How to present to senior executives

When you present to senior executives, it’s important to get to what they care about right away. 

Here are some tips from HBR:

Summarize upfront
If you have 30 minutes to present, use the first 5 minutes to cover the information that your audience cares most about – findings, conclusions, and recommendations. From there, you can move on to supporting information. 

Give them what they ask for
Consider the specific request being made. If they didn’t ask for something, what do the people around them think they need to hear? Address their needs directly and quickly. With an audience that is pressed for time, they don’t want any of it wasted on information that they don’t need to make their decisions. 

Keep the focus on you
Keep your slides simple, so the execs aren’t reading, but focused on you. The slides should only be used to reiterate your key points, include minimal text, and only use meaningful graphics. If you’re showing data, highlight what you want them to focus on. 

And get excited. This is your chance to shine!