project receives approval. If the worst case scenario is losing a battle, the second worst case is having to fight the battle a second time. It’s for this reason that skillful presenters lay the groundwork in advance.  

Before the Presentation:

• PowerPoint should never be used for information sharing. Its sole purpose is to facilitate executive decision-making.  Too many department heads make the mistake of utilizing PowerPoint in their day-to-day operations.  Whether it’s highlighting financial performance, specifying a brand strategy, or reiterating economic trends, this approach desensitizes decision-makers. If used too often, executives will expect presentations for everything, which weakens the tool's effectiveness. To avoid this, it’s important for managers to stick to in-person conversations when dealing with day-to-day operations. A formal presentation should only be used when an executive decision is required.

• Create urgency by aligning presentations to a burning platform. Division Executives (compared to CEOs) are risk-adverse.  Their cautious demeanor is influenced by the fact they oversee multiple teams and stakeholders.  To this point, their experience has taught them that impulsive decisions can be harmful. Typically, an executive will choose to defer requests unless a burning platform is presented. As such, it’s important for presenters to anchor their ideas against major corporate risks or approaching deadlines. By making sure executives understand the urgency of the request (i.e. corporate risk/regulation, competitor launch, or pricing window), they will be forced to evaluate the idea carefully.

• Agree on analytics before the meeting. A presentation is dead on arrival if the data has not been vetted. Make sure you build consensus with key stakeholders for every piece of data you plan to present.   
• Know the cost triggers. Executives always ask about the expense side of the P&L. To this point, an NPV analysis will only be endorsed when it matches what the leader knows about the business. This means understanding the hard costs tied to contracting, labor management, and project change orders. Irrespective of the topic, an executive is trained to think in terms of profitability. To receive endorsement, presenters must have clear answers pertaining to cost containment. 

• Know who to invite and who to exclude. Often, managers forget to invite the individuals that need to attend the presentation, while at the same time including those that do not need to be there. For key presentations, make sure you include only the main decision-makers, as well as the analytics team that can answer detailed questions about costs and project delivery. A good rule of thumb is to have a maximum of ten people in the room. Executive presentations should never be used for knowledge-sharing.

During the Presentation:

• In terms of PowerPoint, follow the 5:15 approach. The 5:15 system is useful in helping a presenter know how much content to include. In summary, the system states that decks should only take five minutes to read and fifteen minutes to discuss. On average, this means including 3-4 main slides and 1-2 appendix slides of supplemental tables. 

• Summarize the process, then state the business need. The first two minutes of the presentation are the most important.  It’s at this time that you explain the business situation and set the intention for the meeting.  Remember, presentations are about driving decision-making.  As such, make sure that you outline your business need in a clear and succinct manner.  Likewise, take the time to explain how data was collected and verified, and which departments contributed to the analysis.

• Speak on behalf of your critics. The best way to manage critics is to preempt them. Namely, summarize their views in a disarming way that shows alternatives/risks have been accounted for.  In doing this, make a point of mentioning your critics’ opinions without including their name.
• Be assertive during Q&A. If you have done the necessary due-diligence, then you should have no problem answering questions. To do this, stick to assertive positions that require brief explanations.  Do not negotiate with yourself, justify your assumptions, or agree with a critic. Once your presentation has reached the executive level, it’s your responsibility to passionately defend your case. Do not equivocate, back down, or compromise when challenged. Be a rock at the podium.

After the Meeting:

• Tombstone the approval through signed minutes. Immediately after receiving approval, it’s important to document the executive’s decision through signed minutes. As part of this, make every effort to initiate funding approvals within 1-3 days after the presentation.  To do this, prepare all of the paperwork/templates in advance, and make sure that the Executive Assistant is aware of the upcoming deadline. Remember, your critics will take a crack of the executive when you’re not in the room. It’s important you receive signed approval and funding quickly.

• Keep decision-makers informed. As previously stated, executives are risk adverse. In order to keep your sponsorship, leaders must be updated in regards to your project’s key milestones. However, make sure these updates do not turn into re-evaluations. Remember, you should only receive project approval once. After that, discussions should be about project execution and performance KPIs.