Presenting to your higher-ups can be challenging when you aren’t quite sure what they want. Some execs might prefer simple slides, while others love to dive deep and dig in. You might have some that land somewhere in the middle, which means it’s kind of a crapshoot.
Every individual processes data and information differently, so you really can’t know which direction things might go with so many hats in the room. This means your team ends up prepping a ton of potentially unneeded content “just in case,” making the entire process much less efficient than it could be—and should be.
This isn’t just about good slides and bad slides, either. There is more than one way to climb a mountain, but we’re talking about all the nitty gritty that goes into crafting slides—like when to use a good graph, what colors to use, how much text you need, you should use bullets, and what about an appendix, oh my!
In reality, pitching your ideas to the C-suite means you must deliver content that resonates with everyone in the room, at least to some degree. After all, these are the budget and idea proposals that could heavily impact the direction of your organization and its decision-making. No pressure, right? Keep reading as we outline some key things to consider when prepping your next batch of slides for a presentation. You know we’d never leave you hangin’!
Top Non-Negotiables in Every Exec Presentation
Let’s start with some building blocks. Every presentation needs a handful of foundational elements to ensure success.
Foundation One: A Strong Executive Summary
This is where you draw on all those old English classes where you learned the basics of story-telling. Remember the three-act structure, where you write a beginning, middle, and end? Kick off your executive summary in a similar way.
- You’ll start by sharing the state of the current situation.
- Next, you should clearly outline the problem or opportunity you’re facing and how your idea will impact and address it.
- To wrap up, you share how to solve this issue and propose your next steps on getting from point A to point B.
There’s a reason the three-act structure works for storytelling and transcends fiction. It’s a tried-and-true way to engage and invest your audience in the outcome.
Foundation Two: Logical Organizational Flow
Think of this like the story arc of your three-part narrative. It’s important that this arc be coherent and logical. That means every slide and headline must progress in a way that makes sense, moving from point to point and essentially making your case for you. Your content should support every statement made in the headline above it and ruthlessly edit out anything that clutters the messaging.
Continuing with our story-telling theme, you could think of your slides as book chapters. In the same way, the content below the headline supports the headline. Each chapter should build upon the previous one, fleshing out the narrative.
Foundation Three: A Skimmable Read
Remember that the C-suite is made up of very busy individuals. That means the ability to skim quickly is your friend, and they will greatly appreciate the chance to grasp your point quickly, sans the pesky details. You can do this in several ways.
- Use plenty of white space to keep content balanced
- Use headings to create a logical flow of information
- Use numbered lists and bullets to organize
- Use colors and fonts to highlight critical points and takeaways
- Use strategically placed visuals like charts and graphs to simplify
Foundation Four: Brevity is Your Friend
Remember that every slide needs to serve a purpose. Your ability to distill a lot of information into concise, succinct statements with clear insights is key to helping your audience grasp the message. Avoid jargon and always seek clarity. You don’t need a whole sentence to say something you could say in a handful of words. If you struggle with being concise, consider using AI tools to help you trim the fat—company, of course!
Consider Asking Your C-Suite Their Preferences
Something you may not think to do but can really help you from the outset is to ask the people you are presenting to about their preferences. Everyone consumes information differently, and in some cases, they may never have even been asked how they like to receive information.
Most people know themselves well enough to know how they understand things best, but they likely have not been asked to share this information before. Knowing what the people you’re presenting to like or expect during a presentation can significantly increase your impact and ability to engage them. But what to ask? Below are five questions that can help.
Ask How Dense They Like Their Data
You’ll find that some of your executives love to dive deep into the data and appreciate dense slides that convey the nitty-gritty. Other executives might lean toward more high-level overviews of the data so they can grasp it quickly.
Your job is to suss out these preferences ahead of time and work to achieve a good balance between them. You need to convey the proposal’s complexities while still keeping it readable and easily understood. They need enough information to make a decision without being totally overwhelmed by unnecessary data.
Ask Their Preference for Timing, Format, and Delivery
Another question to discuss with your C-suite execs is their preferences on format, timing, and delivery. You may have a few who prefer a detailed document they can read ahead of time, while others prefer to simply have the information presented.
