How To Prepare For Your First Executive Presentation

“I’d love to work on building my executive presentation skills,”

I said to my manager, Valerie. “Oh, awesome. You know how I have you prepare your business unit presentation deck so I can present it to the C-Suite every month? Plan on presenting it yourself next month.”

I wanted to work on my executive presentation skills to build my confidence, but I didn’t expect to go straight to the top to practice. Self-doubt crept in, but I knew I’d have a couple of weeks to calm my nerves and pull my presentation together.

At the time, I was a director at a regional bank, leading a training and development team, as well as a financial education team who sold our branch banking products to business clients in our market. I worked to pull in our monthly numbers, but this time with extra scrutiny because I would be the one doing the talking in front of a more senior audience.

I gathered our training results, customer experience scores, and sales results. I projected our revenue and expenses for the next quarter. The CEO also wanted my projections for the next year, along with justifications behind my sales and expenses. He was a newer CEO, a well-known leader from the megabanks, who had come to help our regional bank turn some financial corners during the banking crisis of 2008. He became known for demanding your stretch goals to be your new minimum standards.

I prepared my deck, reviewed it with Valerie, and took the long ride up the elevator to the thirty-ninth floor. I was nervous and pitting out in my suit, but ready.

Or so I thought.

I started in on my presentation, and the first five minutes were off and running. I’m doing well, was my initial thought. Then the CEO started rapid-firing his questions, especially related to the financial education business development team I led. “How did you arrive at this number? Can’t you do better? Isn’t there a wider market than this? Why do you think this is a valuable product for us?” I could feel my face and neck glow bright red.

I was starting to stutter in my answers a bit. Quite frankly, he was asking some questions I didn’t have ready answers to. I felt like I was observing my own train wreck in action. Then the dagger. He looked at my other two bosses. “Should we even keep offering this service to our clients?”

I was so anxiety-ridden and overwhelmed. I don’t know who felt the most pain in that meeting, me, with the hot neck and sweaty armpits, or my boss, Valerie, who was watching the train wreck go down in real time. I have observed my own share of meeting bombs, and they are not easy to watch.

I made it through the meeting and as my boss and I rode down the elevator, she asked me how I thought it went. "Terrible." I sighed. She assured me that they knew it was my first time presenting and that they were having a little fun with me at the end, but that I did fine.

However, she did prepare me that I would need to know the answers to the questions they asked me the next time I came to present and as I accelerated in my career, those questions would become standard.

This learning experience forever changed how I prepared for executive presentations. If your first presentation to an executive team is coming up, or you are new to an organization and want to make a good first impression to new executives, here are some strategies to try.

Boost Your Peace

Allow For Discomfort.

In high-stakes presentations likes these there is one truth - there will be SO many feelings! Doubt, nerves, imposter feelings, overwhelm. These are NORMAL. So many of my clients try to fight these feelings or make them go away, but you simply can't criticize yourself into more confidence here. Instead, notice and name these feelings with a ton of compassion.

This might sound like, "I notice I'm feeling doubtful and my stomach is full of anxiety. This is normal for anyone who cares about giving a good presentation and making a good impression."

I always practice four-count breathing before any presentation to calm my nerves.

Boost Your Potential

Know Your Customer

When I was working for investment firms, there was a phrase called KYC or "Know Your Customer." This was a financial advisor's responsibility to be selling them the right product, at the right time, the right way. When you are communicating up, you need to KYC - know the right time, the right way, the right recommendation.

After the presentation I gave didn't go as planned, my boss asked me, "Who do you know that always seems polished and ready with executive questions?" I could instantly rattle off a few names. She instructed me to go to those individuals and ask how they prepare so well, what they know that the CEO and executives care about and what questions they tend to ask.

You can KYC (i.e. executives) not only by asking them directly what's important for them to know, see or understand, but also by asking other individuals who are frequently in the room with them what their core concerns tend to be and what questions they like to ask.

Boost Your Paycheck

Success Loves Clarity

I've spent the majority of my career in roles that required me to deliver frequent training and presentations. One thing I've learned is that people aren't tuned into your topic as much as you think. Leaders are overwhelmed. Inboxes are full. Bosses are demanding.

So the time shortens to show up, speak up and make the impact you want to make. At it's essence, preparing a compelling presentation boils down to answering 3 questions:

1. What transformation do I want the audience to make? (i.e. to go from uninformed about my project to advocates about my project)
2. What 3 key things do they need to know to make this transformation? (i.e….1. Why the project benefits the org 2. Why clients will love this project 3. What resources the project needs)
3. What clear ask am I making of them? (i.e. Asking for executive support / approval). People are horrible guessers so success loves clarity here. Be crystal clear about what you are asking them to do, consider or move forward on.

Share your wisdom! What other tips have you found successful in preparing for your first round of presenting in front of executive teams?

Kelli Thompson is a leadership & executive coach, award-winning speaker and author who is on a mission to help women advance to the rooms where decisions are made. She offers executive coaching, leadership workshops and keynote speaking to lead with more clarity and confidence.

Want more tips to be a compelling communicator at work? Download Kelli's free training, Speaking Up with Clarity & Confidence ? HERE.