Leonard, a Senior VP, crashed and burned three times in the last 6 months presenting to the Executive Leadership Team. They cut him to ribbons in their comments. His boss, Eleanor, an Executive VP, was desperate.
Leonard’s fourth presentation was coming up. She knew it was his last chance. If it didn’t go well, the Exec Leadership Team would demand she replace him. Eleanor did not want to let Leonard go. She summed it up well. “Leonard is a fabulous senior executive. With terrible presentation skills.” He was doing a great job and she really didn’t want him fired over that.
Leonard’s next presentation was in a week and he had no idea what he was doing wrong. He was in agony when they called me. He came to our Training Center for coaching, desperate for anything that would get him out of this pain.
I had Leonard give me his upcoming presentation so I could see what he was doing that led to such antagonism from the Exec Leadership Team. Within 2 minutes I could see it. Leonard was confusing them.
Executive level audiences are cold and unforgiving when you confuse them. They shut you down faster than you can say, “What I meant to say was …”
What Leonard was presenting seemed like it might be good news, but it was so confusing, I wasn’t sure. I asked Leonard, “Is this good what you’re trying to tell them?”
“It’s actually GREAT news”, Leonard said, almost crying. “They never get the good work we’re doing and they get so mad!”
This “great news” that Leonard was trying so desperately to get across was totally lost in a tangle of details the Exec Leadership Team wouldn’t care about.
Leonard was making the mistake of delivering a “stream of consciousness” type of presentation that followed his logic of “Let me start at the beginning and tell you everything”. This is a common approach for people below senior levels. It does not follow what I call “Executive Logic”.
What was missing from Leonard’s presentation was the big Key Message at the start and the supporting key messages that make a presentation compelling. Executive Logic runs on Key Messages.
Leonard had never mastered the art of communicating in key messages, of being concise in a way that would make him interesting to his audience. He didn’t know how to deliver an impactful message that would create instant acceptance. Not to mention that his presentation skills needed polish, especially for a senior exec level presentation.
I taught Leonard how to replace a bumbling start with a powerful Key Message, followed by eight supporting key messages.
Leonard looked at the result when we were done and said, “That’s what I was trying to tell them!” He was pleased.
Then we polished his presentation skills to make them suitable for an executive level audience. He left our Training Center smiling.
The morning of the presentation, Leonard texted me he was “walking in confident”.
He texted me right after, “Their minds went completely silent after my first sentence. Everyone just stopped. It shifted into a positive gear. I was completely in control and they were totally with me. I had them all the way through the eight supporting key messages and got total approval for what we’re doing. Eleanor was thrilled. I’ve never been so relieved in all my life. I’m going out for an ice cream sundae with my kids.”
Are Key Messages that important? I’ve seen them make or break many a career.
The ability to make their minds go silent with your first sentence is the hallmark of a great presenter. The ability to keep them engaged all the way through is another. Now you really stand a chance.
When it comes to being causative, to making what you want happen through another person or a group of people, you only have what you say (your key messages) and how you say it (your presentation skills). That’s why these two skills are the most important ones to master. They are the ones that open doors for you and create the outcomes that give you joy.
Be the cause!