We’re big fans of slide docs because you can create visual documents that do triple-duty, as both an aid in your presentation and a pre-read, plus work as a great leave-behind.
Creating a pre-read can be helpful if you know they haven’t read the material yet. You can open the meeting by asking if they’d like to read and discuss it or if they prefer you present it first and go from there. And for those who prefer the presentation and a more interactive meeting but still want something they can review afterward and mull over, you already have the perfect leave-behind.
Another great idea is to ensure you have a short and long version of your presentation ready, just in case there’s something urgent and your time to present is suddenly truncated.
Ask About Their Data Visualization Preferences
For some execs, detailed data coupled with visual aids are their jam. For others, more high-level summaries and trends are preferred. However, you won’t know those preferences unless you ask. Understanding these preferences can help you tailor your data and offer numerical information with clarity and efficiency.
Photos, graphs, charts, illustrations—these all help you communicate complex data more efficiently than words. If you can “show” what you’re saying rather than merely “telling,” you can increase the impact of what you’re presenting.
Ways to use visuals might include:
- Bar charts to make comparisons and view specifics
- Line graphs to point out trends over time
- Charts with annotations to help you call out key insights
Of course, not everyone will love visuals. Some might prefer more old-school methods, like simple tables with numbers and minimal color. The beauty of asking ahead of time means that you will not waste time creating visuals you know your audience won’t like. You know ahead of time their communication style and you can present accordingly, saving everyone time and energy.
Another thing to keep in mind is that if you struggle with things like diagrams, find someone skilled in thinking conceptually to help you out. Especially on high-stakes presentations, a designer can help you put your best foot forward and not risk your ideas being tossed aside because of poor presentation.
Ask What Things You Need to Clarify or Remove
Not everyone in the room will understand every technical term you use in your presentation, but you should know ahead of time what levels of experience will be in attendance.
You’ll either need to strive to simplify your language and remove acronyms and geek speak, or you’ll need to deep-dive to unpack the details so that even those whose expertise may be limited can understand what you are proposing exactly. You don’t want to alienate half your audience when you need to make a critical decision!
Ask Whether an Appendix is Helpful
Since you can’t please everyone, no matter how hard you try, an appendix can be an extremely useful resource for executives who like to dig into the details on their own time.
It lets you streamline your presentation and keep your audience focused on the critical mission while offering a resource on the backend with all the dirty data and source material they can handle that you dug up to support your presentation.
Now, About That Presenting Part…
Once you have your materials and strategy in place, you’re ready to start selling your idea. However, there are two additional areas you’ll want to give some extra attention to during your presentation to really knock it out of the park. The first is anticipating and handling potential questions from your audience, and the second is how well you gather and take feedback for improvement on future iterations and pitches.
Practice Makes Perfect When Pitching
Though great slides are definitely paramount, your delivery is every bit as important, so… practice, practice! You can do this by getting together with some fellow team members and pitching them your ideas.
Go through your whole presentation, front to back, and ask them to really commit and challenge you with the hard questions after each point. You’ll not only see where your presentation could use some work, but you’ll also build some confidence so that you can stay cool, calm, and collected during the real deal.
Create a Feedback Loop
Once you’ve presented your material, don’t be afraid to ask your C-suite questions about how well it resonated with them. Not only does this build communication, but it also improves your presentation in future iterations.
Ask what they think worked and what could be improved. Execs tend to like it when you follow up with feedback requests because it shows you’re taking your role seriously and want to improve.
Of course, sometimes, execs will be too busy to offer feedback, and that’s okay. You can still do some due diligence by chatting with other team members who have made successful pitches and finding out what worked for them. Sometimes, those extra perspectives can help you see things more clearly, helping you grow in your presentation skills and make stronger pitches.
Ultimately, presenting to your C-suite isn’t just about conveying data. It’s understanding how they process information and creating a narrative flow of ideas with clarity and efficiency. When you make a presentation that resonates with your audience, the chances of your idea gaining legs improve exponentially.
